Juice cleanses are extremely popular nowadays, especially since they come with the promise of helping you detox and lose weight. It sounds fairly easy to either order or fresh-press your own juices and drink these as your daily meals, however, keep in mind that juice cleanses are quite drastic and it’s important to look at the facts before starting your own. Better safe than sorry, right ladies?
Juice cleanses consisting of drinking nothing but organic juices for a week or so starve your body and start to shut down its ability to burn fat. Not to mention, because of the lack of fat and protein in these juices, your body begins to consume muscle mass, which slows your metabolism exponentially. Sounds pretty scary, huh?
Eating nothing but fruit and veggie juices sounds like you’d be getting a lot of vitamins and minerals, right? Unfortunately, the common process for pressing fruits for their juices eliminates the nutrients. You’re better off eating a whole apple or banana in terms of nutritional content.
If you’re truly interested in trying a cleanse, keep your eye out for juices that have a high glycemic index, as these can cause high rises in your blood sugar levels. Sugar rushes can then lead to a crash, so look for juices with a lower glycemic index. Juice cleanses sound like they might make our body feel ultra-energized and strong, but crashing can really put a huge damper on our bodies.
That triangle with all of the different sized sections is actually really important to a balanced diet. Juice cleansing keeps your body from getting the essential nutrients it needs daily by cutting out entire food groups.
Believe it or not, our bodies have natural detoxifiers like our kidneys and intestines to help filter out the junk we put in our bodies each day. A detox is not necessarily something our body is completely void of.
Even if you do lose weight on a juice cleanse, once you go back to eating regular foods, your body will put much of that weight back on. All of that hard work drinking nothing but liquids—gone! Instead, try a healthy, clean diet of lean meats, veggies, and whole grains to help you shed unwanted pounds.
The cost of juicing can be really expensive, especially if you order the juices from an outside company rather than making them yourself. Some programs can cost you over $60 a day for a juicing package delivered to your home. Cost-wise, you’re better off making them yourself, but remember that unpasteurized juices shouldn’t sit for too long, so make them fresh each time.
Although the hype and the glamorization of juice cleanses can seem pretty appealing, it’s always a good idea to put your health first. As much as a flush of fruits and veggies through your body and “guaranteed” weight loss sound enticing, it’s not always worth risking your own well-being for short-term effects (and also possible defects). Having a healthy body does not mean putting it through the test with extreme juicing—so eat clean, get good exercise, and avoid certain toxins like refined sugar and alcohol. Cheers to healthy living! What do you think of the juice cleansing craze?
Sources: womenshealthmag.com, dailyburn.com, ironman.com, huffingtonpost.ca