9. Our bodies detoxify themselves, they don't need extra help | The Odyssey Online
Start writing a post
Health and Wellness

9 Reasons A Juice Cleanse Is Not Going To Solve Your Health Problems, Oh Kale No

I'll stick to my solid foods, thanks.

4441
9 Reasons A Juice Cleanse Is Not Going To Solve Your Health Problems, Oh Kale No

In This Article:

Ah, yes. The juice cleanse. Yet another popular diet trend that promises to magically solve all of your health, nutrition, and weight issues.

When you take a close look, juice cleanses aren't as magical as they are made out to be, and in fact, they might do more harm than good.

1. Low caloric intake may stunt your metabolism

Juice cleanses are extremely low in calories, which is why they are promoted for weight loss and detoxification. That being said, though, these cleanses are also often a few days, long, which means you will be taking in very few calories for an extended period of time. Because juices don't contain adequate protein or calories, it is possible that your body may switch its energy sources such that your muscles will start breaking down in order to maintain your energy supply.

2. Blood sugar spikes

Juicing foods ultimately removes all of the fiber that they originally contained. What does this mean, exactly? It means that what's left behind is sugar. Combine that with the fact that this is all you are consuming for those couple of days, and your result is blood sugar spikes that cause headaches, fatigue, and weakness.

3. Cleanses might flush out good bacteria

Some cleanses, specifically those which promise to detoxify your intestines, can actually end up wiping out the good bacteria in your system by flushing everything away. This can majorly mess up your immunity as well as your digestion, because those bacteria help fight infections and keep toxins out.

4. Cleanses are a quick fix

Juice cleanses are labeled as a "quick fix," which may sound appealing, but in reality, this just means they are highly unsustainable, and the changes they yield are temporary.

5. Juices are not any healthier than whole foods

When it comes down to it, juices aren't any healthier than their whole-food counterparts. Plus, whole fruits and veggies contain fiber that their respective juices do not.

6. The juice cleanse trend inadvertently supports restrictive eating

When the juice cleanse trend reaches someone whose relationship with food is not healthy, it can do some real damage to their wellbeing. The idea of consuming virtually nothing over the course of a couple of days goes hand in hand with eating disorder culture, especially when it is so highly promoted with so little scientific evidence to back it up.

7. Nutrient depletion

As mentioned before, juice cleanses contain no protein. Additionally, juices don't contain important vitamins and nutrients, such as B12, which is found only in animal products. If you don't already supplement B12, a juice cleanse results in you depriving yourself entirely of this vitamin just for the sake of a quick fix.

8. A juice cleanse won't fix your food habits

If you are turning to a juice cleanse because your diet tends to consist mainly of junk food, a cleanse is not going to fix this. In fact, you might rebound and binge even more junk food once the cleanse is over because you deprived yourself of it for a few days. A cleanse is not a sustainable way to regulate your food intake. If you want to change the things you are eating, focus on the concept of moderation instead. Everything is OK in moderation. Strive to be your healthiest self 70 percent of the time, and then treat yourself 30 percent of the time. It is all about balance.

9. Our bodies detoxify themselves, they don't need extra help

The bottom line is that our bodies are actually great at detoxifying themselves, so juice cleanses for the purpose of detoxification truly aren't needed. If that's the case, then why spend $50 on juices that promise to do something your body already does for itself?

All in all, juice cleanses are a "no" from me. We don't need them, and quite frankly they don't do much for us anyway. Sure, a juice cleanse might result in you dropping a couple of pounds, but that weight loss comes from deprivation and muscle loss, meaning it probably won't be kept off.

if you want to be your healthiest you, focus on balance rather than bottles.

Report this Content
Adulting

6 Unrealistic Expectations Society Has For Young Adults

Don't let the thesaurus-inspired vocabularies in our résumés fool you. We're actually just big kids.

