As an engineering student in California eating healthy was the last thing on city-based entrepreneur Sindura Borra’s mind. From late night treats to a hastily grabbed burger or sandwich anything worked for her. Until a bout of illness forced her to take a course of antibiotics that left her feeling bloated, drained and just plain lethargic. That’s when Sindura was introduced to the concept of detoxifying.
“At the end of the three-day detox I felt lighter and cleaner; like I had gotten rid of something physically. Needless to say I was hooked. In the US people regularly detox and it’s usually by giving up solid foods and drinking a combination of fruit and vegetable juices. The idea is to clean out one’s gut and rid oneself of the toxins that build up due to lifestyle changes and eating habits that include a lot of processed foods,” she explains. Little wonder then that when she returned to the city after her course she was disappointed to find there were no such detox solutions offered here.
“I ended up calling my friend in the US for recipes and ingredients to make my own detox juices,” she says. The complete lack of detoxes in the city spurred 27-year-old Sindura to set up her company Cleanse High, which home delivers a set of eight detox juices made of fruits, vegetables, nuts and superfoods to help with one-day or three-day detox plans. Each of the juices is to be consumed at a specific time and are best had on low productive days.
The basic premise of Sindura’s detox plan is to cut out solid foods and focus on “feeding the cells” rather than “feeding the belly”. But in a city that prides itself on its rapidly growing restaurant scene it wasn’t easy for Sindura to convince people to give up solid food and drink only juices. “It is easy for this to be mistaken for a fad diet. But all the eight juices put together are very nutritious and provide a person 1200 calories, which is what one needs in a day. Once the programme began to take root, people sat up and took notice. Today, I have clients from the medical fraternity and IT sector who call for bulk orders to do ‘detox parties’ with their teams. There are a lot of prominent film families and units that also place orders with us for group detox plans,” says the entrepreneur.
One question that Sindura routinely gets asked is how as an engineering graduate is she able to run a business that deals with fitness and nutrition. “All the juices that we make have been designed by qualified Mumbai and California-based nutritionists. Besides, I believe that I am just an agent to deliver the products to those interested,” explains the entrepreneur, adding, “Cleanse High is my passion. My main area of work is in branding and designing.” With two companies to run this youngster has her hands full. “I don’t mind. I enjoy doing both and I have a well-trained staff at Cleanse High, so I can take care of the designing work during the first half of the day,” she says.
Sindura recommends doing a three-day detox once in 45 days; and herself does the detox once every alternate month. “Some might find the teas infused with herbs and green juice intimidating initially. But they are actually tasty. Those who feel a three-day detox is too much can always start off with a one-day detox and eat something light like a fruit or a boiled egg. Often the first positive sign they see is glowing skin. A detox might just be the perfect way to flush out all those toxins we’ve been accumulating over the years,” she says.
