What is difference between water fasting, Juice Cleanse and, Koso Cleanse?

Fasting and Cleansing are an important treatment in the modality of naturopathy, based on providing rest to the digestive system, diverting vital energy traditionally used to digest food into the process of healing body and mind.

Water Fasting

Water fasting is fast in which you can’t consume anything besides water. Most water fasts last between 24-72hr (1- 3 days). People practice water fasting for various reasons such as spiritual or religious practice, to lose weight, for “detoxing” the body, for its health benefits or preparing for medical examinations. Most water fasting is carried out within 3 days, longer fasting should be done under medical supervision. There is generally a post-fast phase, where you slowly reintroduce food into the system. If it is your first-time doing water fast, it is highly recommended to prepare your body first.

There are potential benefits that are related to water fast. Water fast may promote autophagy: a cellular process in which old parts of your cells are broken down and recycled.1 Several studies indicated autophagy may prevent chronic diseases.2Water fasting is also associated with lower blood pressure,3 improving insulin and leptin sensitivity4, and lower risk of chronic diseases such as diabetes and heart disease. However, with all of its benefits, there also comes risks associated with water fasting. Most weight you lose is water weight, you may become dehydrated, experience orthostatic hypotension, promoting gout, and eating disorder. Most people find it hard to stick to water fasting.

Juice Cleanse

Vegetable/fruit juice-based diet has gained a lot of popularity in recent years. In contrast to the water diet, retention is higher for juice cleanses due to the consumption of vegetables and fruit juice during the abstinence from food provide essential nutrients and improves compliance.

Fruits and vegetables are rich sources of several biologically active components such as polyphenols5, oligosaccharides, fiber and nitrate, vitamins & minerals, which exhibit various activities such as antioxidative, antimicrobial and immunomodulatory that contribute to general health and decrease the risk of chronic disease such as cardiovascular. 6

In the most recent clinical, twenty health adults consumed only vegetable/fruit juices for 3 days followed by 14 days of the customary diet. The subjects were tested on several biological markers. The consumption of the juices was associated with a significant increase in plasma and urine nitric oxide. Nitric oxide (NO) a known vasodilator, is an important factor in cardiovascular disease. Fruits & vegetables are rich in fermentable fiber with prebiotic activity. High fiber intake is associated with decreased risk of cardiovascular diseases & type 2 diabetes. Fiber is composed of oligosaccharides, which provides energy for the gut bacteria.7 The 3-day juice diet has also proven to induce significant changes in the intestinal microbiota, there is an increase in Bacteroidetes and cyanobacteria by day 4 in stool samples, the increase microbiota is associated with weight loss. There was also a decrease in the biological marker of lipid oxidation, malondialdehyde. General well-being score was increased by the end of the study as well.

Koso Cleanse（with R's KOSO）

Koso cleanse was found on a century-old Japanese cleansing process, which is similar to today's cold-pressed juice cleansing method. This aged practice has proven to strengthen one's mind and body. The main advantage of Koso Cleanse is its richness in prebiotics and probiotics. The most recommended cleanses are intermediate breakfast Koso cleanses, 1-Day koso Cleanse and 3-Day Koso Cleanse. It's a very popular cleansing and fasting method in Japan. Actually, many Japanese women really like to improve gut health and lose weight to do Koso Cleanse. 

R's KOSO contains over 100 different fruits, vegetables, and plant-based ingredients. R's KOSO includes unique ingredients such as seaweeds, mushrooms, black sugar from Okinawa island that is rich in mineral, galactooligosaccharide, and oligosaccharides from beet sugars rich sources for prebiotics. Seaweeds are one of nature's best dietary source of iodine, which has been proven to help support the thyroid gland. Mushrooms possess many vital nutrients like β glucans, dietary fiber, mannans, as well as act as prebiotics to stimulate the growth of gut microbiota. R's KOSO utilizes over ten different yeasts during the one-year fermentation process, including lactic acid bacteria, and koji, which is a Japanese cultural fungus. Additionally, R's KOSO contains probiotics, prebiotics, and acetic acid. All these essential ingredients help improve gut health, which is closely linked to weight loss, skin health, and mental health.

References: 

1. Glick, Danielle, et al. “Autophagy: Cellular and Molecular Mechanisms.” The Journal of Pathology, U.S. National Library of Medicine, May 2010, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2990190/.

2. Shirakabe, Akihiro, et al. “Aging and Autophagy in the Heart.” Circulation Research, 13 May 2016, www.ahajournals.org/doi/full/10.1161/circresaha.116.307474.Shetty, Prashanth, et al.

3. “Does Short-Term Lemon Honey Juice Fasting Have Effect on Lipid Profile and Body Composition in Healthy Individuals?” Journal of Ayurveda and Integrative Medicine, Elsevier, 18 May 2016.

4. Kmiec, Zbigniew, et al. “Effects of Fasting and Refeeding on Serum Leptin, Adiponectin and Free Fatty Acid Concentrations in Young and Old Male Rats.” Gerontology, U.S. National Library of Medicine, 2005.

5. Li, A. N. et al. Resources and biological activities of natural polyphenols. Nutrients 6, 6020–6047, doi:10.3390/nu6126020 (2014).

6.   Dahl, W. J. et al. Health Benefits of Fiber Fermentation. Journal of the American College of Nutrition 1–10, doi:10.1080/07315724.20 16.1188737 (2017).

7. Simpson, H. L. & Campbell, B. J. Review article: dietary fibre-microbiota interactions. Alimentary pharmacology & therapeutics 42, 158–179, doi:10.1111/apt.13248 (2015).

8. Henning, Susanne M., et al. “Health Benefit of Vegetable/Fruit Juice-Based Diet: Role of Microbiome.” Scientific Reports, vol. 7, no. 1, 2017, doi:10.1038/s41598-017-02200-6.-Koso