One Day Raw Juice Fast

by – Dr. Ron Cherubino, DC, AMD, DACFE

Benefits of Fasting

Throughout history, many cultures and religions have embraced various forms of water and juice fasting. Some of the known benefits of fasting include, improved health, increased spiritual awareness and detoxification of the body.

From a modern physiological perspective, a raw juice fast, as opposed to a water only fast, has benefits unique to juice fasting – including live enzymes, highly accessible vitamins, covalently bound minerals and more. Therefore, a raw juice fast will feed the body, detoxify the cells, conserve energy and considerably accelerate the body’s healing process.

Water vs Juice Fasting

One of the original proponents of water fasting for health was Professor Arnold Ehret. In his books, Rational Fasting and Mucusless Diet Healing System, he proposes water fasting as well as an occasional raw juice fast, in order to rid the body of built up toxins and poisons. While the information contained in these texts is basically sound and at times even inspiring, professor Ehret’s personality, physical appearance and sometimes hostile nature has made it difficult for these publications to find a universally broad following.

Another excellent resource for information concerning juice fasting and cleansing is Dr. Norman Walker. I highly recommend any of his books but especially the one on raw juice preparation. 

Dangers Of Water Only Fasting vs Juice Fasting

While fasting on water only may be desirable in certain instances, it may also pose significant dangers in highly toxic and unhealthy individuals when compared with the benefits of fasting on raw juices.

At the very least I recommend that anyone proposing to undertake a water only fast, be under the care of an experienced and holistically trained physician.

I would also remind the reader that any toxic poisons that have build up in a body over a long period of time, need to be released in a gradual and safe manner. Juice fasting lends itself better to the safe removal of these stored toxins than water only fasting. And again, releasing toxins too quickly can and will damage cells, tissues and organs.

Exercising Caution With A Raw Juice Fast

In the early years of my practice of chiropractic, holistic and alternative medicine, I began working with and recommending raw juice fasting as a substitute for water fasting. I like to refer to juice fasting as “feasting” rather than “fasting”.

Again, remember that a major difference here is that raw juices contain high levels of very nutritious components that lend themselves to safe and effective fasting in comparison to the results I have seen with water only fasts. I have historically seen far greater benefits of fasting derived from raw juices than water only.

Therefore, in order to realize the benefits of fasting, juice fasting must be conducted in a rational and timely manner. For some this may be relatively simple while for others it will take considerable planning and preparation.

In this blog article I am assuming that the reader is under the professional care of someone with the knowledge and experience to give quality advice on fasting. The following information is offered as an adjunctive reference source and not a replacement for that care.

The Purpose of a Raw Juice Fast

The basic purpose of raw juice fasting is to allow your body the opportunity to use its God given innate abilities to heal itself. By eliminating solid food and its byproducts and simultaneously providing your body with the much needed nutrients found in raw live juices, your body can do just that, cleanse and heal itself.

Juicing for Your Health Podcast – Ask Dr. Ron Radio

The 24 Hour Juice Fast

To begin this raw juice fast you will need to select a day, and a type of juice. The information contained in this blog is based on a day which begins with the time you wake up from a full night’s sleep for a period of 24 hours.

Selecting the Day To Begin Juice Fasting

Selecting the day may seem trivial but my experience tells me that this seemingly simple factor can make or break the average juice fast.

• First, try to select a day for your raw juice fast in which you won’t be around negative food situations. 
• These negative situations will vary from person to person but may include attending a wedding, going on a date or to a party, or visiting food addicted relatives, especially on a holiday.
• All of these situations have been known to hamper the operation of available willpower and consequently affect the successful completion of a raw juice fast.

This is not to say that you can’t undertake juice fasting if confronted with one of these situations, the fact is that a highly motivated person can and will persevere and succeed on a raw juice fast under almost any circumstances. But why not save your energy for the juice fasting task at hand and select a day with as much positive potential as possible?

Selecting the Right Type of Juice Fast

The type of juice fast you select will depend largely on your state of health and previous fasting experience. As a general rule I recommend that a first time faster, or one relatively new to juice fasting, select raw vegetable juice as opposed to raw fruit juice.

The reason I say this is because each of the three types of raw juice drink; vegetable, fruit and citrus fruit, will have a different degree of potency and effectiveness. Vegetable juice is the most gentle and will usually yield the most predictable and safest results.

1. Fruit juices, which include all fruits with the exception of citrus, are considered highly cleansing and may result in a counter productive juice fast.

2. Citrus juices, which include lemons, oranges, grapefruits, limes and any of their hybrid offspring, are considered aggressively cleansing.

3. Vegetables such as carrots, beets, cucumbers, celery, spinach etc., are considered healing or more mildly cleansing.

(Please don’t let the word mild mislead you. Carrot juice used in a raw juice fast for example, is a wonderful and powerful cleanser, but because of its electrochemical make-up it can normally be tolerated under circumstances where fruit and/or citrus juices cannot!)

The Day of the Juice Fast:

1.) Drink 1 quart (32 ounces) minimum of raw juice. (Most people consume 1 to 2 quarts per day)

2.) Drink an appropriate number of glasses of pure water throughout the day. (distilled, spring or R\O-reverse osmosis) the formula for appropriate water intake is:

(body weight in pounds) ÷ 2 + 8 = ounces of water per day.

Please remember that juice fasting with this particular raw juice fast, including the amount of water consumed per day is dependent on your individual state of health. In order to realize the benefits of fasting with this one day raw juice fast you need to consult with your appropriately qualified healthcare practitioner if there is any question as to the safety of following these raw juice fast guidelines.

The Day You Break the Juice Fast:

1.) When you wake up from sleeping, in order to “break” your fast, eat moderate to large amounts of steamed non-starchy vegetables only.

2.) Drink water as desired.

3.) Expect a bowel movement within one hour. If it does not occur, eat again.

4.) After bowel movement occurs you may return to normal healthful eating.

Remember that in order to realize the benefits of fasting, you must cleanse, and in order to cleanse you must loosen and eliminate unwanted toxins. Juice fasting, especially a short fast of a week or less, loosens toxins. When you break your raw juice fast this helps to eliminate those loosened toxins. Plan to break your fast properly, it is as (if not more) important than the raw juice fast itself.

Also remember that I am speaking of a 24 hour fast conducted from morning to morning. In order to receive the full physiological benefit, it is important to begin this period of juice fasting after your digestive system has had a night’s rest.

Also a raw juice fast can be of tremendous diagnostic value. By observing the symptomatic changes, or lack of them, throughout the course of the day, the night and at the time of breaking, important insights into your health can be gained. Be sure to record or remember any changes that occur during these times. One will find it easy to do this by taking simple notes or by using a chart.

Individual experiences will vary, and we therefore do not guarantee any particular experience or result for any particular person.
Information on this web site, from CherubHealth Products, the Ask Dr. Ron Show or questions that are answered on or off the air, are meant to educate, inform and assist people in improving their overall health. It is not intended to replace the advice of your trusted health care practitioners, nor is it intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

Copyright Information

© The Copyright for information that appears at this site is held by Dr. Ron and Dr. Chris Cherubino who are the publishers/developers of the material.  Contact Drs. Cherubino to request permission to use this information.
Individual Use: publications can be FREELY copied or printed by individuals for educational purposes only.
© Ask Dr. Ron Information Services