A bunch of my coworkers are doing a juice cleanse. What's with this trend? Are there any real benefits?

ANSWER:

Doing a juice cleanse is like pushing the reset button on your health. It gives your body a break from consuming less-than-healthy choices, like alcohol and processed foods, and floods it with essential nutrients from pressed fruits, vegetables and nuts, which can be digested more effectively. On a cleanse, our bodies take the energy that is typically used for digesting solid foods to work on backlogged problems -- this can be particularly beneficial when you’re getting sick or feeling sluggish. Everyone has a different experience on the cleanse, but benefits may include increased energy and sex drive, clearer skin, and elevated mood.

During a typical juice cleanse, you eat no solid foods for about three days, but it’s very different from a fast: Most people don’t feel hungry on the cleanse because their bodies are getting a sufficient amount of calories. In fact, on a BluePrintCleanse, you consume the juiced equivalent of about 20 pounds of raw produce per day -- more than the average person consumes in a week!

Doing a three-day cleanse once a month is ideal, but if that’s too much, try cleansing once a season. It’s always easier with support, so I would definitely recommend cleansing with a friend or coworker. You can keep each other honest and keep one another from reaching for a bagel on Office Bagel Day. -- As told to Elizabeth Narins

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