E.M.
Hi K.. There are a LOT of things to consider when thinking of doing a juice cleanse. The first thing is to understand what a "detox" or "cleanse" is. Basically, it is drastically reducing or eliminating anything that your body has to put effort into processing/digesting. Once your body isn't occupied with getting the food you eat processed and through your system, it turns its focus to getting rid of toxins that have built up in your cells instead. No matter what type of cleanse you do, it's important to drink LOTS of water throughout the day (more than 64oz if you can manage it - closer to 80-90oz) to make sure you are flushing toxins out.
Juice cleanses are great because they can help keep you hydrated during the process (though not a replacement for water), and your body hardly has to do any work at all to process what you put in, while still getting all the vitamins and minerals it needs. A note on protein: 1) believe it or not, dark leafy greens actually contain quite a bit of protein 2) most people don't actually need anywhere near the amount of protein we're made to think we do. Normal amounts found in food are just fine, protein powders and supplements are usually unnecessary unless you are specifically trying to build muscle or have a health condition.
The biggest mistake people make when deciding to do a juice cleanse is not preparing properly or ending properly. If you go from eating large/heavy meals one day to consuming nothing but juice the next day, your body is going to freak out. You will feel sick/hungry/headachy/lethargic/etc. If you then go from drinking just juice to eating a big heavy meal the next day, your body will freak out again and you will feel sick/nauseous/lethargic/etc.
Prepare for your cleanse by working yourself down to very light, very healthy meals before you start. The day or two before you should be eating vegan (no meat, dairy, eggs) small salads or soups, no heavy dressing or creamy broth. Cut out the alcohol and caffeine too. Your first day or two after the cleanse should be the same - clear broth soup, light salads, fruit, and SLOWLY work your way back into normal food. Don't have a salad and then decide "well, I'm eating again so I'll just go ahead and have a cheeseburger". You'll regret it.
If you haven't done a juice cleanse before, I would do no more than a 1-3 day cleanse max. You will get plenty of good effects and then you will have a little experience with how it feels to decide if you want to do it again/longer.
For juices, making your own is certainly ideal but there are many good options these days for buying juice. Make sure any juice you buy is *pressed* juice, not centrifugal juiced. Using a centrifuge to juice mixes in lots of air, and when nutrients are exposed to oxygen they begin to break down immediately. The juice can only go a couple hours before it's lost the majority of its nutritional content. Pressed juice doesn't mix air into the juice, so it has a shelf life of a few days before it's no good. (Note: most home juicers are centrifugal juicers. But if you're juicing at home then you will likely be drinking the juice immediately when you make it, so no need to worry about nutrient loss).
Whatever you do, make sure you're not going crazy with sugar! Very important to mix in green juices that aren't too sweet. Do NOT drink Naked or Odwalla type juices and think you're on a cleanse. Those things are really just processed fruit sugar bombs.
Blue Print Cleanse has a corner on the juice cleanse market these days. You can get them at your local Whole Foods, or order online and they will deliver to your front door. I did some googling and found a place near-ish to you called The Juicing Tree that makes juices for cleansing. They're in Denver and looks like you're probably outside of their delivery range, but maybe you could go pick up a 3-day supply if you're heading that way at some point.
Anyway, I know this is long but if you have any questions please feel free to message me. I'm not a nutritionist, but I'm a nutrition-geek and I work in the natural food industry in NYC where juice cleansing is all the rage.
Good luck!
