Fat, Sick, And Nearly Dead

Your body doesn't need to be reset or detoxed. You don't put yourself on a breathing machine for 60 days to give your lungs a break, do you?

I can't imagine how many pounds of vegetables and fruits I would have to juice to get the 120g of protein I need a day.

How many of you have seen the documentary "Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead"? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fat,_Sick_and_Nearly_Dead
It is on netflix.

The guy does a juice diet where he only eats fresh fruits and veggies for 60 days and he blends them in a juicer. He eats a LOT of veggies though...

He loses weight so fast!

I know that counting calories and losing it at a healthy rate is the best way but I was just wondering if anyone here has tried the juice/detox type diet like that? Would say 7 days of nothing but fruits and veggies be bad for ones metabolism? Not gonna lie the movie makes you wanna jump up and go buy a juicer and a bunch of veggies... :P

Could it help through a plateau?

Thoughts? Comments on the film?

I have seen that film and I was immediately suspicious; I felt like the whole thing was a commercial to sell me something. I looked into it and the guy has invested a ton of money into the company that makes the juicer he is promoting in the video, so it isn't so much that he is promoting a healthy life style, he is promoting the juicer.

My mother is currently juicing and luckily she took my advice and has only replaced one meal a day with juiced fruits and vegetables. The other meal she has a big, diverse salad, and for dinner she has her standard fare of meat and two vegetables. She is elderly so she isn't very active at this point in her journey, but so far she is down 7 pounds and has her blood sugar levels under control. Juicing, especially in the dead of winter, can be very expensive and I feel like it is a bit wasteful. All that filling fiber is going in either the garbage or the compost pile. I have a hard enough time keeping the families fiber content up high enough without tossing it out. There are days when we switch out juicing for just a protein shake made in the blender with some bananas and whatnot thrown in. Also, juicing can be messy. Like, seriously make you never want to do it again messy. All over the counter top and wall and bottom of the cupboards messy.

Juicing can be the refreshing twist on a lifestyle that could be the catalyst to help you get through a plateau, but I don't think its right for everyone.

Also, as a functioning human being, I have never had much patience for fasting of any kind. I get head aches and light headed and irritable, my productivity goes way down, and it just ends up not being worth the trouble. I can only see fasting and juicing like how they did in the film being practical if you are on a vacation and don't have to do anything but light exercise and juice. Thats just my opinion, though!

I watched it and decided to do a three day juice fast. At first I went to the organic shop to try a green juice and found I quite like it so brought a mascuating juicer which grinds the juice rather than ripping the guts out of it. Takes a bit longer to juice but you get more of the nutrients out of it. I did 3 weeks of research on juicers before buying one. I did the 3 day juice fast and found I loved it and now have a juice at the beginning of every day and it makes me feel good even if only mentally. My husband did a 10 juice fast and found it quite hard and was always hungry but he is a hard working man. He lost 6 kgs and didn't put any weight back on. he has gone back to normal eating now. I will continue to use juice in my daily diet for the health benefits. I think we all have to just do what works for ourselves.

A good friend just did it for 10 days. He lost about 20lbs and he says he felt great.
He's a runner and was able to train and run during the juice fast.

To each their own. Some love it, some don't.

I'd love to try it, but I can't afford it at the moment.

Juice and veggie fasts are great! plus if your eating veggies too you would be fine! there are lots of people who only eat fruits and veggies and they are fine. I did a water fast for 28 days and I was perfectly fine, I didn't die, I lost weight around 34 pounds I think, I did gain some back but that is inevitable, I didn't gain it all back I think once I went back to eating I gained back around 6 pounds. I then got pregnant and gained weight but had I not gotten pregnant I would have kept it off. I didn't lose muscle and my body did not eat my internal organs lol oh and my metabolism is just fine! after I had my baby I lost all of my pregnancy weight in about 6 weeks and I didn't do anything special so my metabolism was fine.

Doing fruit/veggie fasts are great because it gives your digestive system a break, It helps to flush toxins out of your body and it also totally changes your taste buds if done for long enough. after my fast I didn't eat anything fried processed or sugary for more then a year. I slowly started eating crap again but it was a conscious decision. I felt so good while I was doing it. The first three days were hard. I wasn't hungry at all after that. When my body was ready to start eating again I did it slow but I felt great! I had energy I wasn't tired or sluggish.

If your interested in trying it do it, I mean you can always just do 7 days and see how you feel. Talk to a naturopath doctor, Thats who I talked to before doing my fast plus I did a lot of research. A lot of people don't think this is the way to go but for me at the time it was the right path for me. I'm thinking I may do another fast perhaps not as long but we will see. Good luck to you!

