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Juice Cleanses...is there ever any benefit?

Okay, please don’t give me any hate for this. It’s just a genuine question that I can’t seem to have a concrete answer to. I am not looking for a quick fix. I am in it for the long haul. I am counting all of my calories eaten and burned. I am losing 1.5 a week and although I’m still relatively getting back into things, I have kept that consistent now for several consecutive weeks. I am not over-restricting or overeating. I just wanted to get all of that out there first.

So back to my question...is there ever any benefit to them? Are they all inherently bad for you? I used to do a cleanse when I was younger every so often when I’d fluctuate up in my weight a little. I used it for a quick fix, but it never really gave me any true feeling of benefit, so I haven’t done one in over 5 years. I found out recently, that the one I used to use is very high in sugars, and although it tasted good, it didn’t have any real health benefits. Shocker, I know! 😅 But I guess my question is, without being shot down immediately, and with everyone keeping an open mind, is there any benefits that they can provide at all? I know it’s likely none will be long-lasting, and there’s no evidence to support that any have lasting benefits. But are they all truly terrible? Or are there some good ones out there that may have something to offer temporarily? If the answer is no, I will put this to rest. I just have to know if they are all a scam, or if there are some good ones that can pose some positive effects. Thanks!
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Replies

  • Phirrgus
    Phirrgus Posts: 1,894 Member
    No hate for this lol. To add my opinion...I don't buy into any "cleansing" product or regimen. I do intermittently fast on occasion, but that's more due to simply not eating if I'm not hungry, usually breakfast. As far as the juice goes - enjoy juice if you like it, maybe even choose what you're drinking for it's nutritional value, but let your body do it's own natural cleansing. Our bodies are pretty good at it.

    Keep it simple - no magic cleanses required.

    Like I said..just my opinion.
  • sammidelvecchio
    sammidelvecchio Posts: 791 Member
    I do either a 3 or 5 day juice diet a few times a year. The benefits are related to my chronic pain, illness and inflammation. In between I work specific juices in each week in addition to my normal diet. I have never seen any benefits related to weight, cravings, etc. The juice shop I get mine from also customizes it for my specific health issues, its not a generic one you buy online or at a grocery store.

    So there can be benefits outside of what the weight loss industry tells you, and people use juicing for a lot more than weight loss.
  • J72FIT
    J72FIT Posts: 6,002 Member
    Probably very little if any, and no real evidence for it.

    ^^^This...

  • floofyschmoofer
    floofyschmoofer Posts: 209 Member
    If you enjoy being relentlessly hungry, it might be fun.
  • floofyschmoofer
    floofyschmoofer Posts: 209 Member
    I do either a 3 or 5 day juice diet a few times a year. The benefits are related to my chronic pain, illness and inflammation. In between I work specific juices in each week in addition to my normal diet. I have never seen any benefits related to weight, cravings, etc. The juice shop I get mine from also customizes it for my specific health issues, its not a generic one you buy online or at a grocery store.

    So there can be benefits outside of what the weight loss industry tells you, and people use juicing for a lot more than weight loss.

    I struggle monthly with my cycle due to extreme period pain/likely endometriosis. I would totally try a Woo-woo juice cleanse if it would help the pain.
  • snickerscharlie
    snickerscharlie Posts: 8,578 Member
    edited June 2019
    I think juicing could provide nutritional benifits if it helps you consume a wide range of fruits and veggies that you would not otherwise eat.

    I do not think they provide any detoxing benifits - and isn't really comparable to temporary stopping alcohol consumption.

    Stopping consuming something potentially harmful, certainly in excess ( ie alcohol) isn't really comparable to adding something like juices.

    No harm in juices, unless the calorie amount is too high for you.

    But no magic benifits either.

