Juice Cleanses promise quick weight-loss, detoxification, more energy, and a boat-load of other questionable claims (which all sound fantastic on paper). Drink yummy juice all day and lose weight? Sounds fun. BUT, there are a lot of reasons it’s not such a great idea. I’m all for juicing (and am a huge fan of any kind of green juice) but there is no reason to drink only juice for days at a time….

 

1. Your body doesn’t need to “detox”. Unless you are coming off of alcohol or drugs, detoxing isn’t necessary. In fact, you have organs specifically made to rid your body of toxins! I understand the yucky, bloated, gross feeling you can get from eating too much {fill in tasty food here}, but eating a healthy diet filled with WHOLE  fruits and veggies, with some lean protein, and healthy fats will be even better for you (and help rid you of that gross feeling too). And guess what…unless all of your produce is 100% organic, you may actually be drinking up a lot of toxins in that tasty little juice….

2. But where’s all the fiber?? Juicing provides the vitamins and minerals that come from fruits and veggies, but they completely get rid of all the yummy fiber. Fiber is the one nutrient that you NEED to cleanse yourself (if you know what I mean). Cut that out of your diet for a few days, and good luck going to the bathroom…..

3. It’s expensive! If you’ve ever juiced at home, you know it takes a lot of fruits and veggies to make a small amount of juice. Multiply that by 5 juices per day, and your whole fridge will be stuffed with produce…and your wallet will be empty. If you decide to go the easy way and buy a 3-5 day cleanse you’ll be shelling out anywhere from $120-300! It may be nice to not have to plan your meals, but I can buy a few weeks worth of healthy and delicious groceries for that price.

4. What about protein? Or fat? Your body needs those macronutrients to survive! (and stay full) Cutting them out for a few days (and going extremely low-cal) may lead to dropping a few pounds, but it will come right back when you start eating again. And surviving only on carbs and sugar (essentially what juice is) will not keep you full for very long, which could lead to binging.

5. Instead of trying to erase an unhealthy lifestyle by drinking a ton of vitamins and minerals for a few days, why don’t we just clean up our habits? Cut down on the caffeine and packaged crap and instead,  eat more whole foods and get your blood flowing! Sounds more fun than starving for a few days AND the results will be long term and lead to LOADS of health benefits.

If you need anymore reasons, check out this article by Precision Nutrition.

 

What to YOU think about juicing?