Before we get into my juice fast and recipes, let’s determine if you should even go on a juice fast for 3 days. There was a time in my life when I couldn’t juice fast, and maybe that’s where you are. There are many health interventions and types of fasts. Some may benefit you, some not, depending on your health goals and where you are at in your healing journey. Let’s look at your options and which will most likely help you achieve the desired results.
Types of Fasts and Their Benefits
In this section, I am using the term “fast” loosely. What I mean is that you are going for a specific period of time without certain foods you are accustomed to consuming. You may be fasting from carbs, meat, or solid foods. Or you may be severely restricting your calorie intake. Here are my favorite fasts and how they can benefit you: a modified fast, a keto vegan fast, a smoothie fast, a soup fast, and a juice fast.
Modified Fast
A modified fast is a fast that severely restricts your calorie intake. It is typically about 5 days long, and during the 5-day period, you will eat only about 40% of your regular calorie intake. Moreover, you will consume only plant-based foods and follow a specific macronutrient ratio. The macronutrient ratio is as follows:
- Your macros should be about 10% protein, 56% fat, and 34% carbs on day one and 9% protein, 44% fat, and 47% carbs on the other days.
- Proteins provide about 4 calories per gram, so you will eat about 18 grams daily (the total number of calories from protein will be around 80).
- Carbs also provide about 4 calories per gram, so you will eat about 65-94 grams of carbs daily (around 270-376 calories).
- Fats provide about 9 calories per gram. You will consume about 39 grams of fat daily (around 352 calories).
Learn more about modified fasting by reading my post Modified Fasting: How You Can Benefit From Fasting Without Starving.
Keto Vegan Fast
I like using a 5-day fast period. It is long enough to notice a difference in how you feel and to get over the initial possible keto flu. However, if you choose a keto fast, I have found a good cycle length of 10 days. See how it goes for you and decide how long you want to do it. Maybe do the 5-day keto vegan fast and then, try my 7-Day Intermittent Fasting Keto Meal Plan.
My keto vegan fast will help you achieve ketosis, but it is also filled with wholesome plant-based foods. I created a meal plan that includes everything you need. My meal plan includes a bulletproof coffee for breakfast. Read my post 5-Day Keto Vegan Meal Plan: Intermittent Fasting With a Twist to get all the details.
Smoothie Fast
My 5-day smoothie fast follows the same guidelines as the modified fast. The main advantage of making it a smoothie fast is it eliminates the need to prepare food. Some of you may also find that your smoothies are easier to digest than all the salads and nuts in my modified fast meal plans. I love smoothies, and I drink one a day using my favorite green superfoods. Try the meal plan in my blog post Easy 5-Day Detox to Balance Your Hormones and Lose Weight.
Soup Fast
The Prolon Kiet for the Fasting Mimicking Diet (where I get all the guidelines for the modified fast) is mostly made up of soups. For good reason! Soups are nourishing and warm. Some people have difficulty digesting raw vegetables, and soups can heal your body. I have yet to create a meal plan for a soup fast, but I plan on it this Winter. You can now check out my post 5 Prolon-Inspired Soup Recipes for a Modified Fast.
Juice Fast
Juice fasting has been popular for years in the natural health world. It has been put in question with the advent of the low-carb movement, but it can be very beneficial for those who don’t struggle as much with food cravings. I love the idea of flooding my body with nutrients using fresh juices. The problem is that before, I could never get through even one day! Now, I know some women who can before improving their hormonal health as I did. If you are one of them, good for you! But I feel that a juice fast is for those who don’t struggle with insulin resistance,
How to Pick Your Fast
Before I share all the info you need to do your juice fast for 3 days, let me give you some guidelines to help you determine which type of fast will suit your needs best.
For most women, starting with the keto vegan fast will be the best option. Most women I talk to struggle with food cravings and poor self-control. The keto vegan fast is a quick intervention that will not make you feel as hungry as my modified fasts. However, you will most likely get the keto flu and feel horrible for a day or two, so plan for this.
