Cleanses have been on a rollercoaster journey in terms of their favourability. One minute juicing your way to inner and outer harmony is all you can read about, the next they’re being struck off as a celebrity fad that’s not worth investing in. So what is the Hip & Healthy take on the juice cleanse?

I decided to explore this idea with my good friend, Georgie, by going on a juice cleanse with her. Georgie had never done a juice cleanse or detox programme before. Whereas, I have tried most juice cleanses under the sun. Georgie is a tad sceptical about the benefits that a juice cleanse can bring, whereas I am fully signed up. I love a good juice cleanse. Having said that – I haven’t actually gone on one for a few years since having my second son. We were lucky enough to try Purearth’s Immunity Cleanse. We chose this particular juice cleanse because immunity is a hot topic at the moment for obvious reasons and coming out of winter, I wanted to ensure that my immune system was as strong as it can be after feeling a little depleted over the colder months. Purearth is an organic, healthy drinks brand that has dominated the juice cleansing market here in the UK. Started back in 2012 by two friends, Jenna and Angelina with the aim of helping people live healthier lives through providing them with great quality juices packed with nutrients, minerals and vitamins, Pureath has been a brand on our radar for sometime. 

DAY 1
Both Georgie and I were excited to get started on the cleanse. It all arrived the night before, and I literally loved the way it looked in my fridge – all stacked up neatly and so colourful – I felt healthier already. You first kick off with a toxin-expelling charcoal drink that looks way worse than it is – it is actually very nice, followed by hot water and lemon, which seems to be a staple of any healthy morning routine. Then it’s time (about an hour after you wake up) for your first juice of the day – the Sunrise Green Juice, which tasted delicious. Mid-morning had us both downing a Balance Shot and lunchtime was a rather tasty nut mylk – we both devoured it. At this stage in the game – so far so good. The afternoon felt harder for us both – I often snack my way through from lunch to supper, I am a constant grazer and I really did start to feel hungry at this point. My husband walked past my desk with an ombar and I nearly punched him in the face but instead opted for one of the Purearth Kefir juices, which you can drink anytime. It wasn’t much of a substitute but as soon as I reminded myself that I am doing this to press the reset button on my immune system, I felt much better. Georgie, forever the stronger one of the pair of us, wasn’t missing too much at this stage.

The Afternoon Nut Mylk was a very welcome addition to the cleanse, although very turmeric-y in taste, it felt super healthy and yet fairly filling too so I wasn’t complaining. For our evening ‘supper’ we opted for the broth. It was really nice to have something warming as I often do find it hard to cleanse in the winter due to everything feeling so cold. Then was time for a little pre-bedtime night cap – the Chaga tea. Both of us found it really hard to drink this, the taste is not something most people are used to – so strong and bitter. Chaga is a type of mushroom that has been used for centuries to boost immunity and improve health, but not even the amazing health benefits of this one could make me enjoy the tea – I knocked it back faster than a glass of wine at the end of a day of homeschooling! My stomach was rumbling hard at this point so I ran a bath and went to bed early. 

DAY 2
The half-way point in any cleanse is often the hardest as you’re hungry, irritable, and maybe even experiencing things like headaches at this point. I had all of the above, coupled with the fact that my husband decided to make pancakes for breakfast – what the actual… It was at this point that I realised how much I loved food and I will never take it for granted again. I called Georgie to get a much-needed pep talk – however, Georgie was faced with far worse on this particular day in her cleanse. She was sadly off to a funeral – and to this day I don’t quite know how she managed to get through the day, tired and emotional and incredibly hungry, with the only silver lining being that she said it was nice not to have to think about making food for herself at least. Which, although sounds like a small thing is a huge benefit of going on a cleanse – you realise that the time spent thinking about what to cook and actually cooking it, especially when you’re often cooking for others too – can really add up and I certainly noticed that I had a lot more time due to the fact I wasn’t cooking at all during the day. Lunchtime on day 2 the Nut Mylk is replaced with a green juice – that was a hard pill to swallow. I finished the day with the Tai Broth, which was delicious. Thankful that the Chaga tea was replaced with a herbal tea for Day 2, I drank a Pukka mint tea in front of nine million episodes of Bridgerton and went to bed far too late. 

DAY 3
Georgie and I both woke up extremely hungry but the amazing thing at this point was that our Sunrise green juice really did fill us up and the Nut Mylk felt positively generous, in fact, it was taking us longer to consume the drinks, which are super large.! I definitely noticed more energy on this day and my skin had started to show signs of improvement – spots were clearing up and it definitely felt like I had hit the reset button on the bad eating habits I had gotten into. Georgie commented that all her bloating had gone and she was sleeping so much better, but we were both excited about eating real food the next day. 

CONCLUSION
The cleanse was brilliant in many ways, the most notable effect that both Georgie and I cited was that it literally pressed the reset button on some bad habits we’d gotten into with regards to our eating (bowls of cereal and toast before bed, chocolate after every meal, craving sugar constantly). Being on the cleanse was certainly a challenge and it felt great to complete it with literally no cheating… ok maybe one cheat (Georgie admitted to inhaling a bag of hula hoops on day two and I may have gobbled up a left-over fish finger from my kids plate… ok it was TWO!). I definitely could not have done longer than three days, and I think that in future, with life as busy as it is at the moment, I may not go on a full cleanse for some time again as the trickiest thing was juggling my mood and hunger with all the things I needed to achieve in the day – add to that a few night-wakings from the kids and I literally turned into Frankenstein. However, I want to keep on top of how much goodness I put into my body, and since it is not always feasible to make juices from scratch, I plan on buying seom Purearth juices and tonics and add these alongside my regular diet whilst removing all the snacking and sweet stuff that I tend to veer towards. Healthy juices teamed with good, nutritious meals – that to me is a match made in heaven.

words by Sadie Reid

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