Juice Fasting at Amchara
What is Juice Fasting?
Juice fasting is the choice to abstain from food for a period of days and instead consume healthy, vegetable based juices. Choosing to juice helps your body to pre-digest nutrients in the food, which increases absorption and gives your digestion a rest.
Normally we recommend juicing with organic vegetables and the addition of lemon juice and root ginger or turmeric can also enhance the flavour and provide additional health benefits. Sometimes a minimal amount of fruit is also added to these juices from apples and pears. This is particularly useful for those new to juice fasting and adjusting to the new flavours.
Types of Fasting
Fructose-free juicing will include freshly made organic vegetable juices with green vegetables such as cucumbers, courgettes or spinach. Beetroot and carrots can be added, which contain some natural sugars, fructose. Breaking down these sugars adds a minimal load to the liver, however, these vegetables contain high levels of beneficial beta-carotene.
Water fasting is when you only consume water. Water fasting has to be carried out carefully and is not suitable for everyone. Our Personalised Health practitioners will assess whether this is suitable for you.
Supplementing your vegetable juice with fruits, such as apples and pears, which are high in fructose, can make your juices more palatable, with a sweeter taste. Often people starting on this move to pure vegetable juicing after a few days.
A mixture of juices, smoothies and soups is another option we often recommend. It’s all liquid but includes fibre. Often this is appropriate for clients who have fatigue, where we’re aiming to both detox and nourish at the same time.
Having recently become increasingly popular, intermittent fasting means juicing or reducing calories for 2 days per week. This is often a good option for people with particular medical conditions or if you are new to fasting.
Fasting affects biochemical changes within the body. Some of the major changes that occur are:
Reductions in IGF-1
IGF-1 has a growth promoting effect on your body. High levels have been associated with cancer, arthritis, diabetes and accelerated ageing.
Increase in ketone bodies
These are the chemicals that the body uses to break down fat for energy in the absence of sugar.
Decrease in glucose
Too much glucose (sugar) increases your risk for heart disease, fatty liver, metabolic syndrome and Type 2 diabetes.
Enhance complete body health
Fasting can reduce oxidative damage and inflammation, as well as optimising energy metabolism. Research suggests fasting can also enhance cellular protection and extend longevity, in part by reprogramming metabolic and stress resistance pathways.
How does juice fasting work?
Having the fibre removed by juicing vegetables means that the pure goodness of the juice is easily absorbed by the body and all the beneficial nutrients are readily available to be utilised by the relevant cells.
Your body is naturally trying to detoxify all the time via the main detoxification organs. Unwanted toxins are eliminated via the colon, liver, kidneys, lungs and the lymphatic system.
Juice fasting reduces the stress on the body’s detoxification processes, allowing it to naturally reduce your overall toxicity level. This process enhances the body’s repair and healing mechanisms, helping to restore optimal functioning.
Scientific studies have shown that fasting for more than a number of days stimulates a healing process in the body via a reduction in oxidative damage and inflammation, optimisation of energy metabolism, and bolstering of cellular protection. When we fast, our cells change from ‘divide mode’ to ‘repair mode’.
Key ingredients for juice fasting
Cucumber
Highly hydrating and packed with nutritional value, cucumber flesh provides you with folic acid, vitamin C, K and A, and the skin is a good source of many important minerals including copper, potassium, magnesium, calcium, iron and phosphorus. It is also an excellent source of the trace mineral silica, which helps to maintain the strength of your skin, nails and hair. Cucumber can be used as a skin tonic to treat sunburn and reduce puffy eyes.
Courgette
Rich in vitamin C, vitamin A, folate, fibre, potassium and antioxidant carotenes, courgettes contribute to protecting your cardiovascular health, lowering cholesterol and reducing high blood pressure. The antioxidant properties of courgettes help to protect your skin from the damaging effects of the sun.
Kale
A highly nutritious vegetable, kale is an excellent source of vitamin C, offering more than 70% of your recommended daily intake. It also contains a host of other important nutrients, including copper, iron and calcium, as well as vitamin E, B1 and B2. Its high levels of beta-carotene, lutein and zeaxanthin are useful for protecting your eyes and skin.
