The body’s digestive system has two main functions: to bring nutrients in and toxins out.  When we digest food and liquids, the nutrients in the food and liquids is absorbed into the blood stream to be utilized by the cells in the body for fuel. What is not used by the blood to keep our cells, muscles, nerves and bones energized and healthy is excreted through the urine, the skin and the stool in the form of toxins.

If the body is naturally detoxing every day, even while we are fast asleep, why is it then important to detox with a juice cleanse or with alkaline superfoods? Because the food we eat is not always healthy or alkaline; it may contain too much acid-producing processed flour, sugar, animal fat and dairy. Stress is another reason; too much work and too little sleep will create imbalances in the body’s digestive ecology.

Scientists today are calling our digestive system the “second brain.” This digestive brain is very sophisticated and is intimately related to our immune system. When we are under stress, or when we eat the wrong type of foods, our immune system is therefore also compromised. This ecological crisis in our digestive system is one of the main leading causes of auto-immune diseases such as thyroid imbalances, lupus, fibromyalgia, arthritis, and more.

How does this happen? Stress causes indigestion and acid reflux, and so does eating too much hard-to-digest foods, such as red meats, cookies, pizza, and ice cream. Overeating under stress, and especially if we overeat on foods that have a lot of animal fat and sugar, is the main cause of indigestion, constipation and eventually a reduced immune system. In fact, the combination of overeating and stress is one of the most common causes of illness in today’s fast-paced, fast-food world.

Even if we do not indulge in eating too much fatty and sugary foods and our life is relatively stress free, it is very beneficial for health to detox the body on a regular basis with a juice fast. A juice fast gives the body time to rest and rejuvenate by flooding the blood stream with easy-to-digest super foods, so that the digestive organs can take a well-deserved vacation and relieve themselves of long-accumulated fats and toxins.

Studies with rats have found that fasting increases longevity and reduces the risk of the three most common lifestyle diseases in our culture: cancer, diabetes and heart disease.  Regular fasting and a healthy lifestyle has also been found to increase our lifespan by changing our genetic makeup, by literally extending our telumeres, the genes responsible for regulating lifespan.

Juice fasting is a powerful, fun and very tasty way to improve our health and well-being. In summary, juice fasting does what the body knows best: it helps us to easily ingest super-nutrients and to effectively expel the body’s long held toxins. Juice fasting is the most effective ways to ingest and digest nutrients and to expel from the body what it does not need. When the body is allowed to do that on a regular basis, it will heal and rejuvenate—quite naturally.