What is a Detox/Juice cleanse? A juice cleanse, which is sometimes also referred to as juice fasting, is a highly controver...
What is a Detox/Juice cleanse?
A juice cleanse, which is sometimes also referred to as juice fasting, is a highly controversial fasting method in which an individual is to survive upon fruit and vegetable juices while staying away from any food consumption. These juice fasts may last for a few days or may even go on for several weeks, depending upon the individuals requirements.
Now, you may come to think that there is absolutely nothing wrong with consuming fruits and vegetables for a while, especially If it’s going to eventually lead to some weight loss, right? Wrong.
This is not the case. It’s okay to believe these diets are healthy, but keep in mind, that for the human body to function properly, it is necessary for us to eat foods from all the groups of our food pyramid which include proteins, grains, dairy products, fibers, fats, etc.
In a juice cleanse, one is dependent upon only fruits and vegetables. Juice cleanses don’t work according to the normal juices you find in the market, rather they require expensive bottles of pulverized produce blends. They may even be homemade in a juicer or blender, made from a mixture of multiple fresh juices and vegetables.
Business people whose shops depend on the sales of these juices often tend to show-off these diets as being extremely healthy and essential, not having any side effects to them. Of course, their living depends upon customers purchasing these juices again and again. On the other hand, Health experts claim these diets as being “not a healthful or safe approach to weight loss”.
Health experts suggest that there are a few misconceptions that people tend to have of these juice cleanses.
The marketers of Detox juices, market them as being an essential on the path to being healthy, and that people need to Detox in order to be healthy. This is not the case though, as the body detoxifies itself naturally through the actions of the liver, kidneys and gastrointestinal tract, these organs help the body in removing any toxins or harmful substances that should not be stored in the body. Since the body tends to do all this by itself, a person does not need to do a juice cleanse or follow a liquid Detox diet to be healthy.
On the contrary, Marketers put into people’s minds that cleansing is good for their body and it can improve their energy and health. This is again incorrect. During the first two days of a juice cleanse, a person burns their “glycogen” or their stores for energy. Using glycogen pulls a lot of water out of the body, which can show up as weight loss on the scale. A cleanse could also lead to side effects such as a lack of energy, headaches and shakiness due to low blood sugar. Over time, a cleanse may lead to constipation from a lack of fiber, as well as irritability. Then again, Once a person comes off a cleanse and eats food, that individual could gain all this weight right back.
Furthermore, people tend to believe that since celebrities do diets, it’s something that dieticians would recommend, right? Wrong. Some stars have tried the approach as a quick way to lose weight, while others have done it to feel healthy. Once people hear the hype and that "beautiful people" are doing it, everybody else wants to jump on the bandwagon; nevertheless it's not a healthful approach. Like other fad diets, Cleansing may produce short-term results, but it definitely doesn't produce long-term benefits.
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