Juicing... Your thoughts!

Hi everyone,

My host mum does juicing a lot, she is really fit and healthy and just loves juicing, she says it makes her feel good!
She's about to do a 7 day juicing detox, and i'm going todo it with her. You have 5 juices a day. It's not like slimfast or those shakes, you put the fruit in the machine and get all the good nutrients out of it.

I have read some mixed reviews about how people have felt doing this and my host dad tried and failed!! We are started on Thursday to kick off the year! I really want to be prepared and know what to expect so I have more chance of completing.

Just wanted people's opinions on it and experiences! Any tips for sticking to it and not eating!! And cheating!!!!
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Replies

  • Skarlet13
    Skarlet13 Posts: 146 Member
    I could never do a juicing detox. I love food too much. I guess they work though because they're another way of reducing caloric intake. Why not just eat at a reasonable deficit? It's much easier and less messy. LOL. Also, you can't be on a juice fast forever so better to learn just how much food you need to lose and maintain. I guess I'm just tired of trying so many crazy things in the past to lose weight. I now just want it to be as simple as possible and sustainable. I'm tired!!!!

    At any rate good luck to you. It should work nicely since you will likely be reducing calories substantially. :)
  • florentinovillaro
    florentinovillaro Posts: 342 Member
    Hi everyone,

    My host mum does juicing a lot, she is really fit and healthy and just loves juicing, she says it makes her feel good!
    She's about to do a 7 day juicing detox, and i'm going todo it with her. You have 5 juices a day. It's not like slimfast or those shakes, you put the fruit in the machine and get all the good nutrients out of it.

    I have read some mixed reviews about how people have felt doing this and my host dad tried and failed!! We are started on Thursday to kick off the year! I really want to be prepared and know what to expect so I have more chance of completing.

    Just wanted people's opinions on it and experiences! Any tips for sticking to it and not eating!! And cheating!!!!

    I think a shorter time period would work better. It would be easier for someone who ate daily to sustain. Maybe start with a 24 hour fast, then add a day, the next time. I do what's called Intermittent fasting, which only last 20 hours, I don't starve at all eating 1800 calories and I never feel hungry. My results so far are 17 pounds lost in 25 days. Now I don't recommend that excess of weight loss, but due to my personal health, I need to drop these pounds fast. I have a long journey ahead and need to lose another 100 plus pounds. Good luck on your journey.
  • Rachelc1992
    Rachelc1992 Posts: 246 Member
    Hi everyone,

    My host mum does juicing a lot, she is really fit and healthy and just loves juicing, she says it makes her feel good!
    She's about to do a 7 day juicing detox, and i'm going todo it with her. You have 5 juices a day. It's not like slimfast or those shakes, you put the fruit in the machine and get all the good nutrients out of it.

    I have read some mixed reviews about how people have felt doing this and my host dad tried and failed!! We are started on Thursday to kick off the year! I really want to be prepared and know what to expect so I have more chance of completing.

    Just wanted people's opinions on it and experiences! Any tips for sticking to it and not eating!! And cheating!!!!

    I think a shorter time period would work better. It would be easier for someone who ate daily to sustain. Maybe start with a 24 hour fast, then add a day, the next time. I do what's called Intermittent fasting, which only last 20 hours, I don't starve at all eating 1800 calories and I never feel hungry. My results so far are 17 pounds lost in 25 days. Now I don't recommend that excess of weight loss, but due to my personal health, I need to drop these pounds fast. I have a long journey ahead and need to lose another 100 plus pounds. Good luck on your journey.

    Thanks that sounds great :)!! I will try the shorter time first as you've suggested :) I think because she's doing it with me it will give me the go! And she's really motivating! She will send me a text to get out for bed and get my *kitten* to the gym haha, just what I need!!!!!
    Well done on your weight loss :)! x
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 49,024 Member
    Adding juice to a well balanced diet is fine. Using juice as your "meals" isn't.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
  • gigglesinthesun
    gigglesinthesun Posts: 860 Member
    Why not eat the whole fruit or veggie and get the fiber as well as all the nutrients?
  • JesterMFP
    JesterMFP Posts: 3,596 Member
    My thoughts:

    -you don't need to "detox" (I'm assuming you're not talking about detoxing from drugs or alcohol). Your liver, kidneys, lungs and skin do a great job of that already. It's east to be tempted by the idea, especially after a period of excess, like Christmas is for a lot of people. It really is just a gimmick though. Want to start eating better? Start eating better. Start adding more of the foods you want to add, and reducing the foods you want to reduce. It doesn't have to be so extreme.
    -you get a lot of nutrients in juice, concentrated into a small volume - it's definitely easier to drink a few glasses of juice than to eat all the fruit that goes into it. However, you're cutting out a lot of the fibre, which is also good for you. If you have issues with blood sugar, you could have problems with only consuming sugary juice (even just the "natural" sugars from fruit) without the fibre that goes along with it.
    -on a juice only diet, you're missing out on a lot of other essential nutrients (protein, fat, fibre). People seem to focus on all the micronutrients you get from juicing, and disregard the marconutrients your body needs.
    -it's hard to stick with a diet that's a) so restrictive and b) is only liquids. For some people, that could cause problems with binge eating afterwards.
    -thinking of eating as "cheating" is never a good idea.

