Recently a few of you have asked me about juice cleanses for weight loss and detoxification. I haven’t tried a juice cleanse myself; this is what I found in researching it.
Will a Juice Cleanse Help You Lose Weight?
Yes, short term it will help you lose weight, but juice cleanses won’t work for long-term weight loss. Juice cleanses works similarly to a calorie restriction or intermittent fasting diet, in that they’re generally lower in calories than your normal diet. Also, it requires you to cut out eating foods like pizza, cookies, and doughnuts so this will help you lose weight too. It’s not the juice that helps you lose weight; it’s everything you’re taking out of your diet.
Will a Juice Cleans Help you Detox?
No, that’s what your liver and kidneys are for. Assuming that your liver and kidneys are functioning normally, they will detoxify your body enough. If you don’t drink enough water normally, then you’ll probably drink more water as part of the juice cleanse and drinking more water helps move more toxins out through your kidneys.
Also, if you drink alcohol, you have to stop drinking alcohol for a juice cleanse, and this can help your liver function better and detoxify your body. The juice itself isn’t detoxifying your body.
Another reason a juice cleanse can help you feel better is that you’re not eating any unhealthy foods like doughnuts and cookies. Even if you’re not doing a juice cleanse and you do these things you should feel better and have more energy.
Should You Try a Juice Cleanse?
For most people, the answer is no. The reason to consider it is if you think it will help kickstart you into eating healthier. If you think it will help you take unhealthy food out of your diet long term, it may be worth trying a juice cleanse short term like for three days. You should also always consult with your doctor first before starting a new diet.
A Few Things to Watch Out For
It’s not a good idea to do juice cleanses regularly because of the extra sugar and the fluctuations in your blood sugar levels. Long term this can potentially impair your sugar insulin regulation.
Although it may seem like it’s healthy when you drink fruit and vegetable juices, you don’t absorb vitamins and minerals the same as if you ate the same fruits and vegetables. Also, juices don’t have as much fiber as actually eating fruits and vegetables. So you don’t get all the health benefits of having fruits and vegetables.
The other thing to watch out for is feeling dizzy or lightheaded or other signs of having a low blood pressure if you’re doing a juice cleanse. This can be because juices don’t generally have as much sodium (salt) as your normal diet and in some people, this will cause you to have a lower blood pressure. This is why you’re advised to drink a lot of water with a juice cleanse, to keep your blood pressure from getting too low, but this isn’t a good solution. Eating food is a good solution.