So you’ve had a bad couple of weeks of eating, or you’ve been trying out a diet but haven’t been seeing much progress. You decide that what you really need is a reset to get your mind in the right place, clear those “bad” foods out of your system, and start seeing results.
So you start looking into different options, and one sounds especially intriguing: a juice cleanse. After all, what could be healthier than eating a ton of fruits and vegetables?
However, getting a healthy body usually isn’t as easy as drinking your calories. Here’s everything you need to know about juice cleanses and weight loss - and why you should probably look elsewhere to achieve your goal weight.
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What is a juice cleanse?
As the name suggests, a juice cleanse is a type of diet where you restrict your calorie intake to fruit and vegetable juices for a given period of time. Generally, juicing involves throwing raw plant-based foods into a juicer to extract the liquids and separate them from the fibrous pulp. While you can do this juicing at home, it’s also become a commercialized weight loss method, with juice cleanse companies offering packages that can cover all your juice needs for the days or weeks to “detox” and “cleanse.”
And in many ways, a juice cleanse makes a lot of sense. You’re getting multiple super-servings of plant-based fruits and vegetables, which are loaded with immune-boosting antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals. You’re eliminating the possibility of eating other processed foods that could get in the way of your weight loss goals and overall health. You’re keeping your diet natural and capitalizing on the value of raw fruits and veggies.
Unfortunately, there’s a lot more to juice cleanses, and a lot of it isn’t necessarily good news for your body.
Will a juice cleanse help me lose weight?
Yes, you might lose weight from following a juice cleanse, but this is not the kind of weight loss you want.
Because you’re significantly slashing your daily calorie intake and eliminating many food groups while on a liquid diet of fruit and vegetable juices, it’s not unusual to see rapid weight loss during your cleanse. But this loss is likely going to be temporary, and it can make it harder for you to lose fat meaningfully down the road.
Studies have found that, while a juice cleanse can help you lose weight in the short term because of the restricted calorie intake, it’s likely that you’ll regain that weight as soon as you return to a regular diet. It’s on par with most other fad diets that work through calorie restriction - if you aren’t also learning how to eat properly afterwards, the effectiveness is short-term.
When you’re losing weight so rapidly, you probably aren’t losing fat tissue alone. The severe calorie restriction in combination with the elimination of protein means that you’re likely losing a lot of water weight, not fat. It also means that your body can’t support muscle maintenance, leading to muscle and bone loss that can negatively impact your metabolism. Studies have shown that rapid weight loss can significantly reduce the number of calories that your body needs every day.
So in the end, finishing your juice cleanse and returning to normal foods can leave you at the same weight that you started … with a slower metabolism that will make your next weight loss attempt even harder.
Behind the “detox” claims
Your juice cleanse probably won’t help you “detox,” either.
Many people decide to go on a juice cleanse like the celery juice craze because they feel like they need to flush toxins from their bodies. Unfortunately, there is no good scientific evidence to support this claim. Your body already has an effective detoxing system in the form of your kidneys and liver which is efficient as long as you’re healthy.
So in the end, there’s no evidence that supports the idea of changing your diet so extremely in the name of “detoxing.” And in fact, relying on juice alone for your daily nutrients can actually hurt those natural processes carried out by the liver, kidneys, and intestines.
Juice cleanse risks
- You’ll lose muscle - When you’re restricting your dietary intake to only fruits and vegetables, you’re cheating yourself out of a ton of key nutrients. One of those key nutrients is protein, which is key for maintaining your muscle mass. So you may lose muscle mass, which will show on the scale, but your metabolism may also be slower, leading to complications and quick weight regain when you return to your regular eating patterns.
- Your blood sugar could go haywire - As relatively healthy as fruits and vegetables are, the bottom line is that drinking only juice means that you’re taking in a ton of sugar every day. In whole fruits and vegetables, you’re also getting dietary fiber that can slow down the rate at which your body absorbs that sugar. But because juicing eliminates that valuable fiber (and because you’re not getting any other nutrients like protein and fat), your bloodstream absorbs the sugars from juice really quickly. This leads to major spikes in blood sugar which can leave you hungry, moody, and quick crashes.
- Extreme calorie deficits have side effects - Eating too few calories and cutting out whole food groups can come with very unpleasant side effects like headaches, fatigue, dizziness, and excessive hungriness. While most diets take some time for your body to adjust, a healthy diet should not make you feel physically miserable, and it’s an indication that your body is craving those nutrients that you aren’t getting from juice alone.
- They could mess with your gut microbiome and lead to dehydration - Cleanses that are meant to induce bowel movements should be avoided. The idea behind these kinds of juice diets is to flush out your intestines, but stool isn’t the only thing you can lose this way. You also run the risk of losing some of the “good” bacteria in your gut which are essential for healthy digestion and immunity, and you may also experience dehydration and electrolyte imbalances as you lose water.
In the end, those superfood green juices can be a great complement to your diet but are too ineffective and potentially dangerous to make up your diet’s entirety for any given amount of time.
Other healthy ways to lose weight
For weight loss that won’t make you sick or impact your long-term health, the old standbys apply: eat a healthy diet, watch your portions, burn more calories, and check in with regular blood tests.
Fill up on (whole) fruits and vegetables.
One of the most valid perks of fruit and vegetable juices is that they’re a great way to maximize your intake of nutrients with minimal calories. If you love the idea of drinking your greens, consider blending them instead to retain the fiber and nutrients that would otherwise be lost to juicing, and be sure to pair them with lean proteins, complex carbohydrates, and some healthy fats to balance out your plate and minimize blood sugar spikes.
Watch your portions.
Yes, losing weight is a calories-in versus calories-out process. But your body does need a certain number of calories every day to maintain its normal functions. Instead of slashing your calories to the bare minimum, calculate the number of calories you burn on a daily basis and aim for a moderate deficit.
Increase your cardiovascular activity.
Burning more calories every day is an excellent way to increase your calorie deficit in a healthy manner. Try HIIT workouts, running, joining a dance class, or even just taking a couple of brisk walks when you have downtime during the day.
Get to know your hormones and nutrition panels.
Sometimes, struggling with weight loss could be an indication that there’s something else going on inside of your own body that needs to be addressed. Check that you’re getting the right nutrients by taking an at-home nutrition test like Base’s Diet Test.
Conclusion
Good nutrition is the cornerstone for healthy weight loss - and while a juice cleanse might be a great way to get some plant-based nutrients in, it is not a great way to get all the nutrition that your body needs. Green juices can be an excellent addition to a healthy diet, but they should by no means be the only things you’re consuming if you want to make a real difference in your body composition.
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