    So, basically, I think eating more fruit and vegetables is good. Supplementing your diet with fresh fruit juices is fine (assuming no issues with consuming a lot of sugar). Consuming only juice for a period of time is not only unnecessary, but could do more harm than good.
  • evileen99
    evileen99 Posts: 1,564 Member
    Not consuming protein for 7 days is a bad idea. Your body will start to break down muscle tissue (including your heart muscle) to meet the protein requirements of your brain. Muscle is the tissue that burns calories, so after 7 days of losing muscle, you'll be more likely to gain weight.

    That, and you don'y need to "detox." You're not full of toxins.
  • emmaemz1985
    emmaemz1985 Posts: 140 Member
    I decided to get on the juicing hype about 6 months ago so I went out and brought a massive juicer........ Which I have used soooo many times ermmmmm not I've used it once lmao it looks nice on my work top tho :)
  • Mia_RagazzaTosta
    Mia_RagazzaTosta Posts: 4,885 Member
    Totally unnecessary
  • ILoveGingerNut
    ILoveGingerNut Posts: 367 Member
    Why not eat the whole fruit or veggie and get the fiber as well as all the nutrients?

    agree
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    I am not at all opposed to juicing as a way to supplement your veg and fruit intake...it can be hard (at least it is for me) to actually eat a full 4-6 servings of veg per day. I don't personally juice but I drink low sodium V8 pretty regularly for that very reason.

    That said, a juice detox is a waste of time and completely unnecessary. On top of that, many a "juicer" goes way over the top and starts replacing all of their meals with juices, etc...again...you're better off eating your fruit and veg and juicing should be looked at as basically a supplemental IMHO.

    Keep in mind that fruit and veg are very nutritious...but you need more than fruit and veg for proper nutrition. Dietary fat is essential to proper nutrition, as is protein.
  • Think about what's going to happen to your metabolism after a week of just juice.
    So now your metabolism slows down, so as you start eating again all of that is getting stored.

    Now think about not eating protein for an entire week.
    So now you've faced some muscle breakdown.

    Sound healthy?

    Juicing is awesome, I have a juicer, but I certainly don't use it to live off of...
  • neandermagnon
    neandermagnon Posts: 7,436 Member
    My thoughts:

    -you don't need to "detox" (I'm assuming you're not talking about detoxing from drugs or alcohol). Your liver, kidneys, lungs and skin do a great job of that already. It's east to be tempted by the idea, especially after a period of excess, like Christmas is for a lot of people. It really is just a gimmick though. Want to start eating better? Start eating better. Start adding more of the foods you want to add, and reducing the foods you want to reduce. It doesn't have to be so extreme.
    -you get a lot of nutrients in juice, concentrated into a small volume - it's definitely easier to drink a few glasses of juice than to eat all the fruit that goes into it. However, you're cutting out a lot of the fibre, which is also good for you. If you have issues with blood sugar, you could have problems with only consuming sugary juice (even just the "natural" sugars from fruit) without the fibre that goes along with it.
    -on a juice only diet, you're missing out on a lot of other essential nutrients (protein, fat, fibre). People seem to focus on all the micronutrients you get from juicing, and disregard the marconutrients your body needs.
    -it's hard to stick with a diet that's a) so restrictive and b) is only liquids. For some people, that could cause problems with binge eating afterwards.
    -thinking of eating as "cheating" is never a good idea.

    So, basically, I think eating more fruit and vegetables is good. Supplementing your diet with fresh fruit juices is fine (assuming no issues with consuming a lot of sugar). Consuming only juice for a period of time is not only unnecessary, but could do more harm than good.

    ^^^^ all of this
  • GradatimFerociter
    GradatimFerociter Posts: 296 Member
    I thought this was going to be someone randomly asking if they should be using clen or something.

    Thankfully not.
  • gabrielleelliott90
    gabrielleelliott90 Posts: 854 Member
    It is very silly. Lots of people do juicing to detox. We don't need to juice to detox, we have organs that do that for us. To lose weight eat healthy or on a calorie deficit, because if you do juicing that is liquid, bunch of veg and fruit mushed up together into a liquid, and when you start eating proper food again aka meat, bread, you will gain it back because all the weight you lose is from water I'm sure. When you finish juicing, you will be really hungry and eat a lot, and also very grumpy whilst doing it.
  • WalkingAlong
    WalkingAlong Posts: 4,926 Member
    There are a lot of people who use various fasts, including juice fasts, for reasons that do not all jibe well with American diet beliefs. I agree that it's probably healthier overall to eat the whole fruit/veg and get the 'cleansing' and satiety benefits of the fiber but some believe they're giving their digestive system a rest with a liquids fast. I'm pretty sure I could get a lot of calories into juice so I wouldn't expect to lose weight, necessarily. I don't think it's going to hurt you, for a week. You can get protein from plant foods. Vegans do it.
  • skinnyinnotime
    skinnyinnotime Posts: 4,078 Member
    What are you hoping to achieve with juicing?

