To cleanse or Not to cleanse?

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Photo Courtesy of: http://thumbs.dreamstime.com/x/human-internal-organs-lined-vegetables-19321818.jpg

I have covered the basics of juice cleanses so far, but now it is time to get down to the nitty gritty of the medical information regarding these juice cleanses. In my previous post, while sifting through some other sources I began to notice doctors opinions leaning towards juice cleanses not being healthy or useful. This information began raising questions for me about what juice could actually cleanse and what your body does itself. First of all, I am going to tackle the actual term “cleanse” that is used in the title of juice cleanse. Most doctors believe that your body can cleanse itself well enough on its own without needing any help from juice cleanses.

The kidneys are the main reason for your body being able to cleanse itself. It is your body’s detoxification system. Your kidneys, according to the National Kidney and Urologic Diseases Information Clearinghouse (NKUDIC), are “sophisticated reprocessing machines”. This segment from the NKUDIC website breaks down exactly why you don’t have to cleanse your body and how it does it itself. “Wastes in the blood come from the normal breakdown of active tissues, such as muscles, and from food. The body uses food for energy and self-repairs. After the body has taken what it needs from food, wastes are sent to the blood. If the kidneys did not remove them, these wastes would build up in the blood and damage the body.”  (NKUDIC) 

So if your body is already cleansing your blood toxins, then most juice cleanses are claiming to do something that you are doing naturally whether you are surviving on a strictly juice diet or not. 

The American Cancer Society’s website (http://www.cancer.org) has a section on juice cleanses or otherwise known as juice therapy. Their overview section says that, “there is no convincing scientific evidence that extracted juices are healthier than whole foods.” In my earlier post I had discussed that while juices are not proven healthier than the whole food, you can pack a days worth of vegetables and fruits in one or two glasses of juices making it more accessible to people looking to fulfill their recommended daily intake. The American Cancer Society’s website also says that, “a diet high in vegetables and fruits has been shown to reduce cancer risk and improve overall health.” They say that juicing can be safe when incorporated into a healthy diet, but when over-ingesting juice you can induce some flu-like systems. So while juice incorporated into a healthy diet is safe, is it worth it to reduce your diet to strictly juice and possibly cause flu-like symptoms for cleansing results that most doctors agree your body creates naturally?

Cited Sources

1.) "The Kidneys and How They Work." National Kidney and Urological Disease Information Clearinghouse. Feb 2014.NIH Publication No. 14–3195. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of Health. Web. 20 Apr. 2014.

Cosmo and Fitness Break Down Juicing For Us

 

I bought a juicer and have started experimenting with different juice combinations. I love vegetables and it has been an awesome new way to incorporate more of them into my daily routine. I am learning some amazing details about Juice Cleanses, but have been sticking to delicious juices for breakfast and lunch and solid foods for dinner. I have also been researching some of my questions regarding these juice cleanses. For this post, I am referencing two articles, one from Cosmopolitan and the other from Fitness Magazine.

My first source is an article is Cosmopolitan Magazine called “The Truth About Juice”(http://www.cosmopolitan.com/advice/health/truth-about-juice), authored by Courtney Rubin as an online spring feature. The article has broken down juicing and juice cleanses into two main sections. The first being called "The Big Business of Cleansing" and covering the background of Juice Cleanse companies that are making big bucks on the fad. The second section is called "Detox Myths" and delves into some of the claims that the cleanse companies are making. “The Truth About Juice” also talks about the body’s natural functions and its internal self-cleansing properties. This began leading me to think more into questions like, does juice actually cleanse your system of anything it wasn’t already cleansing on its own?

The Doctoral sources used in the article are very clear in their comments of negativity towards juice cleanses and the cleanse companies’ claims. In response to the question of why juice cleanses or juice based diets with added spices aren’t recommended by doctors if they are widely claiming to improve health conditions, David Seres, MD, director of medical nutrition at Columbia University Medical Center goes as far to say that, “there is exactly zero scientifically supported evidence that they work to prevent or cure any illness.” With that being said, if you’re not looking for a cure-all for some ailment you’ve got; what about a jump-start to your weight loss program? Does being so diet focused and aware of what you’re consuming at least make you more health conscious? These are some more questions that I want to research further. I will use these to help nail down some more specifics about juice cleanses.

