[A health Blog] Juicing For Weight Loss - Do's and Dont's

[Imaikop]

There are about 1,000 juicing diets, juicing books, juicing detoxing diets, and juicers for sale. I’m sure if you have tried to lose weight you’ve tried or at least considered trying a juicing diet. All of these “green juices” really have the attention of many people because the possible benefits sound really great. These diets are known as “fasts” and this has become such a popular form of weight loss and detoxing. Although it may sound like genius idea, there is some bad behind it.  If you aren’t familiar with

a juicing diet, read along to find out all the facts about them!

WHAT IS A JUICE DIET, FAST DETOX?

This detox type of diet involves consuming only juice. This doesn’t mean apple juice that you buy in the grocery store, this kind of juice has to be fresh squeezed from the actual fruits and vegetables. Juices in the grocery store are loaded with preservatives and sugars that aren’t welcome in a juicing diet. During this diet, you won’t be consuming any solid foods, even solid fruits and vegetables. Juice diets are generally short term and should not be done any longer than a couple of days. The idea behind the juice diet is to fill the body with nutrients and vitamins and rid the body of any toxins that you have built up.

WHAT ARE THE POSSIBLE BENEFITS OF JUICING?

Following a juicing diet has been known to give your body trillions of amazing benefits that you can’t get from anywhere else. This is the majority of the reason that people do them! Some of the possible benefits include: high intake of vitamins and nutrients, weight loss, alkalizes your whole body, detoxifies your liver, prevents or treats acne, fights aging, improves texture of hair and nails, increases your energy levels, and improves your immune system. After reading those benefits, why wouldn’t you try a juicing diet?

WHAT’S SO BAD ABOUT JUICING?

You have probably heard just about as many bad things about juicing as you have good. Why is this? Well, juicing can get a bad rep sometimes, and for good reason. Aside from the many possible benefits juicing can give you, your body can also suffer from them.

• Too much sugar. Juice is naturally high in sugar, and although these are natural sugars, too much sugar in any form is not good. Consuming glasses and glasses of fruit juice a day provides more sugar than you need.
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• Loss of nutrients. This may sound hard to believe because all you will be drinking is liquid nutrients but that’s not so true. Fruits and vegetables are solid foods and they contain skin and fiber that is a big part of the nutritious parts of the foods. While you juice, you aren’t eating that skin so you are skimping out on a heck of a lot of the nutrients. Apples are a perfect example. The skin of an apple contains a ton of fiber. Fiber is important for many aspects of your health. When you juice the apple, you are throwing out a big portion of the nutrition of an apple.
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• Expensive. Buying a juicer is not like buying a blender. Many juicers on the market are very highly priced. You can, of course, buy the inexpensive juicers that you must do yourself but buying an electric juicer can get pricey. Aside from purchasing the juicer, you have to buy enough fruits and vegetables in order to last throughout the detox. To get one cup of apple juice, you will need about 3-4 apples. Eating the actual apple would be much cheaper and more nourishing. Another thing about the fruits and vegetables is that you should always buy organic. Organic does tend to be a bit pricier. Therefore if you are looking for an inexpensive diet, juicing wouldn’t be the way to go.

POSSIBLE SIDE EFFECTS OF JUICING

There are a few side effects to participating in a juicing fast. Many of these side effects are on the unpleasant side so it’s important to be aware of them before beginning. Some of the most common side effects include headache, tiredness, constipation, and dizziness. These are the most common ones which aren’t really harmful but are unpleasant. I know that I said before in the benefits part of this article that juicing will increase your energy level and help with acne but you have to go through the bad parts to experience the good parts. For example, during a juicing diet, you may find your face breaking out. This is because your body is detoxing and all of the bad stuff has to come out somewhere so you may find yourself with some pimples. These aren’t temporary! And in the long run, your body will get rid of the dirt and bacteria that cause pimples and will leave you with clear skin. But in case you wanted to detox before a big event like a wedding, you should be cautious. Some of the more serious side effects that juicing can cause include fainting, low blood pressure, vomiting, diarrhea, and even possible heart or kidney problems. If you find yourself experiencing any of these, it’s vital that you stop juicing and visit your doctor.

So should you juice or not? Well, that’s not really up to me! But now that you know the pros and cons of juicing, you can make a decision. It’s important that you do it the right away though. Juicing for too long of a time period can create serious problems such as nutrient deficiencies. It would be such a waste to juice for all that time to find yourself in worse shape than you started. Health should always come first. If you are really interested in juicing, I would recommend doing it only 3-4 times a month. That’s about once a week. If you are pregnant or nursing, it is highly, highly recommended that you do not juice. Also if you are taking prescription drugs for any reason, avoid juicing. Juicing reduces blood proteins which can change the way the prescription drugs react in your body. If you are still unsure if you should give it a shot, talk to your healthcare professional

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Posted By Imaikop to A health Blog at 5/14/2012 10:02:00 AM

[Tony Rykers]

Can you talk more about the problems surrounding a strict juicing diet. More precisely, what "serious problems such as nutrient deficiencies" are you talking about? Are you talking about a strict no-solid food diet?  What about taking in protein shakes? Eating lentils (which are a complete protein and very high in fibre)  Are you able to cite the source of your data?

Could you give an idea of what a juicer might cost me? Are there different types of juicers that might give differing results in juicing?

I think that your post leaves us with more questions than answers.  

Thank you for getting the gears turning. Please write a follow-up post.

Cheers