The Final Straw

 

http://justonjuice.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/startjuicing1.jpg

From the beginning, I was a bit weary of the idea of surviving off of juice for even a couple days let alone a week or more. I love juice though, even the green ones, and had hopes for something that would help me kick off some serious healthy changes in my life. My original questions were:

-       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 jumpstart 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?

While I did find solid answers for the majority of my questions, most of them leaned toward the idea of a miracle weight loss cleanse being an unhealthy option for most people and not something that can help maintain keeping lost weight off. For many people, the lack of knowledge behind juice’s nutritional facts will lead to them to create sugar-laden beverages that end up doing more harm than good in terms of weight loss and creating a healthy, balanced diet. The key word in that sentence is balanced. Juice cleanses are not balanced. You are depriving yourself of fiber and solid foods that will keep you feeling full and stop you from wanting to binge. Many people that participated in juice cleanses ended up with flu-like symptoms, feeling lethargic and downtrodden. In terms of the actual cleansing aspect of the juice cleanses, most doctors agree that juicing does not cleanse anything from your body that your kidneys and other functions don’t already do for you.

            While these results may not be the same for everyone, the more successful juicers would be making very vegetable heavy recipes, light on fruits to keep the sugar contents lower. Juicing is a great way to get in the daily-recommended amount of fruits and vegetables, but may be best left as an addition to a whole food diet. At this point, I am all for juicing, not as a cleansing program, but as an addition to a healthy, balanced, whole food diet and exercise program. If you want to jump start weight loss, you will most likely have to do it the old fashioned way. Clean out your pantry and get your butt to a gym!

Sugar, Sugar, AAHHWW Hunger, Hunger

Photo courtesy of: http://greatist.com/sites/default/files/styles/article_main/public/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/How-Much-Sugar-is-in-Fruit_-Graphic.jpg?itok=nRvZlwLg

My professor found an interesting article (Web MD) for me regarding different types of sugars and their effect on your hunger. Glucose and fructose are two different types of sugars and both are commonly found in fruit juices. In a study on how these different sugars affected hunger, separate groups of subjects, unaware of which type of sugar they were consuming, were given drinks with either glucose or fructose sugar bases. During the consumption of these drinks, they received live feed brain scans that were monitored by the study scientists. “Study scientists were particularly interested in changes to a region called the hypothalamus, which helps to control appetite. They also took blood samples to check levels of hormones that control feelings of hunger and fullness, and asked the study participants how satisfied they felt after drinking the different sugar solutions. As quickly as 15 minutes after people in the study finished the drinks, researchers began to see changes in brain blood flow and activity.

After the glucose drink, the body seemed to recognize and respond to the extra calories with an increase in glucose and insulin levels. That response, which blunts hunger, was significantly greater than fructose's. Brain activity also slowed in the hypothalamus, the region that stimulates appetite. After the fructose drink, on the other hand, the hypothalamus continued to stay active. There was little increase in insulin, and study volunteers said they felt hungrier, even though they weren’t told which sugar they’d had.” As I briefly touched on in my second post, excessive sugar consumption, such as the sugar found in fruit juices, can lead to weight gain and in drastic cases, Diabetes. Here is a chart I found that compares the amount of sugars in soda versus juices and the numbers are not looking good in fruit juice’s favor. With that much sugar found in fruit juice naturally, how could juices partially, if not mainly, made up of fruits be a healthy way to lose weight when sugar is a main cause of weight gain?

Chart courtesy of http://www.hookedonjuice.com/

12 ounces of >>>>>>>	Coca-Cola	Orange Juice	Apple Juice	Cherry Juice	Grape Juice
Total carbohydrates	40 g	39 g	42 g	49.5 g	60 g
Carbs from sugar	40 g	33 g	39 g	37.5 g	58.5 g
Sugar (teaspoons)	10 tsp	8 tsp	10 tsp	9 tsp	15 tsp
Calories	145	165	165	210	240

Throughout my research, I’ve discovered a lot of sub-questions and off shoots of information regarding juice cleansing, but one of my original questions was about jump starting weight loss and dealing with hunger during a cleanse. A main ingredient in the weight loss recipe is a healthy, balanced diet. As discussed in an article called “Juicing For Weight Loss”, on http://www.livestrong.com/article/405870-juicing-for-weight-loss/, “The USDA recommends a balanced diet consists of 54 percent carbohydrates, 28 percent fats and 18 percent protein. This is impossible to maintain on a juicer diet, as you deprive yourself of most foods. Therefore, potential side effects include dizziness, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and kidney trouble.” It then continues to suggest that, “For sustainable weight loss, opt for a balanced, nutritious diet that includes organic fruit and vegetables, but also foods rich in protein and unsaturated fats, and take an hour of exercise daily.” So basically, if you want to lose weight, you jump start it with a healthy, balanced diet and exercise, not starvation and excessive juice consumption. Does this mean the good old-fashioned diet and exercise is the only realistic means to an end?