The Truth about Juice Cleanses

As “being healthy” has become more popular in the recent decade, it has brought with it various “health fads” that come and go. Recent health fads include kale and frozen yogurt, but the most controversial is the “juicing” of meals. This trend, generally known as “juice cleansing”, is very popular among celebrities with many juice bars located in New York City and Los Angeles. However, its popularity has made its way around the country, reaching the halls of MHS. Many students seem to have differing opinions on juice cleanses, or juicing meals in general, either strongly in favor of it or against it.

According to many sources, there are both positives and negatives to juice cleanses. They can be beneficial to your body but only within a certain time and can have bad side effects.

Positively, juice cleanses are a good way to have your daily fruits and vegetables that you need. Even if one eats enough fruits and vegetables, juicing is an easy way to increase the consumption of a variety of food that usually people don’t eat. Juicing is a quick way for a large amount of nutrients and vitamins to enter the body in a short period of time via one juice instead of multiple servings of fruits and vegetables.

On the other hand, there are negatives to juice cleansing. In juicing fruits and vegetables there is a loss of the fiber and protein, which is healthy for the body and is usually in the pulp or fruit skin. If one is doing a cleanse, they must drink enough juices to make themselves full, or they will crave other foods due to the lack of fat and protein in regular food that would usually satisfy your cravings.

It seems that the best way to follow the juicing cleanse but still remain full is to refer to smoothies instead. In smoothies, the fiber and protein from the fruit still remains, and one can add other items such as almond milk and nut butter.

Sources:

http://www.webmd.com/diet/juicing-health-risks-and-benefits

http://www.livinggreensjuice.com/Benefits-of-Juicing-s/1824.htm