For those of you who follow my blog, you’ll know all too well about how my juice fast was a complete and utter flop. Not only did it drain me of my energy, but it had me on a course of extra strength probiotics for months!
Despite that, when I was presented with an opportunity to meet the prince of all things juice related, I couldn’t pass up the offer.
One Thursday afternoon I made my way to London and parked myself in a hotel bar, scouring the room for Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead star Joe Cross. How on earth was I going to pull this off and make it look like I interview celebrities on a daily basis?
Failing at the first hurdle by practically running at him from across the room, he decided to take matters into his own hands and hail down a waiter. “You wanna juice?” he says to me in his Australian accent. SURE I DO! It’s like I’m starring in the next movie as he orders us a green juice combo filled with cucumber, celery, ginger, and lemon. This is too cool.
Then I lost all professionalism. Not only did I tell him all about how juice fasting nearly killed me, and that it was pretty much all his fault, but I then proceeded to describe my efforts at doing a home colonic! It’s times like these I wish I had a more reliable brain-to-mouth filter.
However, what I learned was that Joe doesn’t rate enemas or colonics very highly. In fact, his precise words were “they’re a load of crap.” Interesting considering most of the advice on the web is that the two events go hand in hand. He also doesn’t take any additional supplements like probiotics or include any fats unless the fast is more than ten days.
What I enjoyed most about these conversations was that he seemed to carry out a lot of his own research; when we got into discussion about centrifugal or masticating juicers, he dismissed the idea that heat destroys enzymes and instructed me to find him the evidence.
He continued to tell me that four days is not long enough to reboot the system, and ten days is what we should aim for. By asking me to imagine myself locked away in a room for days on end, he explained how the body goes into survival mode as we refrain from giving it fiber. When it thinks you’re not getting any food, your body will go into a hyper-aware state, heightening all your senses so that you are able to find something to fill it up. And this is why juices gain their benefit above smoothies; when the fiber is going in, your body doesn’t think it needs to work hard to survive.
While I personally don’t recommending a prolonged juice fast for absolutely everyone (especially for those with adrenal fatigue), I 100% agree with including juice on a regular basis.
Since filming his first movie, Joe has released another book and is inches from showcasing a second film, a recipe book, and a London juice bar (The Juice Well). Travelling across the globe, it’s clear that this man is on a health mission.
Confessing that ideally he would like to see everyone drinking near to a liter of fresh juice each morning, I wanted to know how I could get on board and convince people to adopt a healthier lifestyle. Shaking his head, he told me it’s not about convincing people but leading by example and prompting others when they’re ready to learn.
While Joe tried various alternative health avenues before he found his peace with juice, he admitted that everything else was just touching the surface, “You need to get the nutrients in.” And although he broke my plant-based heart when he described eating an occasional steak, he says that he now aims for 1000 calories from plants a day and reboots his system with a juice fast at least three times a year.
On asking whether vodka is acceptable to add into a juice, he also said yes in complete seriousness.
What I loved about meeting Joe is that his positive attitude is contagious; you can’t help but consider scrapping food for months at a time in order to reach a level of contentedness that he oozes. Whether it’s his charm, infectious smile, or the fact that he’s on a mission to heal the world, Joe Cross is inspiring people to heal their lives, and I’m sure we can expect a lot more from him in the next few years.