    This.
  • sammidelvecchio
    sammidelvecchio Posts: 791 Member
    @Phirrgus Nonetheless, it's still a juice cleanse. That is what it is called. It's not called a detox. So it further proves that there can be good ones, and beneficial ones, but not all of them are and whether you will find them beneficial depends on many factors, including your reason for doing it and the quality of cleanse you buy.
  • shaf238
    shaf238 Posts: 4,022 Member
    Just to piggy back off of this a little, the argument I’ve heard for them, is that the body cleanses itself (which I know) but a good cleanse can give your body a break from the hard work of doing this itself for a few days. Again, not sure if it’s true or a complete lie, but figured I’d add that in.

    Your body simply doesn't need a break from performing its normal everyday functions. If you really think about it, that would be like holding your breath to give your lungs a rest. So, yes, that's complete hokum. ;)

    And, honestly, if your body isn't able to naturally rid you of whatever needs to be gotten rid of, you need prompt medical attention, not a boatload of juice. :)
    :joy: I like this a lot
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,011 Member
    edited June 2019
    @kimny72 mine helps with pain because it helps reduce inflammation. Most of the juices that are made for my cleanses are not made from fruits and none of them have added sugar, so I don't think its fair to call them liters of sugar water. Some juices out there are full of sugar, but not all of them, and if the ones I drink were I wouldn't drink them. I also don't use it as a way to rest from medication because I don't take a lot of medication. I think the biggest thing to take away from the responses so far, is that juice cleanses just really aren't helpful for sustainable weight loss. They can be beneficial and fit into some people's lives for certain reasons, but for weight loss they probably shouldn't even be used as a last resort because they just simply don't work well for that.

    Are there any benefits? Yes
    Are they ALL inherently bad for you? No
    Should people use them as a way to help them lose weight? Probably not, unless its because you're desperate to fit into that dress you need to wear this weekend and you just to be a liiiiittle bit smaller within 72 hours.

    Oh, sure. I wasn't meaning to direct that at you, more at the OP. In other words, if she doesn't have a medical condition she thinks this will help, what she's trying to accomplish might be better achieved in a different way. And I suspect any commercial juice cleanse she would pick up at her local diet-product-seller location would be sugar water, but to be honest, I haven't looked at one in ages :wink:

    While I am 100% cynical of juice cleanses, I don't blame anyone for finding relief for chronic pain wherever they can get it, full stop. :flowerforyou:
  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,885 Member
    edited June 2019
    kimny72 wrote: »
    I'm not honestly sure a juice cleanse would really rest your liver and kidneys anyway. I guess it would rest your stomach and intestines a little, but that's not usually what they are advertised for.

    As I noted in my prior post (after yours!), I doubt it would, there's no reason to think so. Not eating at all perhaps, but that would cause other potential stress.
    Have you considered just eating a very plain, simple, natural diet for a few days instead? Lots of veggies and fruits, no alcohol or non-Rx medications? Rest from long or high impact exercise, but maybe take lots of walks to get your circulatory system pumping away. If there is any value to the idea of a "cleanse" it seems more logical to me that this sort of (I hate the word, but) clean diet would be more effective than liters of sugar water. :drinker:

    This makes a lot of sense to me.

    I'll also note that I live in a place where marketing special juice cleanses seems to be trendy (lots of people who might be interested live and work around me, I guess), and they often seem to be extremely expensive. So I'd be cautious of it for that reason too!
  • sammidelvecchio
    sammidelvecchio Posts: 791 Member
    @Phirrgus I think I am just answering the original question as it was posed in a very simple way. What I do is called a juice cleanse. The questions were are there any benefits to them, and are they all inherently bad? So my answer is yes, there can be benefits they will just depend on what you are using the juice cleanse for and the quality of the product you buy. And no, they aren't all inherently bad, because mine is very helpful.

    I am not claiming that every cleanse product sold is good. I am saying that they aren't all bad. I'm not saying that every one of them can help someone, but I am saying that there are benefits to cleansing depending on why you're doing it coupled with the quality of product you buy.

    A cleanse is more associated with your digestive tract. Detox is more associated with kidney and liver functions. But you're right, commercially people use them interchangeably.

