Juicing Diet?

Please no hate or rudeness... I am looking for advice , stories and just plain help.

My mother has recently ordered a Juicer and it will be here in about 10 days. Were thinking about doing a 30 day juicing diet ... the real kind , with real veggies . I was just wondering if anyone has had success with it , or has stories ithat they'd like to share.

To get this out of the way , no it is not starvation . No it is not a fad diet . Many people do it or have done it with no dangerous outcomes , so please don't start with the lectures !
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Replies

  • sk_pirate
    sk_pirate Posts: 282 Member
    I guess if you juice alongside making healthy choices of real food what's the harm?

    **Edit: Do you plan to only have juice for the 30 days or will you be eating real food as well?

    My only question to you is what happens after you're done the juicing diet?
  • doubglass
    doubglass Posts: 314 Member
    You are better off eating the fruits or veggies themselves that turning them into juice. Why save the sugars and throw out the fiber and some of the other nutrients. Juice diets should especially be a concern of overweight people who have been warned about a tendency to diabetes.
  • sk_pirate
    sk_pirate Posts: 282 Member
    Why save the sugars and throw out the fiber and some of the other nutrients.

    TRUTH
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
    Please no hate or rudeness... I am looking for advice , stories and just plain help.

    My mother has recently ordered a Juicer and it will be here in about 10 days. Were thinking about doing a 30 day juicing diet ... the real kind , with real veggies . I was just wondering if anyone has had success with it , or has stories ithat they'd like to share.

    To get this out of the way , no it is not starvation . No it is not a fad diet . Many people do it or have done it with no dangerous outcomes , so please don't start with the lectures !

    Did you know juicing is very bad for you?!

    Just kidding. :bigsmile:

    Seriously, I LOVE my juicer. Juice is very good for you. I sometimes makes juices to have with a meal, or I sometimes have homemade juice for a snack. Juices are fun to make, and there are plenty of good recipes out there.

    However, I would not recommend having nothing but juices for 30 days because you will not get all the nutrients you need, and you won't be getting sufficient calories, especially if you exercise. All juicing for 30 days sounds extreme to me, and a setup because you will gain whatever weight you lose back as soon as the 30 days expire and you go back to regular eating.

    Why do you want to do a 30 day juicing diet?
  • east2west14
    east2west14 Posts: 161 Member
    I have a juicer and I have no problem with your juicing diet. However, I love food too much to follow that diet. I do however try to replace one meal with juice. I don't eat breakfast period but if I happen to have some veggies laying around I would juice them quickly and run off to work etc. Anyway you may want to start off with replacing one meal with juice and then go from there. Remember that you will gain all your weight back if you do not change your eating habits and not exercise after your 30 day diet.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,961 Member
    Just figure this out for a minute: Why are you choosing a juicing diet? To lose weight? That comes from calorie deficit.

    Why drink juice from vegetables instead of eating them? Is there a nutritional advantage to this?

    You're doing it for 30 days. What is your expectation in those 30 days?

    Will you be supplying enough correct macros (fat isn't high in vegetables or fruit) from juicing? If not, then you may not be efficiently losing the weight you want (meaning you may lose lean muscle).

    Not a lecture, but questions you should look at objectively.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
  • Ribena145
    Ribena145 Posts: 201 Member
    Here's a movie you might want to watch:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zD8e4Mg3NFU

    Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead...

    It speaks for itself. He also has a web site:

    http://www.rebootwithjoe.com/

    I'll let you watch it and decide for yourself.
  • MandyLion76
    MandyLion76 Posts: 45 Member
    I think that juicing some things and using that juice to blend other fruits and veggies for huge smoothie is probably fine.
    I personally am on a little jump starter blending cycle. I blend raw fruits and veggies with a little almond milk here and there and hemp protein powder here or there. The amount of food to get the right amount of calories is huge with blending raw, the amount of fiber keeps me full. You will essentially be removing one of the most important components to a healthy diet and metabolism if you strictly juice. If you don't combine the right types of veggies and fruits you can end up jacking your blood sugar around all over the place. I do know of some raw vegans who after quite a while on point with their lifestyle were fine to juice fast here or there to speed up healing from an illness or wound, but they were at healthy weights, with normal metabolic functions.

