Are you toying with the idea of giving your body a break and saying goodbye to your unhealthy eating habits with juice fasting? Maybe you've also already researched what options there are for doing a juice cleanse . The question then arises whether you want to make your own juice cleanse or choose the easy way and order cold-pressed fruit and vegetable juices to your home.
Preparing a juice cleanse yourself has many advantages, but also important steps that must be observed. In this post our nutritionist explains what you need to keep in mind with a juice cleanse.
Why do a juice cleanse?
Numerous people choose a juice cleanse because of its manifold effects on body and psyche.
Behind the mental challenge of living for several days only on water, unsweetened teas and cold-pressed fruit and vegetable juices lies much more than the pure challenge of your own willpower.
Fasting with juices can bring some positive effects. The focus is on easing the load on the body, the gut and the mind. Metabolising your daily food is demanding for your body and sets inflammatory processes in motion. While the general recommendation is to give up snacks in everyday life and give your body rest between main meals, from time to time a longer fasting break makes sense for your body. On top of that, you mentally distance yourself from your eating habits and some big time-wasters fall away. Daily activities such as shopping, cooking and cleaning the kitchen rob you of valuable time in everyday life, which during your fasting days you can use to pay attention to your body and work on your mindset.
We like to use the fasting days for self-care, which tends to get neglected in everyday life. That's why with our frank. Juice Cleanse you can order our frank Self-Care Bundle , which is a perfect companion for your fasting days and beyond for your evening routine . If you are now toying with the idea of doing your own juice cleanse yourself, you should bear in mind that the time you save in the kitchen during fasting will of course be lost. Plan plenty of time for shopping and preparing the juices. The juices always have to be freshly pressed and drunk straight away; they can't be bottled and drunk on the go at a later time.
Are you particularly interested in the benefits of a juice cleanse or fasting? Then we recommend our post on fasting here !
What does a juice cleanse consist of?
On a juice cleanse you live exclusively on juices for 3, 5 or 7 days. That is why juice cleanses differ mainly in the composition and number of juices. At frank. we distinguish by the intensities Starter, Medium and Pro. That makes it particularly easy for you to find the juice cleanse that is best for you. All our juice cleanses consist of fruit, vegetables, spices and water. You shouldn't find other ingredients, such as added sugar or artificial flavourings, in your juice cleanse.
Our field-fresh fruit and vegetables are cold-pressed and then treated with high pressure. That way we ensure the highest possible retention of all the nutrients they contain, a particularly fresh taste and vibrant colour. We pay attention to sourcing as regionally as possible and completely avoid frozen goods or purées. Want to test our juices individually before your juice cleanse? No problem! Here you get to our juices.
The innovative combinations of the different fruit and vegetable varieties ensure that you take in a broad spectrum of different nutrients during your juice cleanse. In addition to the juices, you can and should drink enough water, unsweetened herbal tea and vegetable broth. Do you know our different tea varietiesyet? They are perfect for fasting and taste incredibly good.
Comprehensive instructions are also decisive for your success with a juice cleanse. Especially as a beginner you need information to keep everything in mind from preparation to aftercare. That's why we offer the Fasting Guide as a print and digital version, both in the email confirmation after your order and enclosed in your package.
Should you make a juice cleanse yourself or buy one?
Whether you should make a juice cleanse yourself or rather order a ready-made package isn't that easy to answer.
Buying a juice cleanse can give you the chance to save an enormous amount of time, effort and money during your fasting days.
On the other hand, making your own can bring you a lot of joy, keep you busy during the juice cleanse and in a certain situation also be cheaper.
If you decide to make your juice cleanse yourself, there is quite a lot to keep in mind. The goal of a juice cleanse is to provide your body with significantly fewer calories than it is used to. Because only through a deficit of calories and sugar does regenerating ketosis begin during fasting. To achieve this healing effect, it's important that the juices don't contain too much fructose. Juices with a high share of apple, pear or pineapple taste considerably better, but aren't helpful for the fasting process. The right share of vegetables in the juices is also very important. Despite fasting, your body must stay supplied with the necessary salts and minerals, and the right vegetables take care of that. If you decide to make your juice cleanse yourself, without nutrition science or medical guidance, you should inform yourself very precisely to supply your body with the necessary nutrients.
All the disadvantages of a self-pressed juice cleanse at a glance
If you decide to press your juice cleanse yourself, you should know that it involves more effort than buying one.