    I have no idea what a cleanse would accomplish for someone who is using it for a purpose other than medically. I mentioned that above, I believe, in regards to weight loss. Use it for weightloss? Not a great idea. My reason is medical, which it seems a lot of people might not be aware of the benefits it can have for people with chronic pain, so by sharing that it can help with that is an example of how not all juice cleanses are bad and there can be real benefits. And it doesn't just have to be a chronic illness or pain, people with regular OA say it has helped them a lot too, or people with IBS. Again though, i'm not saying that there are not other ways to obtain relief - a cleanse can just be one of many.

    I do believe a lot of the claims the products make, like clearer skin, shinier hair, more energy - could easily be obtained without a juice cleanse in various ways. Eat more healthy fats, drink more water, etc, because having those issues in the first place is more likely a sign of vitamin deficiencies and there is definitely a multitude of ways you can get your vitamins without having to use a costly juice cleanse.
  • snickerscharlie
    snickerscharlie Posts: 8,578 Member
    lemurcat2 wrote: »
    To follow up on my last post about the costs and the kinds of (bogus) claims being made by a lot of these places, here's the marketing from a local juice place that sells cleanses:

    "We've put countless hours into developing the most cutting-edge cleanses. Each one is designed for a transformational experience. We recommend doing at least a five day cleanse but a three day is a great place to start. Our comprehensive cleanse menu offers impressive flexibility and a full spectrum of macronutrients, phytonutrients, and variety."

    This one goes from $144 for a 2-day cleanse to $450 for the 7-day (at least 5-7 is highly recommended, they say).

    The claims go on: "Did you know that about 80% of your total daily energy expenditure happens in your digestive system? When you give your digestive system a break, your body has the chance to heal and detoxify at its deepest cellular level. Juicing is the easiest way for your body to assimilate nutrients while at the same time allowing your digestive system to rest."

    One of the options promises: "If you battle chronic inflammation, histamine, auto-immune conditions, digestive + gastro intestinal and/or skin issues then this is the cleanse for you. This cleanse is meant to act as a 3-in-1 inflammation soothing/gut-healing/elimination diet."

    With stuff like this, I can totally see why OP and others would see them as potentially appealing (and the claims went on and on, this is just a tiny sampling), but I find it really disgusting and unethical and a money grab. But at least in my area the people buying them are more likely to have the money to waste than be really desperate types, I suppose, so whatever. It does show good knowledge of the current buzzwords to play with (there's a keto cleanse too, that supposedly detoxes you from your addiction to the "white devil" -- it sadly does not say what are in the supposedly keto juices.)

    Also, not sure I want my TDEE dropping by 80%! ;-)

    One word: Yikes.

    Also: There's *still* a fool born every minute, it seems.

    Goes to show that if anything is made trendy and cool enough, people will buy into it without question. It makes me angry, too, that huge profits are being made from this. The snake oil salesman is alive and well, even in this day and age where people have the world's collective knowledge literally at their fingertips. :(
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,011 Member
    This is what I think of, and I've thought other people think of, when I think of a juice cleanse intended to "cleanse your system" and "jump start weight loss". Perhaps OP could come back and chime in if this is the kind of package she is thinking of.

    https://www.amazon.com/SUPER-DETOX-ME-Metabolism-SUPERFOODS/dp/B01E4OPB4W/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=Lemonkind+SUPER+ME&qid=1560443122&s=gateway&sr=8-3&th=1
  • psychod787
    psychod787 Posts: 4,099 Member
    Yeah.. there good for produce sellers! Bad for your pocket and toilet...
  • jenshu7
    jenshu7 Posts: 2 Member
    edited June 2019
    There is no debate about this in the scientific community - they do not help you lose weight, they do not detoxify your body, and they are generally unhealthy and not recommended. You cannot 'cleanse' yourself of toxins through any kind of diet - your liver does that all by itself. The weight you're losing (those few pounds) is water weight - once you stop you'll gain it all back.

    https://www.webmd.com/diet/a-z/detox-diets
    https://www.webmd.com/diet/features/detox-diets-juice-up-your-health#1