    Seems like you're blindly following your host mum without really understanding what it involves

    You will be very hungry, feel exhausted and get headaches because your body will not be getting the nutrition it needs
  • florentinovillaro
    florentinovillaro Posts: 342 Member
    Thanks that sounds great :)!! I will try the shorter time first as you've suggested :) I think because she's doing it with me it will give me the go! And she's really motivating! She will send me a text to get out for bed and get my *kitten* to the gym haha, just what I need!!!!!
    Well done on your weight loss :)! x
    [/quote]

    I'm glad I could help. I am very interested in the results of your fast. Best of luck to you!
  • poedunk65
    poedunk65 Posts: 1,336 Member
    I don't drink juices. It is better to eat the actual fuit. Juices are absorbed rather than the fruit which is digested.
  • action_figure
    action_figure Posts: 511 Member
    I honestly think that it's a more socially acceptable form of gluttony. Why juice more vegetables and fruits than you can actually eat when you could, instead, you know, eat fruits and vegetables only for X number of days and just drink lots of water?
  • Serah87
    Serah87 Posts: 5,481 Member
    No.
  • WalkingAlong
    WalkingAlong Posts: 4,926 Member
    I don't drink juices. It is better to eat the actual fuit. Juices are absorbed rather than the fruit which is digested.
    Well, juices are digested as well, but the sugars do get into the bloodstream faster without the slowing effect of the fiber on digestion.
  • Its totally up to you if you wanna give it a go. Just see how your feeling each day. You may get a headache in the beginning. Its nice that you've got her to help you and advice you. Do it for as long as you feel comfortable and see if you feel better after doing it for a few days. If you don't enjoy it, or feel awful then stop and go back to eating as healthy as you can. But, i do know some people that do it a couple times a year and swear by it. As long as it doesn't become a life long habit. Which i'm sure it won't . you know your body better than anyone else, so, you'll be the best judge of whether its working for you. :)
  • tigersword
    tigersword Posts: 8,059 Member
    Just... No. It's NOT healthy, it's not a good idea. You miss out on protein, fat, fiber, and a ton of nutrients that the juicer leaves in the actual fruit.

    What are you trying to detox? I'm guessing you have a liver and at least one kidney, and they do all the "detoxing" the human body needs (it's kind of their function.)
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
    How are you planning on getting enough protein, fats and fiber?
  • Cranquistador
    Cranquistador Posts: 39,744 Member
    NO.
  • jweindruch
    jweindruch Posts: 65 Member
    Juicing is fantastic! I'm not sure about limiting your entire diet just to juice. You can get the detox benefits from juicing even while eating. Keep in mind it's a good idea to keep your juices more on the vegetable side. I would limit each juice to 1 fruit - 2 max. Cilantro and Parsley are great leafy vegetables to add if you're interested in detox. Here are some of the things I like to juice:

    Kale, cucumber, carrot, apple, ginger, cilantro, parsley
  • ILiftHeavyAcrylics
    ILiftHeavyAcrylics Posts: 27,732 Member
    How are you planning on getting enough protein, fats and fiber?

    This would be my question as well.

    To the person above who mentioned that vegans do it-- yes, vegans can get enough of these nutrients. However, they don't do it with juice only.
  • MyChocolateDiet
    MyChocolateDiet Posts: 22,281 Member
    The two IRL ppl I know who recently did this kind of thing felt miserable in the later days. One of them cheated during her meal with me. The other one didn't but complained the whole hour and half I spent with her and admitted her days were torturous and she was hardly able to do her regular routine.
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
    Hi everyone,

    My host mum does juicing a lot, she is really fit and healthy and just loves juicing, she says it makes her feel good!
    She's about to do a 7 day juicing detox, and i'm going todo it with her. You have 5 juices a day. It's not like slimfast or those shakes, you put the fruit in the machine and get all the good nutrients out of it.

    I have read some mixed reviews about how people have felt doing this and my host dad tried and failed!! We are started on Thursday to kick off the year! I really want to be prepared and know what to expect so I have more chance of completing.

    Just wanted people's opinions on it and experiences! Any tips for sticking to it and not eating!! And cheating!!!!
    I love my juicer, and I do make fresh juice to have as a snack or meal. I would never do just juicing for seven days because

    (1) there is no reason to detox because your body naturally detoxes itself
    (2) It's better to eat the majority of your fruits and vegetables for the fiber
    (3) You will miss the important nutrients you get through you other foods and whole veggies and fruits.
    (4) I'd get too darned hungry and probably get the not-so-bright idea to binge