A glass of freshly squeezed juice has typically been thought of as a healthy drink. In recent years, there’s been plenty of talk about juicing as the next great way to get fit and shed excess weight. However, can a juice cleanse help lose weight or is it all hype? Keep reading as we take a deeper dive into this trendy weight loss practice.
Always remember that you should consult with a doctor before engaging in any diet. Liquid-only diets should never be attempted without medical supervision.
What Is A Juice Cleanse
This is a type of diet where only fruit and vegetable juices are consumed. Although fruits and vegetables are considered part of a healthy diet, some people believe that only drinking their juices is a quick way to lose weight.
Juicing has become popular for several reasons. Firstly, some people believe that juicing is an effective way to remove toxins from the body.
Secondly, it has been purported that juicing can aid in weight loss.
However, there is actually evidence to suggest that liquid diets can lead to health problems and disordered eating.
Generally, juice cleanses are not meant to be done for any longer than 2 weeks, as they are not healthy. No one should ever do a liquid-only diet unless is it under a doctor’s care.
Juicing Basics
The concept of juicing revolves around removing the solids from the essential juices in fruits and vegetables. Many motorized juicers are available on the market today for the easy extraction of juices.
Although juices do provide nutrients and antioxidants, they remove all pulp, skins and seeds which removes any fiber.
Fiber is an important part of any healthy diet. The fiber found in many fruits and vegetables helps reduce constipation, improve bowel health and provide satiety which can be helpful when trying to lose weight.
Some people believe that juicing helps detoxify their bodies. But there is no scientific proof that this is true.
How A Juice Cleanse Impacts Your Body
There are many different fad diets that consist of various juices. The most widely known juice diet is simply one where all solid food is replaced by drinking fruits and vegetable juices.
Diets like these are extremely low in calories, which also makes them potentially dangerous.
Never engage in a liquid-only diet without consulting your doctor first.
You will lose weight from a juice diet because your body will go into calorie deficit. Remember that in order to lose weight you must take in fewer calories than you burn off.
However, this type of diet is not a healthy way to achieve long-term weight loss.
Most likely you will lose weight quickly on a juice cleanse. But once you go back to normal eating, you will probably gain it all back.
Some people may attempt a juice diet for a couple of days or maybe a couple of weeks.
Currently, there is not very much science to back up these types of diets.
Reasons To Avoid Juice Diets
There are many reasons you should steer clear from a liquid-only juice diet.
Unsustainable
This diet is completely unsustainable. The calorie deficit will promote quick weight loss. However, this type of crash diet will not produce long-term weight loss results.
Hunger
Doing a juice diet for a few days may be doable. However, when you don’t eat solid food for any longer than that, you will most likely be hungry on this type of plan.
Juices are often higher in carbs and lack protein and fiber, so you will not have satiety. Adequate protein intake is always important while dieting so that you don’t lose muscle.
Fiber and protein also help keep you full and satisfied. They can assist in reducing appetite and increasing metabolism.
You May Not Burn That Many Calories
If you consume too few calories, your body may go into starvation mode. That can lead to less calories being burned overall.
One study has shown that women who were on a very low-calorie diet actually burned many less calories when at rest.
This particular study may indicate that metabolism can be negatively affected with severe calorie restriction. Moreover, intaking far fewer calories may actually be counterproductive for weight loss.
Not Enough Fiber
Juicing removes the fiber from fruits and vegetables which is an important benefit when you eat these foods.
Fiber is always a healthy part of any diet that most people don’t get enough of. Fiber can help assist with a healthy GI tract and better digestion.
It is also important for lowering your risks of diabetes, heart disease, certain cancers and obesity.
Inadequate Nutrition
Doing a juice cleanse will mean that you are not getting optimum nutrition. Some important elements of a healthy diet will be absent and that can lead to a deficiency.
Juicing diets are inadequate in terms of protein, fiber and essential elements like calcium, vitamin D, B12 and zinc.
Some vitamins will also have trouble being absorbed by the body due to the low fat nature of this type of diet.
Weakened Immunity
If you do a juice diet for too long, you risk lowering your immunity. This is because a juice diet cannot supply you with enough protein, vitamins and minerals that help to support a strong immune system.
When the body has lowered immunity, it can make it easier to catch colds and flus. It can also be harder to heal from injuries.
Feeling Tired
One thing many people complain about on a juice cleanse is that they feel tired. Fatigue is common because of the calorie restrictions on these diets.
Calories help to provide energy to the body. Therefore, if you don’t have enough calories, you will feel tired.
Fruit juices in particular are also high in sugar (carbs). Too much increases blood sugar levels rapidly which then leads to an energy ‘crash’ later.
That can lead to cravings, irritability, overeating and more weight gain.
Muscle Loss
Protein is an essential building block for muscle. Juice diets have very little protein which may have an impact on your muscles.
Muscle tone and development helps with a healthy metabolism. Therefore, if your muscle mass is decreasing, your metabolism will not be burning calories as efficiently.
This can lead to problems keeping the weight off.
Learn More About The Marketing of Juice Cleanses
Final Thoughts Can A Juice Cleanse Help Lose Weight
Fruits and vegetables are an important part of any healthy diet. However, juice cleanses are controversial and problematic as they do not offer a safe, long-term weight loss solution.
There are many reasons that indicate a juice diet can have negative benefits. These diets are unbalanced due to their lack of protein, fiber and overall nutrition.
There are better ways to approach weight loss.
For long-term sustainable weight loss, diets should focus on the right balance of proteins, complex carbohydrates and healthy fats.
This will help lower cravings, keep you full and feeling energized.
Eating fruit and vegetables and drinking juices, should form part of a healthy diet, but it should also be balanced. This means proteins need to be included in your diet. A juice cleanse might be a short term way to lose weight, but it is not sustainable and should not be followed for more than about a fortnight.
My sister was put on a liquid diet for 2 weeks to prepare her body for a major operation, but before that she followed a soft diet for 2 weeks. Both included foods like yoghurt and soups to give her a balanced diet in liquid form.
Juice cleanse might help you lose weight, but it is unhealthy and unsustainable. To lose weight long term, you need to also combine exercise and consume less calories than the burn.
I totally agree with your thoughts here. A juice cleanse is not something anyone should do indefinitely. It’s a quick way to drop a few pounds but not a healthy lifestyle change, which is necessary for long-term, sustainable weight loss. Thanks for commenting.