And Now For Something Completely Different: Juice Feasting

I have spoken on this blog before about my struggles with psoriasis. I've had it since I was a little kid, but it grew much worse as I entered my mid-20s, and it's been in a pretty steady holding pattern ever since. I've had some remission with tanning and topicals, as well as the biologic drug Humira, which I am no longer taking for reasons you can read about here. But it's always come back, and although I alternate through periods of either "angry red" or "placidly pink", the patches never really leave. Right now, I'm in a "placidly pink" phase, so it's as good a time as ever to try a method I've been meaning to try for awhile now: Juice Feasting.



This is not a new discovery for me. I was turned onto the concept over a year ago by several holistic publications I've read in terms of treating disease. First, I was looking for a way to alleviate my digestive systems, but then I discovered along the way that certain autoimmune diseases, like psoriasis, can be treated with excellent results through juice feasting (or fasting).



Why?



The idea behind a lot of disease is a true lack of nutrition. I'm a firm believer that we here in the Western world are overfed and undernourished, and I know for a FACT that I am. I've also suffered from problems with reflux and irritable bowel, as well as energy and attention span issues, asthma, and muscle inflammation. I've also realized that when I'm eating extremely vital foods (high vegetable and fruit, no dairy, little to no meat), I feel so much better. Mentally focused, energetic, and my moods are drastically improved. It's only when I've slowly reintegrated those things that I saw a return of those conditions. So do I believe there is something do this whole nutrition thing? Abso-friggen-lutely.



The fast is appealing to me, though, because it removes all variables from the equation. If my problems are related to any of the macronutrients I listed above, then several days drinking vegetable juice could very well help me figure that out. I also like it, because it gives my body a much-needed break from processing the things I'm asking it to process. I've been on a long term "fast" before, when I spent nearly 3 months on the Medifast diet. It was an 800 calorie a day, nutrient-dense diet that (aside from its expense and the fact that a lot of their supplements are full of things I'd rather not eat anymore) helped me lose a good bit of weight. But that wasn't really the important thing to me (at least in retrospect). I remember after the initial recovery period, when my caloric intake was chopped nearly in quarters, my body never felt better. I was happy, I wasn't mentally sluggish. I was able to exercise (at least moderately) without any of the things that had plagued me before. I was mentally clear enough to finish a novel project that I had put off for over a year (Scarlet Letters).



So I KNOW there is something to this methodology. Vegetable fasting is a purer way to accomplish those feats. And I'd really hope to be able to see some improvement with my skin. I'll be checking back over the next few days to report how I'm feeling, as well as to give recipes for some of the juices I'll be trying using my Vitamix. I do have a juicer, but juicing in the VItamix is faster and easier. Just pulverize and strain through a nut milk bag.



My initial goal is to go three days. But we'll see how I'm feeling as we go along. People have followed this for up to a month or even more, so I'm in no danger of overdoing it by going even two weeks if I'm feeling up to it.  You can read more about juice fasts by Googling as well as watching some YouTube videos for some tasty recipes.



Again, this is NOT starvation, and this is not an extreme measure. I'm not doing a crazy David Blaine stunt. I'm pumping my body full of vegetables instead of toxic drugs and junk food.  I will also be supplementing with green tea and fish oil capsules. I'm not being crazy, I'm not on some crash diet. In fact, I don't expect to drop much weight by doing this at all. Maybe a few pounds of water weight. But my end is not weight loss. I'm giving my body the tools it needs to attempt to heal itself.