Disclaimer: The juice cleanse was offered at a discounted rate by The Juice Truck.
Lately I've been feeling motivated to adopt a healthier diet (call it a midyear's resolution) so I decided to endeavor on a week-long juice cleanse to help get things started. In Vancouver, the cold-pressed juice craze may have subsided since its emergence a couple years ago but there are still plenty of juiceries offering up freshly cold-pressed juices and juice cleanse deliveries. So I went ahead and chose The Juice Truck, one of the original cold-pressed juice companies in Vancouver. I opted for their 7 Day Cleanse as I'm a fairly experienced cleanser to see how things would go. I'm glad to report that I've completed the challenge and today I want to share with you my experience. This post will be focused on The Juice Truck cleanse and my experience with the cleanse and I won't be giving much background information on juice cleanses in general. So if you are juice cleanse novice, definitely do some research online to see how they can benefit you. To read on, click......
How It Works:
The Juice Truck offers several juice cleanse plans: 3 Day Cleanse ($195 CAD), 5 Day Cleanse ($325 CAD), 7 Day Cleanse ($455 CAD), and a build your own juice cleanse option. Normally, The Juice Truck juices are $9 for a 500ml bottle so I find it quite interesting that each juice in the cleanse actually ends up being ~$9.30, with the extra charge presumably covering delivery costs. Therefore, delivery isn't actually free and you get no discount for buying in bulk, which is a bit disappointing in my opinion. So if you live near a The Juice Truck store, you can save a few bucks by simply picking up some juices yourself.
All the cleanses entail drinking seven bottles per day and each delivery is for three days worth of juices (21 bottles) so you better have some spare room in your fridge. The delivery comes the evening before the start date and The Juice Truck delivers to most places in the lower mainland.
As mentioned, the plan entails drinking seven bottles of juices per day, you can snack on raw veggies, fruits, and nuts but you should obviously try to avoid everything else if you want to attain the best result.
The Juices:
All The Juice Truck juices are fresh, raw, unpasteurized, and cold-pressed with no preservatives so all the minerals, vitamins, and other nutrients remain intact for maximal absorption. The fruits and vegetables listed on the bottle are the only ingredients that go into the juices. Additionally, most of the fruits and veggies are sourced locally from organic farmers. The only downside of the juices I suppose is that they are only good for a few days. I drank quite a few bottles past the best before date with no ill outcomes but if you are hoping to stock the juices for a longer period of time, you're out of luck.
Depending on which cleanse you choose, you get a variety of juices each day (see the 7 Day Cleanse breakdown as an example). The pattern does repeat a bit but you never get the same juice twice in a day and you always get a Nut & Seed each day. I never found myself getting tired of the flavors so The Juice Truck definitely does a good job of making the menu fresh. Also, they included a small packet of chia seed for each day so you can add it to one of your juices for some extra texture and nutrition.
The Base | Cucumber, Celery, Pear, Kale, Lemon & Ginger: The quintessential cold pressed juice, The Base is sweet with a noticeable presence of cucumber and celery.
The Digestive | Cucumber, Apple, Celery, Spinach, Lemon & Parsley: A nice balance between the earthier green taste of The Green (see below) and the sweeter fruity taste of The Base, The Digestive is an everyday kind of cold-pressed juice.
The Red | Carrot, Apple, Beet, Lemon, Chard & Parsley: Definitely one of the sweeter juices from the list, The Red is rich with the flavors of carrots and beets.
The Green | Cucumber, Celery, Kale, Spinach, Parsley, Lime & Ginger: I hate to be mean but The Green is probably the reason why vegetable juices get a bad rep for tasting yucky. Made with no sweet fruits or veggies, the juice tastes exactly what it sounds like. It's grassy, earthy, and not very pleasant. However, you can work around it by mixing it with a sweeter juice such as The Remedy (see below).
The Remedy | Pineapple, Cucumber, Kale, Ginger & Mint: Lightly sweet and tangy thanks to the pineapple, The Remedy is a refreshing summer juice with a subtle hint of mint.
The Aloe Green | Pineapple, Coconut Water, Orange, Aloe Vera, Spinach & Mint: This one is similar to The Remedy, except that it's the slightly more tropical.
Nut & Seed | Filtered Water, Walnut, Hemp Seed, Date, Cinnamon & Vanilla: Another favorite of mine, Nut & Seed is a super rich and creamy nut milk that's lightly sweet. This one is crazy filling, after drinking this in the early evening, I honestly couldn't take in another bottle of juice.
The Kickstarter | Apple, Cucumber, Lemon, Ginger & Cayenne: Definitely one of my faves, this is a sweet lemony juice with an invigorating kick of cayenne and ginger. It's not overly sweet and something about it is just so refreshing.
Skin Deep | Apple, Strawberry, Kiwi & Lemon: A straight up fruit juice, Skin Deep is a lovely strawberry kiwi punch. Because it's a much more sugary juice, it only appears once on the menu near the end of the cleanse.