If you don’t want to deal with the keto flu, try one of my modified fasts. You will feel hungry, so I recommend waiting as long as possible before consuming your first foods daily. That’s a trick that helped me anyway.
If you have a good quality juicer and want to experiment with a juice fast for 3 days, you will love this post, so keep reading!
Is a Juice Fast Right for You?
Ask yourself these three simple questions to know if you are ready to do a juice fast for 3 days:
- Do you frequently crave food? A juice fast is not the best option if you often crave food.
- Do you feel satisfied most of the time after meals? I would not recommend juice fasting if you don’t feel satisfied after meals.
- Do you have fasting experience? I would not recommend juice fasting as your first experiment with fasting. I would recommend you fast for 24 hours a few times at least before that. For example, consider the Eat Stop Eat intermittent fasting method.
If, after asking yourself these questions, you figure that juice fasting is not right for you, what you need to do is experiment with intermittent fasting and modified fasting. You will become metabolically flexible and be able to manage a juice fast.
Sign up for my Intermittent Fasting 101 Workshop to learn more.
Juice Fast for 3 Days
I picked a 3-day juice fast rather than 5 or 10 days because I wasn’t sure I could stick with a juice fast for more than 3 days. Here’s what I will do each day: make a huge amount of juice (by doubling the recipes) and drink it as I feel hungry or even just whenever I want to nourish my body. I will make more if I want more juice after drinking the whole amount I made earlier.
3-Day Juice Fast Recipes
I will start each day with a lemonade recipe I have already enjoyed. Lemons have many health benefits, and you should use the whole lemon (including the peel and seeds), so buy organic lemons. I recommend you buy all your organic produce during this 3-day juice fast at the very least (if you cannot afford to buy organic produce permanently). After my lemonade, I will make whatever juice recipe I feel like drinking.
Juice Lemonade
Ingredients:
- 2 whole lemons
- 6 apples (green or red)
Put your ingredients in the juicer. Add ginger for even more health benefits and flavor.
Carrot Beet Juice Recipe
Ingredients:
- 2 pounds of carrots
- 2 large beets or 3-4 medium beets (include the leaves if you have them)
- 2 cucumbers
- 1 piece of ginger (or turmeric with black pepper)
- 1 lemon
- half a bunch of parsley
Powerhouse Juice
Ingredients:
- 5 carrots
- 4 stalks of celery
- 1 beetroot (include the leaves if you have them)
- 2 beet green leaves
- 2 apple
- 1 lemon
- 1 clove of garlic
- one slice of ginger (or use turmeric and black pepper)
Pineapple Greens
Ingredients:
- 1 small pineapple
- 3 cucumbers
- 1 bunch of celery
- 1 bunch of parsley
- 1 bunch of mint
Broccoli Juice
Ingredients:
- 1 piece of broccoli (use the stalk and the crown)
- 3 apples
- 5 kale leaves
- 1 cucumber
- 1 carrot
- 1 lemon
- fresh turmeric or ginger root
- black pepper
Kale and Cucumber Juice
Ingredients:
- 2 cucumbers
- 6 kale leaves
- 3 apples
- 1 lemon
- 1 bunch of mint
- 1 piece of ginger
As you can see, these recipes resemble each other and tend the reuse similar ingredients. I want to make this juice fast and as easy as possible, but you can always switch things around and look for other recipes.
Shopping List for This 3-Day Juice Fast
I will not include quantities because it depends on how much juice you drink. You are going to drink as much as you want. Just make sure to buy tons of the following veggies (watch my video to see my grocery haul):
- lemons
- fresh ginger root (or turmeric or both)
- garlic
- cucumbers
- celery
- carrots
- parsley
- mint
- kale
- apples
- beets
- pineapple
What Type of Juicer Should I Use?
In case you don’t have a juicer already, I thought I should give you some juicer suggestions. In the lower price range (the centrifugal juicers), I found that the brands most often recommended were the Breville and Cuisinart brands. Honestly, if you plan on making juicing part of your health regimen, I suggest you consider investing in a masticating juicer. Many of them are very affordable ($200-$300) and will make it much easier to juice leafy greens. Besides, you will find the pulp is a lot drier, and they are easier to clean. I have an Omega juicer, and I love it!