Beetroot
A valuable source of antioxidants and naturally occurring compounds that dilate your blood vessels, improving blood flow through the body, giving beetroot excellent blood pressure-lowering properties. It has also been found to support the body during exercise by balancing oxygen use and increasing stamina. The brain and heart also benefit from the increased blood flow and subsequent elevated oxygen supply.
Carrots
Carrots contain beta-carotene, known to be beneficial for your eye health, providing protection against macular degeneration and cataracts, as well as improving night vision. They also contain plenty of vitamin K, C, B6, biotin, potassium and thiamine. The antioxidant properties of carrots help protect cardiovascular health and the development of chronic diseases.
Lemon
Lemons are packed with flavonoids and vitamin C, an important vitamin thought to reduce the duration and severity of colds. Lemons aid the production of collagen, required to maintain strong, healthy skin, hair and nails. They are also thought to support cardiovascular health.
Ginger
Ginger has been used as a natural remedy for centuries and is beneficial for numerous ailments. It can have positive effects on your cardiovascular health, including preventing atherosclerosis and lowering cholesterol levels. It has also been found to be effective against travel sickness and morning sickness.
Turmeric
Turmeric is a natural anti-inflammatory with numerous health boosting properties. Adding it to juices is a great way to benefit from its natural healing compounds. It is particularly helpful for reducing inflammation and so is of benefit in inflammatory conditions like rheumatoid arthritis. The antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects of the compound curcumin found in turmeric can help protect your brain and have been found to be beneficial in those suffering with Alzheimer’s disease.
Detoxing at Amchara Health Retreats
Amchara health retreat programmes are designed to help you detoxify both physically and mentally. You are immersed in a positive and supportive environment, increasing the opportunity for your body and mind to start the change process, move toward a greater sense of wellbeing and heal.
We understand that is important to help you develop long term habits to underpin your health now and for the future. Our mission is to help you achieve this.
What our clients say
New beginnings and new experiences. If that is what you want then nothing beats Amchara. From the beautiful setting in the gorgeous English countryside in a stunning house dating back to the 1600’s, to the phenomenal people taking care of every little detail. Everyone was SUPER lovely and make you feel so welcome. The food and juices are so delicious and fresh everyday. Evenings are super cosy by fire watching movies loafing on big comfy sofas. Will 100% go back!!! Thank you Amchara.
Went to have a real break and get away from everything, it was fantastic – calm, healthy food (delicious) and wonderful walks and yoga. Very comfortable and I feel SO much better after only one week – thank you Amchara – really hope I will be able to come again.
Love the place, this is my third visit at Amchara. It is food for the soul and can be an amazing life-changing experience for those who want to learn about how to improve their wellbeing and health..
After a consultation with Alex the naturopath, I decided to do a juice fast, which was perfect for me. I never felt hungry: on the contrary, the juices were really energising. At each juice time, all the naturopaths were on hand to deal with any questions. I also undertook some treatments: reiki and a signature facial. Liz, the reiki specialist, has truly magical and healing hands. I am very grateful to her. Rose gave the most delightful facial. Gozo itself is easy to explore from the retreat and has lots of interesting sites, including the magnificent citadel. The retreat organises walks, but it is fine to explore by oneself too.
My daughter has health challenges and doing a detox makes her feel more empowered with her health. The staff were amazing, helpful, caring and kind to us. Met some great people there and hearing other people’s health challenges made us feel we’re not so alone. Does us both the world of good, gives us a break from everyday living and a reboot. I would definitely recommend to anyone.
New beginnings and new experiences. If that is what you want then nothing beats Amchara. From the beautiful setting in the gorgeous English countryside in a stunning house dating back to the 1600’s, to the phenomenal people taking care of every little detail. Everyone was SUPER lovely and make you feel so welcome. The food and juices are so delicious and fresh everyday. Evenings are super cosy by fire watching movies loafing on big comfy sofas. Will 100% go back!!! Thank you Amchara.