Detox Mama: The 3 day juice cleanse challenge!

I was showing all the signs but didn’t realize it myself… Feeling exhausted, getting sick a lot, dry, gloomy skin and frequently googling ‘best botox in Singapore’ when it suddenly hit me — mama needs a detox!

I’m not sure about you mamas but I’ve never, as in ever, done anything even remotely close to a detox in my life. Truth is, you’re looking at a wine-loving carnivore who just can’t get enough dairy! Obviously I needed a firm kick in my not-too-shabby behind to get started. Sana Cleanse to the rescue! These guys are serious about cleansing your most precious asset (your body) by drinking cold-pressed organic juices.

But what exactly is a juice cleanse? And what can you expect when signing up for one?

Well first of all, be prepared to only drink juice, herbal tea and water for three whole days. No chewing (although they do encourage you to “chew” your juice) no snacking and absolutely no cheating! Needless to say you have to cut out caffeine and alcohol completely. Secondly, make sure you choose a program with 100% organic juice ingredients. Each day’s supply of juice contains four kilograms (!) of produce and if it’s not organic you would end up drinking concentrated pesticides, which is exactly the kind of stuff a juice cleanse aims to remove.

Convinced that I had what it took to take on the challenge, I checked out the Sana Cleanse site and opted for a 3-day cleanse, paid the $320 and hit submit. Scaaarrryy!

I had booked my cleanse to start on a Monday and a few days before that, I got my first email on how to prepare for my cleanse and what kind of foods I needed to start cutting down on immediately. Try to stop drinking caffeine ahead of time to avoid spending your juice cleanse fighting a bad caffeine withdrawal headache. Very important. Mama without her coffee is not pleasant and if you combine that with no solid food… Don’t even go there.

The evening before my start day, three cooler bags with six juices in each one came delivered to my doorstep with a friendly smile and some final instructions. Mama was ready for take off!

I woke up on the first day feeling rather hungry and found it hard to wait for the first morning juice. Thankfully it was a really nice and thick smoothie. There are six juices to drink each day and it’s a mix of fruit and veggie ones. In all honesty I did struggle a bit with the green juices but the ultra yummy nut milk you get to enjoy for “dinner” totally makes up for it! Hands down, one of the best drinks I’ve ever had and it was amazing how much it filled you up. No waking in the middle of the night dreaming about crackers.

The second day was more of a challenge, I had a bad headache most of the morning and felt rather weak. From the instruction emails I had received before and during my cleanse I new this was to be expected but still challenging to deal with. But what’s pretty interesting is that you never really feel hungry. The juices are designed to give you what you need in terms of nutrition. It’s more a feeling that something is missing. And you sleep amazingly well without all that caffeine and processed stuff in your body.

On my last day I woke up to an email in my inbox from the guys at Sana: Your Last Day! Sweet. The day went by really quickly and while having my last nut milk (and dreaming about the fresh fruits I would have for breakfast the following morning) I actually realized that I felt kind of… Great.

Truth is, I was pleasantly surprised by how easy the juice cleanse was. It’s difficult to say what the hard facts are in terms of liver health and overall system cleanse but my skin was definitely less dry and red and I haven’t sleep that well in years!

The downside of a cleanse is that it is rather expensive. But when you consider that you get a total of twelve kilograms of organic produce delivered straight to your door, it’s not that bad and you’re not spending anything else on food or eating out during that period!

It’s recommended that you do a cleanse every 12 weeks, which I think is a bit optimistic. But will I do it again? Yes, most definitely. It’s an easy way to give your hardworking system a much needed vacation without having to go through the hassle of cooking and shopping yourself.

Email [email protected] or visit www.sanacleanse.com for further details