Effort of making the self-pressed juice cleanse
For one, you need to inform yourself well about which fruit and vegetables are best suited to a juice cleanse, which varieties also cover your nutrient needs, what amount you need and which combinations taste best. That requires a lot of planning in advance! In addition we advise you to study specialist literature on fasting to be optimally prepared to fast independently. Alternatively you can also download our Cleanse Guide with the bundled, current expert knowledge.
You should also get all your fruit and vegetables in advance and have them ready at home. Self-pressed juices don't keep long and should be drunk within a few hours. If you want variety in your day, you should vary the fruit and vegetable types when putting your juices together. With a bought juice cleanse on the other hand, you can be sure that all juices are matched to your nutrient needs and that you get six different varieties a day for your palate to look forward to.
If you want juices of at least the same quality as our frank. juices, you definitely need a juicing machine or slow juicer. Besides the cost of fruit and vegetables, there is then also the cost of the juicer, if you don't already have one. For a high-quality device you should count on at least €400. That ensures that the nutrients of the pressed fruit and vegetables also end up in your juice. With high-priced devices, the cleaning effort is often lower and handling easier. You can put the fruit and vegetables whole with the skin into the juicer, but you still can't avoid washing them thoroughly. If you don't plan to press juice regularly in future, buying a high-quality slow juicer isn't worthwhile for a single juice cleanse.
Logistical effort of the self-pressed juice cleanse
You can also drink the juices from frank. on the go or at work in the office. Self-pressed juices turn brown in no time, as they oxidise through contact with oxygen and their valuable nutrients are reduced as a result. That's why you should press all juices fresh and drink them immediately. Cold-pressed and HPP-treated juices, like those we offer you here , stay fresh for days when chilled and full of valuable nutrients.
Follow-up questions with the self-pressed juice cleanse
If you have questions during your juice cleanse, you are on your own. With the purchase of a juice cleanse you also get nutrition science advice around your cleanse, and your selection of cold-pressed juices is delivered chilled to your home before you start. That way you can really see the days as lead-in days and use the remaining time for some self-care in the form of yoga, meditations or soothing baths. Beyond that we offer a large portfolio of unique recipes that you wouldn't try on your own. Because who would think of pressing almond, banana, lemon, cinnamon and vanilla into a juice? Our recipes were carefully developed by nutrition scientists so that you are optimally supplied during your cleanse. From the different intensities you can choose the perfect cleanse for your needs.
All the advantages of a self-pressed juice cleanse at a glance
For some people it can definitely make sense to make the juice cleanse themselves. Here are the most decisive aspects!
The extra effort of a self-pressed juice cleanse is fun
The effort described, with research, preparation and aftercare, can definitely be exciting and fun! During your juice cleanse you have an activity that distracts you from any hunger feelings that may arise.
Highest degree of individualisation of your self-pressed juice cleanse
You are also free in the composition of the ingredients in your juices when you make your own juice cleanse. You can jazz up your green juices with oranges, carrots or any fruit and vegetables as well as herbs and spices that you like. When pressing your own, your imagination knows no limits! Just make sure to include as many vegetables as possible in your juices to cover your nutrient needs.
Besides your individual taste, with a self-made juice cleanse you can better take account of your intolerances and allergies. We at frank. have thought of something here too: with our new Mix & Match function you can put together your own individual juice cleanse from our products. If you have questions, we're happy to advise you on that too!
Which juices are suitable for a juice cleanse?
If you buy a juice cleanse you should make sure the juices are cold-pressed and contain no added sugar or additives. The juices should also not have been heated. Heating juices destroys important nutrients. To avoid this we use a complex high-pressure process (HPP). Pressure acts on the packaging instead of heat, which inactivates living microorganisms while important nutrients are retained.
Not-from-concentrate juices from the supermarket are not suitable for a DIY juice cleanse. They contain a very high share of sugar from added sugar, are often preserved with preservatives and, especially important, are heated to high temperatures.
If you want to prepare the juices yourself, you need a juice press or slow juicer. Here too there are big differences. Most juicers are so-called centrifugal juicers, which "press" the juice out of the fruit and vegetables by fast spinning. A lot of juice stays behind in the valuable food. Slow juicers are considerably more expensive but more efficient and gentler on nutrients. They press the fruit and vegetables through a fine filter using a screw. Here, though, the fruit must be prepared and cut into smaller pieces. Citrus fruit has to be peeled and apples cored. We recommend using untreated raw materials so as not to introduce pesticides to your body.
