When health coach and wellness advocate Kendra-Lee Pearman began guiding clients through lifestyle changes, she expected progress — but not the level of transformation she ultimately witnessed.

Her clients were losing weight, healing, coming off medications and rediscovering energy they thought they had lost for ever. What she observed in them mirrored the transformation unfolding in her own life, and eventually grew into something she could no longer keep to herself. That journey became The Detox Juicing Blueprint.

Her personal story played as much of a role as her professional one. For years, she had watched her own weight fluctuate. Diets and programmes produced short-term success, but the weight always returned.

As time passed, she began experiencing health challenges that made her reconsider everything she thought she knew about wellness. When she tried detox juicing, the results were unlike anything she had experienced before. The changes were not temporary; they were sustainable. When she began sharing the approach with clients, their results echoed her own.

A search for resources revealed something surprising. While books on juicing existed, none were comprehensive and spoke to the emotional and spiritual dimensions that she saw as central to healing.

“That’s when I knew it was time to write this book,” Dr Pearman said. “There were resources about juicing, but not about the deeper challenges my clients were facing. I wanted to write something that addressed the holistic lifestyle change that needed to take place.”

At the centre of her philosophy is the belief that emotional, physical, and spiritual health cannot be separated.

“Emotions, our physical, and our mind are inextricably joined; they are inseparable, you cannot separate the two, and so what happens to us physically impacts us emotionally and what happens emotionally impacts us physically,” she explained.

“It’s not just enough to detox and have physical you must have that emotional healing as well, and the spiritual piece is connected.

“When you look at the ‘Refressh’ acronym, the ‘r’ stands for relationship with God, and I believe that you really cannot make any sustainable lifestyle changes without your Creator God, and so I need to weave that into the health journey.”

For her, spirituality is not an optional addition to wellness — it is an anchor. The Refressh framework she uses begins with “Relationship with God”, because she believes genuine and lasting change requires divine partnership.

Although she teaches from a Christian world view, she works with clients of various faiths who understand that the health journey is holistic and that acknowledging a power greater than themselves strengthens their progress.

Detoxing, she believes, is as spiritual as it is physical. Clearing toxins sharpens focus, opens the mind, and creates space for stillness. “When your body is cleaner, your mind becomes clearer,” she said. “You can hear God more easily. You’re more receptive to His Word and that still, small voice.”

Her Refressh pillars — relationship with God, eating healthy foods, fresh air, rest, exercise, sunlight, self-control, and hydration — form the foundation of her programme. These principles, long respected within her Seventh-day Adventist faith, are designed to work together to bring about whole-person renewal.

People often focus solely on diet and exercise, she noted, but forget the equally vital roles of rest, adequate hydration, sunlight, and moderation. She finds that hydration is the area that many struggle with most. “People say they drink a lot of water, but once we measure it, they often aren’t drinking nearly enough — and sometimes they’re not drinking the right type of water. Distilled water works best.”

The Detox Juicing Blueprint outlines a seven-phase process that begins with preparation — something that distinguishes her approach from other programmes.

She explains that the mind must be ready before the body can follow. “People think they can jump straight into a diet, but without mental preparation, it’s easy to get discouraged or give up. Where your mind goes, your body will follow.”

In her book, she describes what she calls the “health continuum”, where many people live in a state she calls “suboptimal”. They may not be seriously ill, but they are not functioning at their best. They rely on medications, stimulants, or coping mechanisms just to get through each day.

“Most people are surviving, not thriving,” she said. Thriving, she believes, means waking up with purpose and joy, without depending on stimulants or pharmaceuticals to function.

It is living with vitality, clarity, and ease — eating well, maintaining a healthy weight, feeling confident in your skin, and enjoying life with fewer aches and limitations as you age. Thriving is not perfection; it is freedom.

Each chapter of the book concludes with a truth bomb, a reflection, a prayer, and a journalling prompt. These elements were intentionally designed to slow readers down, inviting them to reflect, reset, and reconnect.

Her devotional approach is grounded in her foundational scripture, 3 John 2: “Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.” For her, this verse captures the message of the entire book: God desires holistic health — physical, emotional, and spiritual.

She sees The Detox Juicing Blueprint as the beginning of a larger movement. In her words: “Yes, I do see future projects. I already have programmes that align with the book.

“I’m also working on another book — people are always asking for my plant-based recipes, so I’m putting those together. I have my Refressh boot camp and other programmes people can join.

“I hold cooking classes — including a holiday class that took place on December 7 — and I speak at churches whenever invited. I also run my health and wellness centre located in St George’s. All of these are connected to The Detox Juicing Blueprint.”

Towards the end of the conversation, she shared one more belief that fuels everything she does: “I believe the body wants to heal itself if we give it the right things. If we give it rest, water, the right foods, and practise self-control, if we nurture our relationship with God and make sure we’re getting sunlight and fresh air — the body will heal itself when we give it the right conditions for anything it is going through.”

The Detox Juicing Blueprint is more than a guide; it is an invitation. It calls readers to pause, reset, and rediscover the joy of living in harmony with God, with themselves, and with the world around them. It offers a pathway out of survival mode and into a life that is vibrant, purposeful, and whole.

• A book launch for The Juice Detoxing Blueprint by Kendra-Lee Pearman, PhD, ND, will take place on December 19, from 11am to 2pm at Brown & Co