    Good luck with whatever you choose! =)
  • ken_hogan
    ken_hogan Posts: 854 Member
    Just figure this out for a minute: Why are you choosing a juicing diet? To lose weight? That comes from calorie deficit.

    Why drink juice from vegetables instead of eating them? Is there a nutritional advantage to this?

    You're doing it for 30 days. What is your expectation in those 30 days?

    Will you be supplying enough correct macros (fat isn't high in vegetables or fruit) from juicing? If not, then you may not be efficiently losing the weight you want (meaning you may lose lean muscle).

    Not a lecture, but questions you should look at objectively.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition


    This. Also not a lecture, but am curious about the legit questions that he mentioned...
  • lynalinda
    lynalinda Posts: 37 Member
    I think that juicing is amazing along with a low fat plant based diet, it helps you get more nutrients as you use a lot of veggie/fruits to do the juices, but you might consider not doing juicing alone for a long time, it might be hard to follow and you might crave more filling food
  • ChristineinMA
    ChristineinMA Posts: 312 Member
    Personally I can't stand to drink my calories so a juicing diet wouldn't work for me.

    I can down a whole carton of orange juice without batting an eye. In order to feel satisfied I want the whole experience - peel that fruit, smell the pungent aroma, pull apart sections, bite into a juicy piece and chew. I get fiber and I have to eat it slower which tends to make me more satisfied. I would eat one, maybe two oranges at most at a sitting.

    Being more mindful of what I am eating and enjoying each piece has made a big difference for me as I used to be a person who would binge.
  • ebbandflow
    ebbandflow Posts: 25 Member
    I'm a big fan of my Nutri- Bullet, which liquifies the peels and seeds so you aren't discarding anything.
  • My friend at work just did 30 days. He looks fabulous and went back onto a plant based diet. He went from a 46 pants to a 34 and he was glowing. I think he lost 46 pounds. He has done many diets in the past and is a triathelete but he said he has never felt better than when he juiced.
  • I'm a big fan of my Nutri- Bullet, which liquifies the peels and seeds so you aren't discarding anything.
    I think that sounds better because it doesn't remove all the healthy fiber from the fruit and veggie.
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
    My friend at work just did 30 days. He looks fabulous and went back onto a plant based diet. He went from a 46 pants to a 34 and he was glowing. I think he lost 46 pounds. He has done many diets in the past and is a triathelete but he said he has never felt better than when he juiced.

    Do you mean he lost 46 pounds in 30 days?
  • sloth3toes
    sloth3toes Posts: 2,212 Member

    I got hooked on juicing from this movie as well. It was kind of a timing thing... I happened to be ready to do something, right after seeing this movie. I bought a juicer, and a whole pile of fruits and vegetables, and went at 'er. The first thing I realized, was that I don't like the taste of certain vegetables... and they were making the juice taste nasty. ( to me ) I also found that mixing fruit and vegetables just wrecked the taste of some otherwise, very tasty fruit juice. So, after a very short period of time, I'd discovered what I really enjoyed, and I figured it was healthy enough, for the short term, and that's what I went with. I did straight juice ( I like to refer to it as a juice 'binge' ) for 10 days, and after 10 days, I felt a bit spaced out and wobbly... so I added back in salads... and soon after, started putting nuts, and occasionally chicken on my salads. I'm currently happy enough with where I'm at ( not done yet, though.... ) to juice a couple times a day... and eat a couple salads, and not be too rigid about my diet.

