Sproutman’s 7-Day Just Juice Diet: A Review

Spring is here! Flowers are blooming, the air is warming, the weather is becoming milder and the birds are returning from their winter havens down south. It is also the time that we all get a hankering for cleaning out the clutter that seems to accumulate during the colder, house-bound months of winter. Just like all animals, when the weather turns, we, too, feel the urge to purge, to declutter, to clean house. It is no wonder that the phrase “spring cleaning” is a well-known term.

This deep cleaning is not just limited to garages, basements, closets and behind bookshelves; it is also a time to perform some internal body cleaning. As soon as I felt that familiar yearning that accompanies the warming season, I remembered the book Sproutman’s 7-Day Just Juice Diet by Steve Meyerowitz. I received this volume late last year but did not have the desire to conduct a juice fast. I was, so to speak, still stuck in the winter cycle, a sort of hibernating time when we just want to lay low, stay indoors and enjoy a bowl of warm soup by a hot fire. Nope, it wasn’t my time for a juice fast.

Fast-forward to spring and the cleaning bug bit me! It’s as if a metamorphosis takes place and the next logical step after a long hibernation is to stretch the muscles and cleanse the self. An awakening, a rejuvenation.

The Just Juice Diet is a simple little volume that is packed with everything you need for the 7-Day juice fast, but in addition to the actual fasting period, it also guides you through the preliminary days and the post-juice days; it is a complete companion for the entire process.

Not only does the book contain a section on reasons for conducting a juice diet, it also contains a getting started chapter, selecting the right juicer (if needed) and tips and information on juicing practices, planning your daily routine for the seven days, optimizing the detoxification of your body with suggested supplemental activities and transitioning you back to solid foods after the juicing phase, as well as recipes that are essential to the plan. It’s all here

The book is only 133 pages long, but it is packed to the brim with vital information and, truly, nothing is left out. During my diet there was not a single question I had in mind that was not addressed by Steve. It is a credit to his expertise of juicing that all the information is well organized and nothing is left to wonder about.  In addition, the book itself is full-color and printed on glossy paper. It will last many years to come as the volume is heavy-duty and printed on quality paper.

The daily routine is broken into four essential parts: water, green juices, colon cleanse, and other juices such as the liver cleanse and sweet juices. The importance of exercising during the diet is also explained and brings a new understanding of its significance.

The juice recipes themselves are really delicious! They are very simple to make, but they are all completely different. There are green juices, sweet juices and detoxifying juices in the volume. I highly recommend the Sproutman’s V-8 Juice and the Sweet Beet Juice as well as the liver and gallbladder stimulating Grapefruit Liver Cleanser.

All in all, I realize that your liver, kidneys and gallbladder all function to detoxify your body on a daily basis, but I firmly believe that those hardworking organs can use a good sweeping every now and then. Twice a year should do it. Even if nothing else, a well-directed juice fast leaves your body and spirit fresh and rejuvenated. There is no doubting that a break from the day to day solid foods does indeed give a much needed rest and recharge to the body. If we believe that sleep is a beneficial, nay, vital, rest time for the mind, that a vacation is an important break time for the spirit, how can we doubt that a fast from solid foods is beneficial to our body?

After following the Sproutman’s 7-Day Just Juice Diet, I can tell you that it was an empowering experience just in the sense that most of us are quite chained to solid foods and the break from it was not just powerful, but spiritually uplifting. Not only did I feel better emotionally and more grounded, but my body also felt more liberated and ready to tackle the environment anew. There is no doubt that I will be juicing again following the Sproutman’s Juice Diet, not only because it was easy and the recipes delicious, but because I have a new understanding of the importance of such a fast and the benefits reaped by the experience.

 

Sproutman’s V-8 Juice

Makes about 3 cups (750 milliliters)

Commercial “vegetable juice” is touted as being loaded with eight healthy
vegetables, but it’s really just tomato juice (which is why it’s bright red)
jazzed up with a smattering of other vegetables. Try making my version of
this popular bottled juice and you’ll notice a kaleidoscope of colors. In fact,
the red from the tomatoes is barely visible.

Ingredients

• 4 stalks celery
• 15 to 20 sprigs parsley
• 15 stalks lacinato kale
• 1 to 2 cucumbers
• 1 to 2 tomatoes
• ½ clove garlic
• 2 tablespoons (30 milliliters) freshly squeezed lemon juice (about ½ lemon)
• 1 to 2 teaspoons (10 to 20 milliliters) reduced-sodium tamari

Preparation

Juice half the celery, then half the parsley, half the kale, half the cucumbers,
half the tomatoes, and all the garlic. Repeat in this order with the
remaining vegetables. Stir in the lemon juice and tamari.

 

About the Author:

Steve Meyerowitz       

Steve Meyerowitz was christened “Sproutman” in the 1970s in a feature article in Vegetarian Times because his New York City apartment was always filled with gardens of mini-vegetables. They were part of his lifetime fight against chronic allergies and asthma. After 20 years of disappointment with orthodox medicine, he became symptom-free through his use of diet, juices, and fasting. In 1980, he founded “The Sprout House”, a “no-cooking” school in New York City teaching the benefits of a living foods diet.

Steve is a health crusader and author of 10 books including Power Juices Super Drinks, Wheatgrass Nature’s Finest Medicine, Juice Fasting and Detoxification, Food Combining and Digestion, and The Organic Food Guide: How to Shop Smarter and Eat Healthier. He has been featured on PBS, the Home Shopping Network, TV Food Network, and in Better Nutrition, Prevention, Organic Gardening and Flower & Garden Magazines. His sprouting inventions, such as the “Hemp Sprout Bag” are sold nationwide. You can visit him at Sproutman.com. He has just released his latest title, Sproutman’s 7-Day Just Juice Diet.