Instead of being patient and getting back on track after a weight gain, many are opting for a trendy cleanse. Here are reason it's not such a good idea:
Your body needs protein and fiber. Protein is necessary for every body type. Not only does protein help muscles recover, it also helps promote a healthy weight by keeping you full and fueled. Protein also provides essential amino acids the body can't produce on its own. And, sadly, juice provides little to no protein.
As for fiber, most people don't get enough as is. If constipation, low energy and frequent hunger pangs aren't reason enough to up your intake, consider this: A high-fiber diet also reduces risk for heart disease. Many fruits have a healthful serving of fiber, but the process of juicing them and discarding their nutrient-rich outer layer cuts down on the fiber that makes it into your cup. The one thing you're still getting plenty of in juices is sugar.
Eating fruit is much more healthful than drinking it. While juice cleanses may seem like an easy way to load up on vitamins and minerals, they're often full of added sugars and devoid of the good stuff. Juicing fruits does tend to preserve some vitamins, but why guzzle several hundred calories' worth of fruit when you can eat one serving and actually feel full?
Juice is expensive. For the price of the average cleanse (around $180 for three days), you can buy two weeks' worth of groceries for yourself — even at a high-end grocery store. Why not cut back on booze and caffeine for a week and splurge on a massage or class package at your favorite fitness studio instead of hopping on another cleanse?
Crash diets don't work. Losing 12 pounds in two weeks may sound great, but it's tough to keep it off. When you deprive yourself of sugar and carbohydrates, the likelihood of eventually returning to old habits, and bingeing in the process, is high. The better option: Make small, meaningful changes, one at a time.
Cleansing makes you feel crummy. The lack of nutrients in juice cleanses can cause hunger, fatigue, lightheadedness, dizziness, a rapid heartbeat, temperature fluctuations, impatience and a whole slew of discomfort. And to think: This is what you're choosing to do and paying for.
Your body detoxes itself naturally. After you overindulge, purging your system of toxins with a cleanse sounds appealing. But that's what our organs are for. The liver is constantly working to help purify the body. Our kidneys do the same every time we urinate. And so do our intestines: Every time we defecate, we're getting rid of things our body doesn't need (or want).
Eating healthfully can help our organs do their jobs more efficiently. We don't need to drink liquid for days on end to accomplish that.
