My brother-in-law is on a pretty heavy health kick.
He’s looking to lose some weight and get into shape – all the usual healthy-change-your life stuff.
He recently told me that he was going to begin juicing, so that he could lose more weight.
After our conversation, I decided to do some research and see what the professionals were saying about weight loss and juicing. What I found surprised me.
There is so much hype over juicing for weight loss and juice cleanses. This is what I learned:
Juicing is terrible for weight loss.
When you quickly think over the idea, it may seem like a logical way to lose weight.
Several viral videos talked about the benefits of juicing, and some celebrities were endorsing it – I mean celebrities are never wrong, am I right?
The fact is juicing for weight loss has some vital deficiencies when it comes to your wellness and losing weight overall.
I want to share I found.
In this article, I want to share with you 10 reasons why juicing is not healthy for weight loss.
Fibre is Important For Weight Loss
Fibre reduces your appetite. I think you know why this would be a good thing when you’re on a diet.
When your are trying to lose weight, it’s essential to decrease your calorie intake. We need intake fewer calories (energy) then we’ll burn.
When we add a healthy amount of fibre to our diet, this helps us eat less food which means we add fewer calories.
When you just drink juice, you’re not eating any fibre or very little.
Don’t starve your body of fibre.
It’s Not Sustainable
When you juice, you’re going to see a radical decline in your calories which means you will lose weight.
The problem with juicing is that it’s not sustainable.
If any diet is going to be successful, it must be a lifestyle change.
Juicing is impossible to continue for the rest of your life, sooner or later, you’re going to start eating solid food again.
When you start eating foods other than the juice, your calorie count will climb, and you’re going to gain weight.
My wife learned this lesson.
She would always follow complicated diets that had her running all over the city for specific foods, and she would always become tired of it all – and quit.
The best diet is the simple one.
Just lower your calories and add exercise to your lifestyle and you’re going to lose weight.
No hype and no confusing diets.
I recently got my wife an Apple Watch to keep track of her exercise and calorie count (she uses My Fitness Pro). She loves it, and it simplifies the whole thing.
Juicing Should Never Replace All Your Meals
Using juice as a meal replacement can be bad for your body.
Like a beautiful running machine, your body needs a lot of ingredients in order for it to run correctly and be at its peak performance.
“There are things that you’re going to have in the whole fruit that you can’t get into the juice,” said Keith Ayoob of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine.
You don’t get all the nutritional benefit with just juice.
Think about it: protein is important for your muscles, healthy fats are essential for energy, and vitamins for normal body function.
According to my research, only one meal a day should be replaced by juicing.
It’s also a good practice to add protein and/or vitamins to your juice for a more balanced, healthy meal.
Please Don’t Start A Juice Cleanse
Who says you need a juice cleanse?
Do juice cleanses actually help you?
Dr. Youdim of Cedars-Sinai said,
“Forget about it. The practice is a waste of time and money, because your body doesn’t need ‘cleansing,'”
Your body will detox itself.
I think these juice cleanses are overhyped.
To assume that your fruits and vegetables are pure form toxins is crazy.
You’re probably ingesting just as many toxins as you hope of clear out of your system.
Some studies show that fruit juice actually causes liver damage and obesity.
In other words, juicing doesn’t cure obesity; it causes it.
There’s Lots of Sugar in Juice
If you’re on a diet, I want to give you a little tip – don’t drink soda.
I’ve met people who lost weight just by cutting out soda.
Yep. It’s true. Pop isn’t good for you.
You heard it here first – okay, maybe not first.
Soft drinks are full of sugar. Sugar means calories and calories are counterintuitive to your goal.
Fruit juice is no different.
Fruit juice is full of sugar and should be avoided like the plague. If you must juice (for that one meal replacement), then make sure that it has a lot more vegetables (a lot more).
It’s Too Much Work
Have you ever cleaned a juicer? Wow! It’s a lot of work.
Funny story.
I had a juicer once that someone loaned me.
I used it and then cleaned it, and all was good.
One day, as I was walking by the Kitchen, I could smell something terrible. I investigated further and realized that it was the juicer.
I guess pieces of fruit and vegetables were hiding in the machine and had started to decay.
I’m just saying that juicers are a nightmare to clean.
I never used one again after that.
Now, maybe it’s just me, but I don’t have the time to pull out a juicer in the morning and whip up a breakfast juice.
My mornings are crazy! I would assume so are yours.
I just bought a Nutri Ninja Blender (click here to see it on Amazon) to make some quick morning smoothies. I add some frozen fruit with a little bit of greek yogurt and throw in some protein powder- it’s excellent.
You May Start to See Chocolate Everywhere!
Most people on juice diets become tempted by all kinds of food.
They are more likely to eat a chocolate cake, a batch of cookies, or sneak a couple of cholcate bars.
Though, some testimonies state that after a while of juicing, they’re no longer tempted with bad (sarcastic) solid (real) food. I would assume temptation for chocolate would be hard to ignore.
I once knew someone that didn’t like the taste of chocolate; I don’t think they were human.
Extremes Are Never Good
When it comes to starting a diets, moderation is your best friend.
Extremes never last.
Most extremes are just hyped up ideas and fads started by someone starving for attention.
All of these fads have their shelf life. It’s vital to your success that you remain balanced and focused on your wellness, not some quick fix.
One day my wife and I were talking about diets, and she mentioned to me that she wished you could just buy a pill that would make you skinny.
“There’s no such thing,” I said, “It doesn’t exist”
“I know,” she said, “but a girl can dream.”
All those pills, skills and thrills that promise you quick success on diets or anything else demands our caution.
Extremes won’t help you long-term.
It better to take the long-trusted pathway.
Juicing Can Be Stressful
Nothing is more stressful than when you’re hungry, and you can’t eat.
We are supposed to eat. We have a mouth, teeth and a stomach that proves we were made to eat – but you’re going to juice instead?
Here’s something you should know. Stress caused by diets can actually cause you to stress-eat or worse than this – binge-eat.
Crazy! That’s a vicious cycle!
What’s the solution? Eat.
Again, cut back your calories and add exercise to your lifestyle and you’ll be fine.
It’s All Too Expensive
Juicing is expensive.
Think about it, you have to buy your juicer (At least $350 for a good one).
You have to buy the fruits and vegetables (most of them you’re throwing away).
It just doesn’t make sense why you’d spend all that extra money for something that isn’t going to last.
Conclusion
Should you juice? It’s up to you, but it isn’t going to help you long-term with your diet.
You are not going to be any healthier ( You actually may be unhealthly because of juicing).
You’ll probably lose weight, but it’s not sustainable.
At the end of the day, I believe that juicing for weight loss is just hype. Take the time to loss weight right with a more sustainable way.
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