My second source for today is the 2014 April issue of Fitness Magazine. While perusing this issue, I came upon an interesting statistic that, “most of us eat just more than a cup of vegetables a day, or about half of the 2 ½ cups the USDA recommends.” (p. 32) Further on in the issue, there was an article called “Juice It Up” written by Jessica Girdwain. The article discusses the healthy side of drinking juices and juicing at home as opposed to some of the store bought pasteurized and sugar packed juices although Girdwain quotes Luke Howard, Ph.D., a food scientist at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville who disagrees and says, “ the difference probably isn’t large enough to have a significant impact on your health.” She focuses on the point that many of us would not eat an entire bag of greens and additional veggies and fruits, so in that instance juicing packs all of those into a glass for you and at times when those wouldn’t normally be on the menu such as breakfast. As far as I can tell, the main thing lacking is fiber from the solid food versions of those juice fruits and veggies. It can be a large part in actually feeling full and not feeling deprived. If I don’t feel full then I would personally be more inclined to want to binge on solid food and possibly the less healthy versions. The article also includes some nice facts from David Katz, M.D., the founding director of the Yale-Griffin Prevention Research Center about how juice is a “concentrated source of calories” and how it is “digested faster than solid food” causing “an increase in blood sugar.” They continue by saying,  “Drinking too much juice, especially fruit juice, can actually contribute to weight gain and has even been linked to type 2 diabetes.”  While the fruit juice/sugar information was helpful, does getting the extra half bag of greens in juice form really make up for not eating the salad in whole food form?  It does look like sticking to more veggie-laden juices is the healthier option as far as juice consumption goes, but I feel that the lack of solid food and fiber makes it a hard thing to stick to for even a short amount of time. Here is a veggie based juice recipe that I tried:

2 Granny Smith Apples

½ box/bag mixed “power” greens

1 small chunk peeled ginger

1 cucumber

2 carrots

1 bunch celery

1 serving Spirulina (mixed in)

I have been drinking this is the morning and while it does look like a sea monster in a glass, I felt energetic before my morning coffee for once.

Sources Cited

1.)Website: http://www.cosmopolitan.com/advice/health/truth-about-juice

2.)Girdwain, Jessica. Juice It Up. Fitness Magazine. 2014 April. Magazine Publication. 25 Mar 2014

3.) Photo Courtesy of: http://image.shutterstock.com/display_pic_with_logo/137002/136822553/stock-photo-pretty-girl-selects-pizza-or-diet-on-kitchen-background-136822553.jpg

The Juice Cleanse Craze- Introduction and Questions

Welcome to SPRING! We are all reminded of the New Year’s Resolutions we made to shed some pounds this year, preferably before we go gallivanting around scantily clad without the safe, bulky sweater protection we all can resort to for our Colorado winters. I myself am preparing for an April trip to St. Croix and a May trip kicking off the festival season in Gulf Shores, Alabama. I’m a gym membership holder and I try to make healthy choices when eating out and grocery shopping, but between the 20 oz. lattes and grab-n-go snacks I find myself searching for a diet or exercise that can really jump start some weight loss for me. 

 While searching, I came across plenty of options, but many of them require preparing a week’s worth of meals on my only day off and while I give gold stars to all of you who are able to accomplish an entire meal-time makeover this just wasn’t going to work for me. Then, I found out about juice cleanses. They can range from three days to a couple weeks and can be prepared at home with a juicer or store bought and ready to consume. While preparing to delve into one of these cleanses for the sake of my bikini body and for a first hand look at what these are like; I have a few questions. Are Juice cleanses safe? Are they effective for you in the long-term and the short-term? Do they actually cleanse your body of toxins and provide a jump start for weight loss or weight management? Do you get all the nutrients you need from a liquid diet?  Are there any long or short-term repercussions of consuming only juice as opposed to solid foods? Is there a certain length of time on a juice cleanse where it is most effective? What are the necessary fruits and veggies to create a balanced juice diet? How do you feel when you are surviving on only juice?

I look forward to doing some thorough research to find the answers. I plan to do a shorter juice cleanse for a first hand look at the effects of being on a liquid diet. I will also be researching and referencing health/ fitness magazine articles that do some myth busting of their own on the juice cleanse, while finding some medical/scientific sources on the safety and internal effects of being on a juice cleanse. I am hoping to find out one way or the other what the juice cleanse really does to the body and its effects on short and long-term weight loss goals.

Introduction

Hey! My name is Noel and I will be blogging for my English 121 class. My blog subject will be coming soon!