Well... we won’t keep you in suspense: unfortunately, it is far from ideal. Of course, against the background of other miracle diets, it seems pretty good. But considering that some diets feature menus composed mainly of one type of soup, the bar doesn’t seem to be too high.
Let’s start with a look at what the juicing phenomenon is all about. The rules are simple. For 3 or 5 days you consume only fruit and vegetable juices enriched with spices, herbs and sometimes also grains, seeds or nuts. During this time, you avoid solid food, relying on properly seasoned juices to achieve the desired effect. This treatment takes off a few kilograms and cleans the body of toxins. What more could you want?
Common sense, for one thing.
The basic function of the juice diet is not to lose weight, but to detoxify the body. So let’s look at this aspect first.
Large quantities of drugs (not only alcohol and cigarettes, but also “innocent” substances such as coffee or tea), a poor diet and an unhealthy lifestyle keep our bodies from effectively eliminating toxins. The juice diet is meant to provide just such a pause, a moment for the body to breathe.
The only issue is that the body doesn’t need a moment, much less shock therapy. It was designed as a fantastic machine capable of cleaning itself every day, 24 hours a day, of unnecessary substances. And, in fact, our modern lifestyle poses quite a challenge for this machinery. But using common sense – if excess pollution and bad lifestyle are problems, the solution is to eliminate them, not to avoid them for a few days. More exercise, a well-balanced diet, eliminating addictive substances – these are real ways to support our body in the process of self-cleaning. However, these practices are much more difficult to implement than “three days of juice”.
The second reason why some people choose the juice diet is its supposedly health-promoting properties and the wealth of vitamins found in vegetables and fruits.
Great, but we come back to the same message... a well-balanced diet featuring vegetables and fruits as an obligatory component. Nature gave them to us in perfect form. Once processed into juice, they lose a large amount of fibre. By the way, let’s dispel a myth here: juices have almost as much nutritional value as fruit, even those that are “store bought”, which are wrongly considered to be less nutritional. The problem is actually not a lack of vitamins, but the lost fibre that creates a feeling of satiety. Apple juice is therefore incomparably less filling than the same apple eaten whole. In practice, this means that we are either constantly hungry or unwittingly exceeding the recommended calorie intake. Of course, there are versions of the juice diet in which fibre appears in the form of additional grains or nuts. And again – both should simply be included in your regular diet. Not as a substitute for something that was “lost” by unnecessarily processing fruit.
And on the last point raised by enthusiasts of the juice diet – weight loss.
Unfortunately, we have to admit that restrictive diets – and this is definitely one of them – often deliver spectacular effects. Which then turn into an equally spectacular disaster thanks to the yo-yo effect or once the body develops a tolerance for subsequent miracle diets.
Although energy demand is a very individual issue, it is almost certain that a low-calorie juice diet ensures a large energy deficit in virtually everyone. Even the addition of spices or nuts won’t make it a well-balanced diet. So it’s hard to call it healthy, although in the short term there are visible effects. Good health, however, is a marathon not a sprint – a long-term process that requires patience and cannot be rushed. Even if it requires iron discipline.
To sum up, our verdict on the juice diet is definitely unfavourable.
Does that mean we don’t recommend juices at all? Definitely not. It’s still a much healthier snack than, say, a candy bar. Sometimes juices are easier to transport than fruit and vegetables or they are simply easier to get, e.g. in a shop near your office. If we perceive them in this way, i.e. as a supplement to a healthy diet, preferably combined with a properly balanced meal, they will actually bring us only benefits. So, let’s drink to your health.
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