If you want to invest in an efficient juicer and high-quality fruit & vegetables, you should count on a budget of at least €400. When buying a juicer, make sure to choose a model that is easy to clean. Most juice presses consist of very many parts and fine filters. The cleaning process is often very laborious and time-consuming. After each pressing the press must be cleaned immediately, as the fruit and vegetable residues oxidise and dry quickly, which causes very strong smells. Bacteria can also multiply quickly in the filters and tubes of a juice press, which is why careful and hygienic cleaning of the press after each use is essential.
Which fruit and vegetables are suitable for a juice cleanse?
With a 3 Day Juice Cleanse you take up to 6 juices a day for 3 days. Depending on the length of your cleanse, that can add up to 42 juices. To bring variety to your fasting days, we recommend trying different recipes. Different fruit and vegetable varieties supply you with different nutrients, which rounds out your nutritional profile and ensures you take in a variety of natural vitamins.
Spinach, for example, is rich in B vitamins and rich in vitamin C. Bananas give you magnesium and potassium. So do beetroot and celery, which also contain iron. And the biotonin in apples provides important enzymes for your metabolism and serves in the cell nucleus for epigenetic regulation of gene function. Oranges in turn contain a high share of vitamin E. Both vitamin E and vitamin C have antioxidant properties, by the way.
We could name so many more good fruit and vegetable varieties that are suitable for your juice cleanse. But in fact the choice of ingredients is entirely up to you. In general you only need to decide how high the share of fruit and the share of vegetables should be.
If you already have experience with vegetable juices, you can reach for more vegetables such as spinach, celery, cucumber and beetroot. If you're an absolute beginner, we advise easing into it slowly. For now use more fruit and sweeter vegetables such as carrots for your juices. Little by little you can increase the vegetable share and reduce the fruit share. That way the transition won't be hard for you.
That's also one reason why we offer 3 intensity levels in our juice cleanse. For beginners we recommend the Starter Juice Cleanse over 3 days, for advanced the Medium cleanse and absolute fasting pros find in our Pro cleanse everything they need for a successful juice cleanse.
How are the juices from frank made for the juice cleanse?
We look behind the scenes: how do our unique juice recipes come about? How are our juices made?
Development & optimisation of our juices for the juice cleanse
Do we want something particularly refreshing, like our lemonades? Is there an exciting fruit or vegetable variety or a special ingredient we want to include in a juice? For example, Lean Machine was meant to be a variety with coconut water. The sweetish notes harmonise perfectly with the slightly tart vegetables like kale and spinach. Besides taste, I keep a particular eye on the nutritional values!
Once we've gathered enough ideas, we test our recipes in our test kitchen with a household slow juicer and a mountain of fruit and vegetables. Several optimisation rounds take us several weeks and months. Only the very best recipes make it into production!
Before a new variety goes into production, the ingredient list, nutritional values and allergens end up in our label management systemso that the label says exactly what is in the bottle.
Making the juices of our juice cleanse
Did you know that cold-pressing is also called slow juicing, because it is particularly gentle on nutrients but also time-consuming?
It goes like this: first we wash our fresh fruit and vegetables thoroughly and cut them into pieces. Then comes pressing: we put the fruit and vegetable pieces into a special press to extract the juice slowly. We pass this juice through a fine sieve to remove solid residues (e.g. pulp and seeds). That gives us pure juice without coarse pieces.
The last item on the programme is HPP treatment. "HPP" stands for "High Pressure Processing", in short: the juices are treated with high pressure (several thousand bar) instead of heat. This kills potentially harmful microorganisms (bacteria and yeasts) while the taste, consistency, smell and nutritional values of the juice are retained as far as possible. That way you can store your juice chilled for several days without any problem and still enjoy juice that feels freshly pressed.
The advantages of a juice cleanse
As you can see, a juice cleanse has a few advantages and can be the entry into changing your eating behaviour. Making a juice cleanse yourself requires on the one hand quite a bit of research and knowledge, on the other a great deal of time. If you don't own a juicer, a larger investment of up to €500 is also necessary.
If you decide on a self-made juice cleanse, fitting it into everyday life is not so easy, as the juices have to be freshly pressed several times a day and cannot be stored.
With a bought juice cleanse you can concentrate exclusively on yourself and your well-being. You also benefit from the knowledge of our nutrition scientists and experts and are accompanied step by step through your cleanse. Do you now feel like a juice cleanse?