The Turmeric | Pineapple, Orange, Carrot, Turmeric, Ginger & Lemon: Although this one has carrots, ginger, and turmeric, The Turmeric is surprisingly mild. I wish it had a stronger hit of the spices to spruce up the sweet base. Again, this juice only appeared once in the cleanse menu.
My Experience:
This is not my first juice cleanse so the whole idea of consuming mostly nothing but juice for a whole week wasn't as daunting as the first time around. With that said, I did snack on some raw veggies and hummus was my guilty pleasure. However, for the first couple of days, I only drank juice and found seven bottles a day way too much to handle. On both days, I managed only five bottles and this already resulted in me going to the bathroom on a 20-minute interval (I was drinking water regularly, as well, as you should). From the third day forward when I started incorporating some raw veggies, I could manage only four bottles a day. Nut & Seed, in particular, was one "juice" that always left me feeling super full, so I would actually recommend drinking it earlier in the day so you can still drink a couple more bottles of the other juices after the fullness goes away.
The most commonly asked questions in regards to juice cleanses is probably whether or not you feel hungry only drinking juice. For me, I never felt hungry in that stomach-growling sense but I was seriously craving solid food and basically anything with some salt content (hence the hummus indulgence). In the first couple of days, I was experiencing a bit of bloating, which is not uncommon. When I started incorporating raw veggies and hummus into my cleanse, I got super gassy and trust me, things got smelly...... So perhaps don't be like me and stick to only raw veggies, fruits, and nuts.
A lot of people say they feel super refreshed and energized when they are on a juice cleanse and I honestly can't say I've ever felt that way. If anything, I felt constantly distracted by cravings of solid food. Also, The Juice Truck cleanse is not a diet. You may lose a couple pounds of water weight but it's definitely not a long-term solution. With that said, a juice cleanse is a great way to kickstart a healthier diet. It really does help gently clean out your GI tract, easing you into a greener, more plant-based diet.
Overall, I am very pleased with The Juice Truck juice cleanse experience. The majority of the juices tasted awesome and the delivery process was easy and convenient. Does it cost a lot less in the long run to buy a juicer and make your own juices? Yes! However, the amount of time and hassle The Juice Truck saved me of buying and juicing all those fruits and vegetable myself is paramount. If you just want to incorporate some cold-pressed juices in your regular diet. I would recommend buying your own juicer (anything from Hurom is great). However, if you are aiming for a juice cleanse, making enough for five bottles of fresh, cold-pressed juice a day is a huge pain the butt and that's where The Juice Truck come in.
With that said, the downside with The Juice Truck cleanse is that the seven bottle a day plan is undoubtedly excessive for my personal intake, leaving me desperately trying to give away my leftover juices to family and friends before they go bad. However, The Juice Truck does have a "build a cleanse" plan and with that you can toggle the number of juices that gets delivered at a time so I would definitely recommend choosing that instead. Lastly, I would also like to see more information on juice cleanses on The Juice Truck website. There were some useful FAQs and a short overview but for a beginner, more general information would be useful.
Availability:
The Juice Truck has several locations in Vancouver, delivery is available in Vancouver, North and West Vancouver, Burnaby, Surrey, White Rock, Richmond, New Westminster, Port Moody, Coquitlam and Port Coquitlam, Langley, and Delta.
How It Works:
The Juice Truck offers several juice cleanse plans: 3 Day Cleanse ($195 CAD), 5 Day Cleanse ($325 CAD), 7 Day Cleanse ($455 CAD), and a build your own juice cleanse option. Normally, The Juice Truck juices are $9 for a 500ml bottle so I find it quite interesting that each juice in the cleanse actually ends up being ~$9.30, with the extra charge presumably covering delivery costs. Therefore, delivery isn't actually free and you get no discount for buying in bulk, which is a bit disappointing in my opinion. So if you live near a The Juice Truck store, you can save a few bucks by simply picking up some juices yourself.
All the cleanses entail drinking seven bottles per day and each delivery is for three days worth of juices (21 bottles) so you better have some spare room in your fridge. The delivery comes the evening before the start date and The Juice Truck delivers to most places in the lower mainland.
As mentioned, the plan entails drinking seven bottles of juices per day, you can snack on raw veggies, fruits, and nuts but you should obviously try to avoid everything else if you want to attain the best result.
The Juices:
All The Juice Truck juices are fresh, raw, unpasteurized, and cold-pressed with no preservatives so all the minerals, vitamins, and other nutrients remain intact for maximal absorption. The fruits and vegetables listed on the bottle are the only ingredients that go into the juices. Additionally, most of the fruits and veggies are sourced locally from organic farmers. The only downside of the juices I suppose is that they are only good for a few days. I drank quite a few bottles past the best before date with no ill outcomes but if you are hoping to stock the juices for a longer period of time, you're out of luck.
