Juice Therapy for Weight Loss: Does It Work?

Juices are nutrient-rich, but they lack the fiber found in whole foods. Also, juices are low in protein and may not provide enough calories to sustain weight loss.

Juice diets and “cleanses” are not a healthy or sustainable way to lose weight. Many people who follow these diets report gaining weight when they resume a normal eating pattern.

Boosts Metabolism

Juices are high in nutrients and are an excellent way to get more fruits and vegetables into your diet. Many of them are also low in calories. However, juicing should be a supplement to a healthy diet rather than the primary source of food. Incorporating a variety of fruits and vegetables into your daily meals can help you lose weight gradually without causing nutrient deficiencies.

At its core, weight loss requires consuming fewer calories than you burn. But weight loss is a complex process and many factors affect how quickly you can lose weight. These include your genetics, the amount of sleep you get, your lifestyle, and the foods you eat, as well as whether you follow Juice Guru therapy.

Some people choose to detoxify or jumpstart their weight loss by following a juice cleanse. During a juice cleanse, you remove solid foods and consume only liquids made from fresh fruits and vegetables. Some juice cleanses last a few days or weeks. Despite the claims of some, there is no scientific evidence that a juice cleanse can help you lose weight or detoxify your body.

Instead, a juice cleanse can actually cause you to gain weight. In one study, researchers asked 20 healthy participants to drink six bottles of different juices per day for three days. After the fast, participants gained an average of 1.7 kilograms (kg), or 3.75 pounds (lb).

Moreover, while some juices may provide essential vitamins and minerals, they are not the same as whole fruits and vegetables. Juices lack dietary fiber, which is an important component of a healthy diet. In addition, they are often high in sugar and can lead to a sugar crash or hunger. In fact, a recent study linked a juice diet with oxalate nephropathy, a kidney disorder that can be caused by too much oxalate in the blood.

In addition to eating a balanced diet, you should also exercise regularly and avoid processed foods. Incorporating a moderate amount of homemade juice into your diet can be a nutritious and delicious way to increase the variety of fruits and vegetables in your daily diet.

Reduces Appetite

Juice Therapy for Weight Loss involves drinking a combination of vegetables, fruits and a little protein to help you feel full and suppress your appetite. You can make your own juice at home with a juicer or purchase premade juices at health food stores. However, it’s important to remember that juicing is only one part of a healthy diet. Eating whole foods and not overeating are the best ways to lose weight. Juicing alone is not an effective way to lose weight, and extreme juice diets can lead to serious health complications.

Drinking only juices is not an ideal way to lose weight because it deprives the body of key nutrients. In addition, consuming too few calories can cause your metabolism to slow down and may even result in muscle loss, which is counterproductive to losing fat. Furthermore, it can be difficult to maintain this type of diet for a long period of time.

Moreover, some of the vitamins and minerals in fruit and vegetable juices are lost during the juicing process. For example, if you’re juicing vegetables like kale or beets, they can contain high amounts of oxalates, which are known to damage kidney cells. Therefore, you should only consume these juices if you’re certain that the oxalates will be sufficiently diluted by other ingredients in the drink.

Another problem with juice cleanses is that they tend to promote behaviors associated with eating disorders, such as anorexia and orthorexia. A study published in 2018 found a connection between juice cleanses and unhealthy behaviors such as extreme calorie restriction, intense exercise and the use of laxatives. This is because a juice cleanse deprives the body of essential nutrients, and as a result, people may develop malnutrition when they begin eating again.

Additionally, a juice cleanse can make you feel weak and hungry, which can cause you to binge or overeat later. This can be especially harmful to your body if you have a history of bulimia or anorexia. Lastly, a juice cleanse can also cause psychological problems, such as anxiety and depression, because it’s an unrealistic and unsustainable eating pattern. If you’re considering trying a juice cleanse, it’s best to consult a mental health professional first to discuss your concerns.

Detoxifies the Body

There is no scientific evidence that a juice diet flushes toxins from the body. While some studies suggest that a short-term juice diet may improve the balance of bacteria in the gut, which can influence weight, these effects are likely to be less than dramatic and only apply to people who are able to adhere to a strict liquid-only diet for a couple of days. Furthermore, consuming only fruit and vegetable juices without other foods can leave the body nutritionally deficient. In addition, the high oxalate content of some vegetables (e.g. kale, broccoli and spinach) can lead to oxalate nephropathy, which is a rare kidney disorder that is linked to the consumption of a juice diet in those who already have chronic health conditions like diabetes or hypertension.

Juice cleanses are a type of crash diet that involves making extreme changes to the daily diet for short periods of time, and it is important to consult with a doctor or dietitian before trying one. They are not suitable for everyone, and they can lead to serious deficiencies in nutrients if followed long-term. Additionally, they can also trigger a “rebound effect,” in which people experience more hunger and cravings than usual after the juice cleanse ends. This can lead to an unhealthy relationship with food and even eating disorders.

It is important to remember that our bodies have in-built detoxification systems that can help eliminate toxins. These include the liver, kidneys, lungs and gut. A healthy, balanced diet can also help with the detoxification process. Instead of signing up for a juice cleanse, try keeping a food journal for a few days to identify any habits you might want to change.

If you are interested in incorporating more vegetables into your diet, try pairing kale or spinach with a frozen banana for a delicious green smoothie, or blend berries with kale and yogurt to make a sweeter, pink smoothie. If you want to add some protein, try adding a little soy milk or Greek yogurt. You can also find many recipes for fruit and vegetable juices online, or try a juice bar that specializes in detox juices.

Increases Energy

Many people start juicing as part of a weight loss program. However, it’s important to keep in mind that juice is low in fiber and should not be used as a substitute for whole foods. The key to weight loss is to consume fewer calories than the body uses, and a wide range of factors influence this including the foods we eat, our level of physical activity, sleep patterns, medications and even the makeup of the bacteria in the gut (1).

While a juice cleanse can help you lose a small amount of weight, it’s not a long term solution for sustainable weight loss. The calorie deficit created by a juice fast is usually water weight, and the majority of this weight is regained once you return to your normal diet (2).

In addition, relying solely on juice can lead to a deficiency of nutrients and slow down your metabolism (3). A lack of protein from juices can also cause the body to lose lean muscle mass, which can have a negative impact on your overall health and fitness. Moreover, a short-term juice diet can lead to feelings of hunger and cravings, and can be an indicator of underlying eating disorders such as anorexia or orthorexia, (4).

A juice detox can be a healthy way to increase your intake of fruits and vegetables, and can be incorporated into a balanced diet. It can also provide the body with a variety of other health benefits, such as boosting the immune system, reducing inflammation, improving memory, and aiding digestion and circulation. Juicing can improve the quality of your sleep, and can reduce the buildup of toxins in the liver and kidneys.

At Noom, we don’t recommend juice cleanses, but incorporating a few days of juicing into your weekly routine can be a great way to boost your fruit and vegetable intake and get the healthy micronutrients that the body needs. It’s best to avoid store-bought juices as these are often high in sugar, and you should always choose organic produce. If you’re new to juicing, try starting with a three day juice detox and gradually add more days as your confidence grows.