I've continued to read about juice feasting and have had some great online conversations with people about the subject.  I love the idea of juice feasting except for one thing. Enemas. The Rainosheks, who put together this juice feasting program (www.juice feasting.com) recommend regular enemas throughout the 92 day juice feast.  I don't like the idea of putting any foreign object in my body in order to force liquids in the opposite direction that nature intended, nor do I believe in colonics, which claim to remove "years" of impacted, encrusted fecal matter made up of "pounds" of putrid meat and other indigestible foods that block the colon after a period of time.  I will explain my perspective, but first I want to say that -as with other debates within  the raw community- this one seems to push some buttons.  There are staunch believers in daily enemas while fasting or juice feasting who say the practice rids them of toxins and makes them feel great. There are people who believe in regular colonics and love the clean feeling they have afterwards. My blog is not to "dis" these people, but I believe that those who oppose these cleansing techniques have valid points to make as well.  

MY ISSUE WITH COLONICS
One of the arguments for colonics- which are a more thorough version of colon cleansing than are enemas- is that we build up years of fecal matter that start to block our colons. Pounds of this stuff develop, making us toxic and ill.  I have my doubts about that.  Nowadays people are getting colonoscopies more and more.  Part of the prep for these exams involves cleaning out the colon so that the doctor can use an internal camera to visualize lesions or polyps inside the colon. You need a colon that is clean and clear for such an exam.  How do millions of patients prepare for these exams? They take some nasty diarrhea-inducing medications, suffer cramps and diarrhea for several hours, and show up at the doctor the next day with clean, pink colons.  I have yet to read a report that pounds and pounds of long, hard, snakelike, years-old fecal matter is emerging from these millions of people.  Try doing a search on colonoscopy prep and see what you find.  I always try to keep an open mind but I just don't see the evidence that supports this blocked-up colon idea.  Skeptics believe that what emerges from the colon during an herbal colon cleansing is undigested herbs. 

MY ISSUE WITH ENEMAS
As far as enemas, there are concerns that regular use of enemas can replace the body's own natural mechanisms for elimination, creating a dependency on enemas.  Now, I'm quite sure many people using regular enemas would report that this isn't happening to them, and I'm quite sure that not everyone becomes dependent or are injured in any way by it. It's just a concern I have, and it's a big enough one that I wouldn't use an enema.  Furthermore, I believe that the human body, which has been created to release toxins and waste through various organs, doesn't need mechanical help in doing so if we are eating healthfully. 

Now, if you don't do enemas, juice feasters warn that you'll experience autointoxication, or the reintroduction of those toxins into the body.  I can see the logic they are applying, but is it factual?  I've been sick in the past- so sick that I've lost my appetite completely and subsisted on water, juice, maybe broth for days.  I went through the same thing recovering from surgery- no appetite, couldn't eat. I have also fasted in order to lose weight (desperate teen, what can I say?) These are forced fasts.  Yet I never seemed to need an enema to deal with floods of toxins exiting my body despite suddenly ceasing my regular diet and consuming a much healthier-albeit liquid- one. My doctors never recommended that I get enemas.  Many people who fast for religious reasons don't use enemas but still report spiritual clarity, physical cleanliness, and greater strength and energy.  So are enemas truly needed? Might the detoxification we experience be completely manageable through our body's own natural functions? Or, could it be that a juice feast is somehow a greater "shock" to the body than any of the above situations? I doubt it. You may be withdrawing from all sorts of chemicals, sugars, caffeine, etc. depending on your previous diet, but juice feasting sounds healthy to me- you are getting loads of nutrients as well  as enough calories every day (this isn't a fast). 

JUICE FEASTING CONCERNS
Well- maybe consuming only green juices isn't completely healthy. For 92 days you are not getting any fiber or healthy fats. But the Rainosheks make up for missing nutrients through products they recommend you buy.  They call for supplements to provide omega-3 fats (and B-12).  As for fiber, which helps to move waste through our colons and intestines, they explain that they want the body to focus on cleansing rather than moving fiber through the body, so they recommend some products that act as bulking agents.   For me- and as always I speak only for myself- I would prefer to leave the fiber in the vegetables rather than buy manufactured fiber!  If the trade off is having a slower detox or slower cleansing, then so be it. I'm not racing anyone. I have no date by which I need to be done with this.  And I'd like to get my healthy fats by adding a little cold-pressed olive oil or avocado to my smoothie- why pay for a supplement?

MY VERSION OF JUICE FEASTING: SMOOTHIE FEASTING!
I want to try a modified version of juice feasting that involves consuming the foods they recommend, but getting most of my nutrients from food rather than supplements. I'll take B-12 and MSM though.  (Hey, I never claimed to be consistent).  I'd add avocado, virgin coconut and olive oils for my fats, and leave in the fiber in rather than removing the pulp.   To follow their plan I'll need to cough up $30 to have access to the full daily information.  I'm willing to consider doing it out of curiosity and because, I admit, I'm psyched about leaping into 100% raw using a site full of information like theirs.  I may not believe in doing it exactly as they recommend (which means I won't use their site to maintain a journal), but I'm quite sure I will enjoy awesome health benefits just as those who do the supplements and enemas.  Others have followed a  smoothies-only regimen before. Valerie Winters blogged her 2007 experience as The Green Smoothie Experiment.

CONCLUSION
So I'm still enthralled by the whole juice feasting.com site and the fact that the Rainosheks seem to have prepared answers for every possible doubting Thomas out there.  They don't appear to hide behind gobbledygook or vagueness; they address questions head-on in their PDFs and instruction guides. They also don't portray themselves to be doctors, and they sagely recommend that everyone get a medical checkup before beginning their program.  I appreciate this willingness to be transparent and practical.  I can follow their rationale and then decide if what they recommend is something I want to follow.   Many people have decided to follow the program and love it.  I've got nothing against any of them- I just prefer doing it with a few changes that fit more with my beliefs and preferences.   I'd love for the Rainosheks to be interviewed for Raw Vegan Radio- wouldn't that be great?  By the way, I wrote to the Rainosheks over the weekend to ask them about alternatives to enemas during their program but I haven't heard back from anyone yet. They recommend additional activities to help rid the body of toxins (like skin brushing) but none of these are replacements for enemas. I hope to get a response from them soon.
 
Please feel free to comment on the issues I've written about- you certainly don't have to agree with me-  you might even give me some food for thought (so to speak).  And if you do agree with me, that's cool too! Perhaps you can state the case more eloquently than I have.  By the way, check out the sidebar for a link to the Rainoshek's blog about their own juicefeasting experience.