Why do I feel worse on a Juice Cleanse? What is a Healing Crisis?
Let me summarize first the amazing benefits of doing a longer juice detox/cleanse:
Weight loss
Clearer and more radiant skin
More energy and an increased feeling of wellbeing
Regular bowel movements
Mental Clarity
Emotional stability / eliminated depression
Sensitized sense buds and greater enjoyment of food
A strengthened immune system and diminished allergic symptoms
Improved liver function
When you are drinking only juices all the fiber is being removed, thus the concentrated liquid juice (I’d call it GOLD Juice) is being assimilated 10x faster.
Juice cleanse allows for rapidly removing toxins and waste, which is an average of 10 lbs each person holds. On a cleanse, all this debris will be eliminated, given that you also support the detoxification process.
The digestion process of food is the most energy intense work our body is doing daily.
Do you remember how after some meals you feel like you need a nap or you feel like in a “food coma”? That should never be this way. Food is supposed to give us energy and sustain us. So after a heavy or unhealthy meal, all the energy was directed towards digestion. That’s why your body doesn't have extra energy for anything else, and you are inclined to have a nap. This is wrong. Foods can ground you and can slow you down a bit, but not to a point where you feel like you have zero energy for the next two hours after a meal.
That’s why allowing your system to rest by consuming only liquid juices is the best medicine you can treat your body with. By stopping the most intense of your body - digestion, your body will begin to heal itself. Now all its energy will be rapidly redirected to healing on a cellular level.
Our bodies are amazing and are capable of healing themselves once we give them the right environment.
You might ask - will I have enough energy just by drinking juices only?
Yes and No. I will be straightforward with you.
What you might also experience during the detox is “A Healing Crisis” for a few days only.
But there is nothing to be afraid of once you understand why it is happening and how to deal with it. Healing Crisis is an absolutely normal response of the body and it doesn’t last all the time. Usually, just for the first few days only until you will begin to feel amazing afterward!
But if your body was severely ill or you had other health issues some symptoms might get really uncomfortable, and that’s why you need to be aware of them. But again, they might look intense begin with, and there is no need to panic at all. You are aware now that this will happen. Most important, is to TRUST your body that it is just doing its incredible work to expel those toxins and that is why you might feel “ill” or '“sick” only for a few days on your juice fats.
Symptoms of Detoxification and Healing Crisis
After years of overloading the digestive system and body, now during the detox, your body finally has a chance to stop using its energy for digesting cooked, processed, and solid foods. So all the efforts are now going towards repairing itself and getting rid of the toxins and excess waste.
These are all expected symptoms during the detox and are actually signs of healing:
Feeling lightheaded
Feeling dizzy
Disoriented
Tired
Liquid stool
Low on energy
Fever
Flu-like symptoms
Fatigue
Weakness
Headaches
Nausea
Bad breath
Stuffed and running nose
Sinus pressure
Acne
Eczema
Rash
Diarrhea
Muscle pain
A burst of energy and then sudden fatigue
Muscle pains and cramps
Gas and bloating
These symptoms are totally normal!
BUT WHY?
Because the body is way more intelligent than we think. Only through dis-ease bodies cleanse themselves.
You might ask - why should I suffer through detox if it’s supposed to make me feel better right away?
First, you somehow felt you needed a detox. Somehow you heard, someone told you, or you read amazing benefits about it online. So you decided to do it. You had that insight you needed a cleanse. Your intuition never lies. The mind might talk you out of it especially once you hit a healing crisis. That’s what the mind does. But the quiet inner voice is never wrong. Listen to it carefully and attentively.
You may think that you were feeling ok, but deep inside you knew you could feel better, more energized, more alive, have more vitality, and less fatigue. Maybe you are depressed now or have mood swings. Do you want to have fewer colds in the future too? So that’s why you deiced to do a detox.
Second, all that has been deeply hidden - suppressed diseases, toxins, accumulated food waste, and pounds of – all eventually will start to come out while you are on a juice cleanse.
If we don’t clean our body temple regularly, then it will manifest in diseases.
But if we take regular preventive measures and adopt whole foods plant-based lifestyle, we can prevent chronic illness, diabetes, and even cancer. So now, with the detox, all that was hidden for years will get a chance to get flushed out.
Every time I get sick I am kinda happy about it. Really.
Because my illness signals to me that something I either eat, do, or think is NOT aligned with my Highest Self. It can be physical or psychological reasons. For me, it is a sign to slow down in life, to check in with my emotional attachments, my tendency to overreact, and higher stress.
Therefore, the not-so-pleasant symptoms you might experience in the first part of the detox are actually signs that you are on the right track. You need to be aware of it and be grateful you are going through them now. They won't last forever! Believe me! The discomfort you might have for a few days will contribute to cleaner bowels and intestines, better digestion, better sleep, and more aliveness.
You might feel very adventurous at the end of a cleanse and even have a burning desire to change your life drastically for things you love and enjoy doing!
Usually, on day five or six, you start feeling way better and will experience much more clarity, more energy, and a much better mood.
Please be aware that these symptoms are normal. This is a sign your body is healing and undergoing so to say "internal surgery" after which you will better.
VERY IMPORTANT INFORMATION: IN ORDER TO MINIMIZE ALL THE HEALING CRISIS SYMPTOMS ONE MUST DO DAILY COFFEE ENEMAS.
DO NOT ATTEMPT LONGER THAN 3 DAYS JUICE FAST WITHOUT LEARNING HOW TO DO PROPER COFFEE ENEMAS.
For any longer juice detox, you MUST do a coffee enema. Without a daily coffee enema, you won’t be able to process the toxins safely. Why?
So our body was receiving all the healing juices for the last 3 days. The digestion was easy peasy since you fed your body only liquids. Then on around day 4, the body goes: “Hmm, we are still going with liquids only. So there are more free resources and energy that is not taken by the digestion of the food. Let’s utilize this free energy and start a MASSIVE repair and healing our the body on a cellular level”.
And at this point, your body begins to speed up its detoxification process and dump all the toxins from your cells.
What happens next? Your liver is getting overworked! Like 20x more.
To begin with, the liver most likely was not in its best shape (unless you’ve been eating clean vegan for like last 5 years). So in addition now your liver has to process even more toxins. It needs help!!! That’s when you might feel all symptoms of detoxification aka feeling crappy before you feel better (more about detoxification symptoms in another post).
So the only way to help your liver in removing the sudden increase of toxic overload it has to process now is to help your liver with daily coffee enemas. See my post on coffee enemas. I truly can not recommend how important to do a longer juice cleanse as it will jumpstart your new healthy life, and set up new better habits and routines.
I offer Juice Detox consultations where I will be happy to share with you all how to properly do a cleanse as I’ve been doing them since 2010.