2045
boy in adult clothes

Well over four feet tall and 100 pounds in weight, many of us "young adults" of the world still consider ourselves children. Big, working, college-attending, beer-drinking children. We may live on our own, know how to cook noodles, and occasionally use a planner, but don't be fooled; the youthful tendencies that reside within us still make their way into our daily lives. From choosing to stay up until 3:00 a.m. playing video games on a school night to going out in 30 degree weather without a coat, we still make decisions that our parents and grandparents would shake their heads at in disappointment. So why are we expected to know exactly how to be a wise, professional, sensible adult? It's not that we're irresponsible (for the most part, anyway). It's that we are young, inexperienced, and still have the sought-after, enthusiastic mentality that we can do and be whatever we want, which has not yet been tarnished by the reality of the world. These are just a few of the unrealistic expectations that society has for young adults.

Keep Reading...Show less
pizza
Fandango

There are a lot of foods in this world, but there is only one dish that stands above the rest: Pizza. If you're close to me or at least know who I am, then you know that I'm totally obsessed with pizza. It's one of my favorite things to eat and I will NEVER turn down a slice, even if it doesn't have my favorite toppings. There isn't a day that goes by where I'm not thinking about pizza. I even sleep with a pizza pillow every night! There are many reasons why pizza stands above all other foods, and here are just a couple reasons why.

Keep Reading...Show less
sex and the city
Warner Bros. Television

1. You don't have to feel guilty about flirting with customers for tips (or just for shits and giggles).

2. You can be obnoxiously flirtatious with anyone you want. You are free to be that girl that flirts with everybody and makes 'em all smile (it's especially fun when the guy is as cute as Collin Jost). No shame.

3. Making random men nervous with your superior beauty and intense eye contact just for the hell of it is really amusing and empowering.

4. No one gives two poops if ya legs are hairy (your man shouldn't either but *Kermit the Frog meme* That's none of my business)

5. The toilet seat will remain down.

6. There's more money to spend on yourself.

7. There's always this secret butterfly in your tummy that marvels at the possibility that when you go out this weekend you're gonna meet someone super handsome/wonderful/prince-like and have this moment of dazzling dalliance.

8. Nothing is that serious...you can take it all with a grain of salt...you don't owe anybody anything.

9. You can dance with anyone and everyone...or no one (Hello frat boi w/ glasses, I see you).

10. You don't have to fluff anyone's ego but your own.

11. Free drinks and dinners from single guys (It's not taking advantage if they're offering; a girl's gotta eat).

12. You have more time to learn how to love and improve yourself rather than constantly pouring your energy into another person.

13. You don't have to sacrifice your cheesy Jen Aniston rom-coms and Gilmore Girls for his Fast and Furious/other dumb action movie featuring blonde that is only in the movie to supply a relationship to the male lead and to make him look more masculine/empowered in juxtaposition (In other words, you don't have to deal with a guy being a crabby Patty while you watch your cute movies).

14. You can daydream about what your future husband may be doing right now (and not get stressed/guilty out because you're not picturing your current boyfriend that's crazy about you as your future husband).

15. There is more time to be spent with your girlfriends.

Girls Night In
Milk + Blush

We've all been there - you've been saying since Tuesday after French that this weekend is the weekend. You're finally going to break out those new heels and actually put on eyeliner on and make this Friday night be one for the memory books! That is, of course, until Girls Night Out turned into...Girls Night In.

Keep Reading...Show less
Entertainment

What Is Your Zodiac GIF?

Characteristics of the astrological signs, explained through GIFS.

762
zodiac
Wordpress

Whether you believe astrology is a legitimate "science" or not, we have all found ourselves looking at our horoscopes from time to time. The 12 astrological signs all fall under one of four elements: air, water, earth, or fire. Air signs are rational, social, and love to communicate with others. Water signs are are emotional, intuitive, and mysterious. Fire signs tend to be passionate, creative, and adventurous. Earth signs are conservative, realistic, and loyal.

Each sign is determined by the relative positions of celestial bodies to ourselves at our moment of birth, which is said to influence our personalities. Find your zodiac GIF below, based on the traits and characteristics provided by each sign.

***Disclaimer: GIFS are meant to be lighthearted and are based on descriptions of signs from http://www.astrology-zodiac-signs.com/.

Keep Reading...Show less

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Facebook Comments