    Ya, I lost some muscle with this approach... but I did lose 30 lbs in 4 months, and I feel a helluva lot better. My only advice to you would be, not to feel obligated to stick with your initial 30 day plan, if it turns out to be too hard. And to have an exit strategy.... Everyone knows, it doesn't matter how much weight you drop in the short term.... it's what you do after that that counts.
  • JessHealthKick
    JessHealthKick Posts: 800 Member
    When juicing, you are taking out the fibre from the vegetables and food - fibre which is really good for you! Most of the nutrients in vegetables and fruit is in the skin or just under the skin. Also you don't end up having enough protein, so you will be missing some vital building blocks for your body. The result?:

    You will lose weight. Weight aka muscle. You won't lose fat.

    ...Then you will struggle to gain back the muscle... juicing doesn't 'cleanse' your body, it is some rumour that goes around, and it IS a fad whether or not you want to call it that. Is there a goal that you have? Look up the fitness girl with your goal and find out her diet. I am pretty sure it's full of protein and whole foods, not juicing.

    Please just don't do it!! You will regret it so badly
  • HeidiCooksSupper
    HeidiCooksSupper Posts: 3,839 Member
    Truths:
    Some folks lose a lot of weight because they are eating at a severe calorie deficit.
    Some folks do a hospital program-based very low calorie diet but with frequent monitoring by a physician and prescription supplements to assure proper nutrition.
    Some folks do a very low calorie diet on their own or without the necessary cardiac and blood monitoring, get very sick and even die.

    Juices are less good for you than whole vegetables and fruits because the fiber is removed. Does this mean juices are always bad for you? No, but it does mean to drink them in moderation and in the context of a well-balanced diet.
  • Here's a movie you might want to watch:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zD8e4Mg3NFU

    Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead...

    It speaks for itself. He also has a web site:

    http://www.rebootwithjoe.com/

    I'll let you watch it and decide for yourself.

    I too watched this movie. It begins with a severe misunderstanding of what micronutrients and macronutrients are, and the science doesn't get much better from there. It was a great story, well-told and well-filmed, but I also found myself repeatedly asking why he wouldn't just EAT some of the myriad of vegetables. Was he afraid of fiber? At the end of the movie, a postscript states that he still continues to "reboot" (aka eat nothing and drink juice) periodically, indicating that the diet obviously did not produce adequate enduring effects.
    My friend at work just did 30 days. He looks fabulous and went back onto a plant based diet. He went from a 46 pants to a 34 and he was glowing. I think he lost 46 pounds.

    This person evidently lost 1.5 pounds per day. I hope this is some sort of typographical or interpretative error, or else this person either had liposuction in the midst of the diet or was intentionally starving.


    There's nothing inherently wrong with juice as long as it fits into your daily caloric and nutritional requirements. Personally, I advise against drinking your calories while trying to lose weight. Eating the whole fruits and vegetables just seems so much more appealing than running them through a juicer and subtracting some of the best stuff in them.
  • sabinecbauer
    sabinecbauer Posts: 250 Member
    I love my juicer, but... juicing is NOT a sensible diet. Been there, done that, regained every gram I'd lost the moment I went back on solid foods. This despite the fact that I was very careful with the transition. :ohwell:
  • CloudyMao
    CloudyMao Posts: 258 Member
    Tried it, it's no good for you, don't do it.

    Juices are good, but you NEED the fibres. Smoothies would be better for you - make sure, however that you're getting enough protein. I'm not about to tell you how to live your life, but living without essential macros for a prolonged period will do some serious damage to your body, which can take some time to repair. Trust me, I know.
  • whierd
    whierd Posts: 14,025 Member
    Juicing as your sole means of nutrition simply is not a good idea. You're under-consuming proteins, fats, and fiber. You very likely are not consuming a reasonable calorie deficit. You will poop yourself after 3-4 days if you laugh or sneeze too hard. Most excess nutrients are excreted out. And you will be losing mostly lean muscle mass rather than fat mass.

    Add the juice in to a regular diet and I'm all for it.
  • doubglass
    doubglass Posts: 314 Member
    Tried it, it's no good for you, don't do it.

