Cleansing is a great way to give your body a much needed rest from digestion, helping to rid your body of built-up toxins and wastes.

Because our bodies are constantly breaking down and digesting food all day, once in a while it’s nice to give it a little rest.

A juice cleanse should leave you feeling energised, balanced and focused. It’s a nice way to help strengthen your immune system, sharpen your mental clarity and allow your body to “catch-up” by giving your body a break from caffeine, sugars and bad fats for example.

In order to achieve optimal benefits from your cleanse, it’s important to properly prepare your body and start to eliminate foods such as animal products, alcohol, caffeine, sugar and refined foods.

This helps ease your body from predominantly solid foods to a more liquid diet, without having that shock to the system.

Here is a pre-cleanse menu example to help get you started…

Breakfast: Smoothie

1 cup water of coconut water

1 cup of almond milk

1 tsp flaxseed oil

2 bananas

1/2 cup frozen strawberries & raspberries

1/2 cup of baby spinach

Lunch: Raw vegetable rice paper rolls

Slice 1/2 avocado

2-4 large baby spinach leaves per roll

1/4 finely sliced red cabbage

1/2 zucchini, finely sliced

Watered down Tamari sauce

2-4 rice paper rolls

Method:

1. Soak the rice paper rolls in warm water

2. Place your ingredients in the centre of the sheet

3. Pull the right side over and roll your rice paper roll up tightly.

Dinner: Pumpkin Soup

1/2 chopped pumpkin

1/2 red onion, diced

Tablespoon of Garlic

2 cups of boiled water

1/2 cup of organic coconut cream

Paprika and Olive oil to garnish

Method

Lightly sauté onion and garlic in pot.

Add in chopped pumpkin and water and bring to the boil until veggies are soft.

Put all ingredients into a blender and serve with a drizzle of olive oil, sliced avocado, lemon and pepper.

If you find yourself wondering aimlessly around the kitchen in search for something to eat, here are some snack ideas that will help to keep you on track.

Snacks:

Fruit salad (pineapple, oranges, grapefruit, watermelon, apple and blueberries)

Rice cakes with avocado, tomato and cracked pepper

Handful of dates or prunes

The Day of Juice Cleanse:

Sportette has been testing ‘The Juice Fix’ cleanse. This company really has put a lot of thought into each individual juice, incorporating a range of rich ingredients from Camu Camu, Moringa, Acai and Chorella. The days of boring tasting juices are now behind us, having finally found cold pressed juices that actually taste pretty dam flavoursome!

We chose to supplement our juices with small meals, similar to our pre-cleanse menu, which worked a treat!

The great thing about The Fix cleanse is that it is ‘designed for people that would like to give their insides a rest while simultaneously going about their daily lives. You need not go to extremes to feel the benefits of the cleanse program.

As with everything, maintain a realistic mindset when following these suggestions. If you are training for a half marathon for example, these detox meals may not provide enough energy for you, however the juices would be a great way to supplement your diet on a regular basis.

Listen to what your body needs and treat your body with care!