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!
No comments:
Post a Comment