    Juices are good, but you NEED the fibres. Smoothies would be better for you - make sure, however that you're getting enough protein. I'm not about to tell you how to live your life, but living without essential macros for a prolonged period will do some serious damage to your body, which can take some time to repair. Trust me, I know.

    Smoothies would be much better. Since you retain and consume all the fruit or vegetable used. You can boost protein by using greek yogurt or protein powder. The greek yogurt will taste much better. Also, you will get fewer calories for the volume because retaining the vegetable and fruit fiber adds the bulk. When you make juice you are concentrating a lot of natural sugars and and throwing out a lot of nutrients so you have a higher calorie intake for the volume consumed. That is why juicing diets are bad for diabetics.
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
    Everything I've seen says liquified food has much lower satiety than "whole" food.
  • hoopsterdad
    hoopsterdad Posts: 9 Member
    I tend to agree with the majority of the previous posts. We've recently bought a juicer and are finding it a nice way to add some additional fruits and vegetables into our diet. I think it's a good supplement to a healthy diet, but fear that nothing but juice could lead to loss of muscle and a lack of protein.
    Whatever you decide to do, I applaud your decision to try and be as healthy as possible. Good luck.
  • SLV9
    SLV9 Posts: 15 Member
    People... juicing should be looked at as a detox and not a weight loss plan.

    You are getting a **** TON of fruit and veg into your body in one sitting. The lack of fibre helps your body quickly digest the liquid and use all of the nutrients so you can cleanse your organs for a restart. It's an unbelievably awesome way to kick start a healthy eating plan. I would say the amount of days it is done should be based on how clean you need to get and what's doable for you. Everyone is different. Continuing with juicing (or blending if your concerned with getting more fibre) daily afterwards also ensures you are reaching your fruit and veggie goals throughout the day. I recommended taking it in for breakfast when your stomach is empty and can easily absorb all of the nutrients. It's a great way to start your day and get a dose of energy in the morning.

    I juice often and recommend it to everyone!
  • I drink a green smoothie every day. You get so much more out of a whole raw food smoothie than juicing alone. But other than more energy and what not strangely enough, my nails are stronger then they have ever been!


    Edited to mention that i HAVE tried the juicing thing and for 3 whole days i felt like a hard core herion addicted coming off a binge. It is NOT easy. No matter what the benefits. You may be better off trying to incorporate it into you existing diet to start. Imo
  • I read recently in Women's Health, basically a bro-science article about juicing. It also said something like "at the end of the cleanse, if you feel good, its just a placebo effect".

    WUT. Here's the definition of a placebo effect: "a beneficial effect, produced by a placebo drug or treatment, that cannot be attributed to the properties of the placebo itself, and must therefore be due to the patient's belief in that treatment."

    Read: BENEFICIAL EFFECT. Its still beneficial.

    I've since unsubscribed to the mag and speak bitterly of it often. Hehe :)

    I know several people who've done it and had great results, and I know several people who tried and failed miserably (including myself, ashamed to say :/).

    Why not try juicing as a supplement for now, and easing in? If it helps you a lot, maybe try a shorter juice fast? And so on? While you're easing in, do your research! Talk to people, read studies, experiences, etc!

    And yes, do watch Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead.
  • Factory_Reset
    Factory_Reset Posts: 1,651 Member
    I'm distracted by all the lolz in here

    Good luck OP
  • Lyadeia
    Lyadeia Posts: 4,603 Member
    I use my juicer everyday and love it. However, I also eat whole foods and get lots of protein, fiber, and fats from those whole foods which I can't possibly get in the juice. I juice because I simply *love* the taste of my juice recipes, and I have even juiced veggies that I think taste rancid on their own (celery, for one...I hate that crap, but mixed with carrot, apple, and lemon juices taste great!) and because I just simply wouldn't eat that many veggies on their own. But, I can't imagine haven't nothing but juice everyday all day. What a horrible existance to not be able to eat some delicious foods.