Meet the Juices: How to do Your Very Own DIY Blue Print Cleanse

As many of you know, last week I did a three day DIY Blue Print Cleanse, making all of my juices from scratch in my new Breville juicer (read my summaries of day 1, day 2, and day 3 here).  Overall, I really enjoyed the cleanse.  I felt like I was treating my body right with all of the vitamins and minerals in the ridiculous amount of fresh produce I was juicing each day.  I also found that I had a good deal of energy.  I was waking up before my alarm and having good morning workouts.  It made me wonder whether gluten and all the crap in the processed food I eat causes fatigue that I’ve come to accept as the status quo.  I hadn’t weighed myself since the batteries on my scale broke several months ago, but out of curiosity I replaced them right before the cleanse.  I didn’t do this cleanse for weight loss, but because I’m sure some of you are curious, over the three days, I lost five pounds (I’m sure that this was mostly water weight, because I’ve since found it).

The cleanse itself was not that bad physically.  I rarely felt hungry or lethargic as I feared might be the case.  But I did miss the experience of eating.  I missed the pleasure of sitting down to a homemade meal with my husband, or walking up to Barracks Row after work to enjoy a cocktail and some appetizers.  In some ways I think my life revolves too much around the experience of eating, so in that regard this cleanse might have also been good for me.  It refocused me on consumption for nutrients rather than consumption for entertainment.

Moving forward.  Since finishing the cleanse, I have found myself actually craving the juices on a regular basis.  I plan to continue to incorporate them into my regular diet (particularly the green juice and a custom juice I have been making with carrots, apples, lettuce and cucumber).  I also plan to continue to remain aware of what I’m putting in my body.  I don’t think I will ever fully give up bread or meat or cheese or beer, or anything for that matter (except fake sugar… I would like to give up fake sugar).  But when plant-based, whole foods are an equally appealing option, as they so often are, I will make it a point to choose them.   I want processed foods and animal products to become the exception, not the rule.

Anyways, I have heard from many of you who like the idea of a juice cleanse, but like me don’t want to drop $250 for three days worth of juice, so I wanted to share the recipes so you too can do the Blue Print Cleanse at home.  I found many different recipes around the web to clone the BPC juices and I’ve combined and tweaked them.  What I’m sharing with you is the final product after my three days of trial and error.  Enjoy!

Here are the basics:  It’s three days long.  During those three days, you drink six juices a day in the following order:  Green Juice, P.A.M. (Pineapple, Apple, Mint), Green Juice, Spicy Lemonade, C.A.B. (Carrot, Apple, Beet) and Cashew Juice.   There are a couple of things you may drink to supplement your juices: green tea and filtered water.   BluePrintCleanse recommends that you do three days of preparation pre-cleanse, phasing out meat and grains and take five days to phase food back into your normal diet: first fruit, then veggies, then legumes, and finally meat and dairy.  Good luck with that.

First, you’ll need to head to the grocery store.  Here’s a complete grocery list. 

Green Juice: Green juice is a combination of celery, cucumber, kale, romaine, spinach and green apple.  Basically a really leafy salad in liquid form (minus the croutons, feta and ranch dressing).  I actually really grew to love it.  If following the BluePrintCleanse, green juice is the first and third juice you drink each day.

P.A.M.: P.A.M. stands for Pineapple, Apple and Mint, which is exactly what is in this juice.  Aside from your evening nut juice, this is definitely the dessert of your juices.  I also think it would be really fabulous with rum on ice.  If following the BluePrintCleanse, P.A.M. is the second juice you drink each day.

Spicy Lemonade: Spicy lemonade is simply juiced lemons with water, a dash of cayenne and a touch of agave nectar.  This one can be a bit difficult to down.  It’s extremely bitter and is similar to drinking straight lemon juice.  I’ve tweaked it a bit already, but if it’s still too bitter, just dilute it with more water.  If following the BluePrintCleanse, this is the fourth juice you drink each day.

C.A.B.: C.A.B. stands for Carrots, Apples and Beets.  This juice also has ginger and lemon for flavor.  You’re supposed to leave the leaves on the beets, but I found the result nearly unbearable.  The flavor is much better with the leaves removed.  If following the BluePrintCleanse, this is the fifth juice you drink each day.

Nut Milk: You can choose what type of nut to use for this juice.  Cashews are used in the BluePrintCleanse, but unsalted cashews are surprisingly difficult to find.  I made it with almonds two of the days, which worked very well.  I actually liked the flavor of the almond milk slightly better than the cashew milk, although cashews to absorb water better.  If following the BluePrintCleanse, this is the last juice you drink each day, your dessert juice so to speak.