Depending on which cleanse you choose, you get a variety of juices each day (see the 7 Day Cleanse breakdown as an example). The pattern does repeat a bit but you never get the same juice twice in a day and you always get a Nut & Seed each day. I never found myself getting tired of the flavors so The Juice Truck definitely does a good job of making the menu fresh. Also, they included a small packet of chia seed for each day so you can add it to one of your juices for some extra texture and nutrition.
 |
| The Juice Truck | The Base & The Digestive |
The Digestive | Cucumber, Apple, Celery, Spinach, Lemon & Parsley: A nice balance between the earthier green taste of The Green (see below) and the sweeter fruity taste of The Base, The Digestive is an everyday kind of cold-pressed juice.
The Red | Carrot, Apple, Beet, Lemon, Chard & Parsley: Definitely one of the sweeter juices from the list, The Red is rich with the flavors of carrots and beets.
The Green | Cucumber, Celery, Kale, Spinach, Parsley, Lime & Ginger: I hate to be mean but The Green is probably the reason why vegetable juices get a bad rep for tasting yucky. Made with no sweet fruits or veggies, the juice tastes exactly what it sounds like. It's grassy, earthy, and not very pleasant. However, you can work around it by mixing it with a sweeter juice such as The Remedy (see below).
 |
| The Juice Truck | The Red & The Green |
The Aloe Green | Pineapple, Coconut Water, Orange, Aloe Vera, Spinach & Mint: This one is similar to The Remedy, except that it's the slightly more tropical.
 |
| The Juice Truck | The Aloe Green & The Remedy |
The Kickstarter | Apple, Cucumber, Lemon, Ginger & Cayenne: Definitely one of my faves, this is a sweet lemony juice with an invigorating kick of cayenne and ginger. It's not overly sweet and something about it is just so refreshing.
Skin Deep | Apple, Strawberry, Kiwi & Lemon: A straight up fruit juice, Skin Deep is a lovely strawberry kiwi punch. Because it's a much more sugary juice, it only appears once on the menu near the end of the cleanse.
The Turmeric | Pineapple, Orange, Carrot, Turmeric, Ginger & Lemon: Although this one has carrots, ginger, and turmeric, The Turmeric is surprisingly mild. I wish it had a stronger hit of the spices to spruce up the sweet base. Again, this juice only appeared once in the cleanse menu.
 |
| The Juice Truck | Nut & Seed & The Kickstarter |
This is not my first juice cleanse so the whole idea of consuming mostly nothing but juice for a whole week wasn't as daunting as the first time around. With that said, I did snack on some raw veggies and hummus was my guilty pleasure. However, for the first couple of days, I only drank juice and found seven bottles a day way too much to handle. On both days, I managed only five bottles and this already resulted in me going to the bathroom on a 20-minute interval (I was drinking water regularly, as well, as you should). From the third day forward when I started incorporating some raw veggies, I could manage only four bottles a day. Nut & Seed, in particular, was one "juice" that always left me feeling super full, so I would actually recommend drinking it earlier in the day so you can still drink a couple more bottles of the other juices after the fullness goes away.
The most commonly asked questions in regards to juice cleanses is probably whether or not you feel hungry only drinking juice. For me, I never felt hungry in that stomach-growling sense but I was seriously craving solid food and basically anything with some salt content (hence the hummus indulgence). In the first couple of days, I was experiencing a bit of bloating, which is not uncommon. When I started incorporating raw veggies and hummus into my cleanse, I got super gassy and trust me, things got smelly...... So perhaps don't be like me and stick to only raw veggies, fruits, and nuts.
 |
| The Juice Truck | Skin Deep & The Turmeric |
Overall, I am very pleased with The Juice Truck juice cleanse experience. The majority of the juices tasted awesome and the delivery process was easy and convenient. Does it cost a lot less in the long run to buy a juicer and make your own juices? Yes! However, the amount of time and hassle The Juice Truck saved me of buying and juicing all those fruits and vegetable myself is paramount. If you just want to incorporate some cold-pressed juices in your regular diet. I would recommend buying your own juicer (anything from Hurom is great). However, if you are aiming for a juice cleanse, making enough for five bottles of fresh, cold-pressed juice a day is a huge pain the butt and that's where The Juice Truck come in.
With that said, the downside with The Juice Truck cleanse is that the seven bottle a day plan is undoubtedly excessive for my personal intake, leaving me desperately trying to give away my leftover juices to family and friends before they go bad. However, The Juice Truck does have a "build a cleanse" plan and with that you can toggle the number of juices that gets delivered at a time so I would definitely recommend choosing that instead. Lastly, I would also like to see more information on juice cleanses on The Juice Truck website. There were some useful FAQs and a short overview but for a beginner, more general information would be useful.
Availability:
The Juice Truck has several locations in Vancouver, delivery is available in Vancouver, North and West Vancouver, Burnaby, Surrey, White Rock, Richmond, New Westminster, Port Moody, Coquitlam and Port Coquitlam, Langley, and Delta.