3-Day Juice Fast Alternatives
Do you want to do a juice fast but are intimidated because you are not sure you can survive on juice alone for 3 days? I have two options to suggest to remove some of the pressure while preserving all the benefits of your fast: allow yourself to drink tea as needed (to be perfectly honest, I had coffee). If you feel like giving up because you find it too difficult, try drinking a thick smoothie or having a salad.
Smoothie Modification
The point of doing a juice fast is flooding your body with nutrients in a form that is super readily available and easy to digest. The problem with juice fasting is that since juices are so easy to digest, you may feel like you are not getting any food (even though you can get just as many calories as you normally would). Adding smoothies here and there can help. Smoothies still contain all the fiber from your fruits and veggies and may help make you feel fuller.
The top reason I don’t need to eat tons of veggies every day to feel amazing is my daily Power Shake. The Power Shake is a powerhouse in nutrients at a fraction of the cost I used to pay for my weekly produce (I still eat veggies, of course, but I no longer make sure I eat 9 cups a day!). Drinking a smoothie during your juice fast will not negate any benefits.
Salad Modification
Still too hard? Do you NEED to eat? Have a huge salad. Chop lettuce, cucumber, radishes, mushrooms, broccoli, or whatever veggies you have on hand. Put them on a plate with a drizzle of olive oil and enjoy guilt-free. This fast is not about adhering perfectly to an idea of what you think you need to do. It’s about doing what you can do in the most sustainable way possible. Eating only salad and freshly made juices will do wonders for your body.
My 3-Day Juice Fast Results
I was surprised at how easy the 3-day day juice fast was! As I mentioned, I had tried and failed many times before. It shows you how important metabolic flexibility is when sticking to any fast. I felt very satisfied and missed food a little bit around dinnertime.
My energy level was excellent. I don’t think I experienced detox symptoms except for some itchiness on my skin. Speaking of skin, I do think my complexion became clearer. And that will make me think twice about the foods I will consume once I break my fast (I am finishing day 3 today).
The difference seems pretty obvious to me after only 2 days! I was wondering if the lighting was off. Found another selfie from before the fast and tried to replicate it. I can still see that my skin looks clearer:
Another interesting point is that I realized I was right at the end of my cycle during my fast. I tried numerous keto fasts at the end of my cycles and never succeeded. The juice fast was easy because I was still giving my body the carbs it needed, I imagine.
I didn’t lose weight or bloated because intermittent fasting had already accomplished this.
Supplements for a 3-Day Juice Fast
If you are considering going on a juice fast for 3 days, you have some health goals in mind. So, in this section, let me suggest some supplements to incorporate into your juice fast and your overall health regimen to support these goals. I will address the three most common health goals: gut health, healthy immune function, and candida cleansing.
Many of us take supplements to bridge the gap between the nutrients our body needs and the nutrients our food provides. That’s mostly what I am doing at this point hence the Power Shake and this juice fast.
Gut Health
I love the Gut Health Pack because it includes an impressive probiotic, a greens powder, and an aloe vera powder. All very powerful supplements to improve your gut health and your digestion.
Healthy Immune Function
Particularly during cold and flu season, including supplements to boost your immune system is a smart idea. This Healthy Immune Function Pack not only includes immune-boosting superfoods but also includes a probiotic. Why? Because improving your gut health improves your immune function.
Candida Cleansing
I wanted to include this Candida Cleansing Pack to my list of supplements because I have struggled with candida for most of my life. This pack was a game-changer, particularly the Vir-U-Sure included in it. If I feel a yeast infection coming now, I take the Vi-U-Sure for a few days, and it clears on its own. I tried all kinds of natural therapies for yeast infections over the years. Nothing ever worked! This stuff, on the other hand, works like magic!
Juice Fast for 3 Days Video