1. No
2. Weight loss is not the ultimate goal. health is. Or should be.
3. People who don't eat alot of food usually lose weight.
4. We have teeth for a reason.
5. The digestive system will cleanse itself with real food and time between meals and/or fasting. There's no such thing as a cleanse.
6. Take something from it and move on. It's a movie. Entertainment
7. What will you learn or what skill or lifestyle change will you make by doing a week or two of something extreme? Nothing.
8. Um yea, no.

Well put.

Nothing extreme is good for your body. May produce short term results you are looking for, but they won't last. Moderation is the key to lasting change.

Reality: It's a mega calorie deficit diet. Though more micro nutrient dense, some essentials like oils (and yes some saturated fat is needed for optimal body function) and the amount of protein that juicing offers, may not be enough.

There really is no need to go extreme. People do it for a couple of reasons:

1. Lack of patience
2. Conned into thinking that it magically detoxes, jumpstarts the body.

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

choose HEALTHY/FIT over SKINNY

I have done several juice fasts - or 'feasts' as I call them. In fact, My latest one was for the entirety of January: 31 days!
I had recently started a new job in which I started to pile on weight, so I wanted to reboot the system and I knew from previous experience that this works. I started out with the goal of 10 days, but I felt so good that i just kept going. In that time, I lost about 8kg, but this was really a side effect. The real benefits for me are increased energy (I can now get through a 13 hour shift without any caffeine or other stimulants without suffering any signs of fatigue, including night shifts) and the lack of cravings - I no longer am addicted to sugar and junk food, which had slowly crept back into my diet in the 18 months since my last juice feast.
The first 3 days you really do feel ****ty - caffeine detox, massive cravings for all the addictive processed foods, mood swings, etc. But, if you white knuckle it through this period, you then start to feel the benefits - and i find them massive!!
Get medical advice about whether it is right for you, but as long as there is no medical reason why you shouldn't do it, I say go for it!!

Why waste all the valuable fiber in those vegetables by juicing them? Just eat 'em, jeez.

For some reason that's always my first thought when these juice fast things come up. Priorities!

There is protein and calcium in veggies, especially when they are juiced because juicing uses high quantities, not that I know anything at all about this thread. I have a juicer in my pantry but I do t think it has been used for fifteen years.

There is plenty of calcium in some veggies but there is not a significant amount of protein and the small amount of protein that is present does not have a complete amino acid profile needed to sustain muscle mass (not to mention life!) in humans

Not true, a widely believed but long disproven myth.

http://www.cbsnews.com/2300-204_162-10004624-8.html

.....says the man to the BS of biochemistry lol CBS is hardly a reputable source of scientific information. (This is ultimately what is wrong with the fitness industry today. People believing things that they read from unreliable sources).The only thing I can think of that they could be referring to are complementary proteins; however, if you don't eat the veggies whose proteins complement one another you still will not get all of the essential amino acids. Meat, dairy and a select few others (soy, quinoa, and buckwheat) are the only protein sources which contain all 8 of the essential amino acids IN ONE FOOD ITEM. Also, even if you ate a metric butt-ton of fruits and veggies each day, you still wouldn't get the amount of protein necessary for tissue repair if you are exercising vigorously. Even if you were a sedentary individual the protein yield from the aforementioned diet is subpar.

**** (This is ultimately what is wrong with the fitness industry today. People believing things that they read from unreliable sources).****

OK then, please support what you are saying with a reliable source. Or any source, for that matter. Not more than 10 years old please.

There is protein and calcium in veggies, especially when they are juiced because juicing uses high quantities, not that I know anything at all about this thread. I have a juicer in my pantry but I do t think it has been used for fifteen years.

There is plenty of calcium in some veggies but there is not a significant amount of protein and the small amount of protein that is present does not have a complete amino acid profile needed to sustain muscle mass (not to mention life!) in humans

Not true, a widely believed but long disproven myth.

http://www.cbsnews.com/2300-204_162-10004624-8.html

.....says the man to the BS of biochemistry lol CBS is hardly a reputable source of scientific information. (This is ultimately what is wrong with the fitness industry today. People believing things that they read from unreliable sources).The only thing I can think of that they could be referring to are complementary proteins; however, if you don't eat the veggies whose proteins complement one another you still will not get all of the essential amino acids. Meat, dairy and a select few others (soy, quinoa, and buckwheat) are the only protein sources which contain all 8 of the essential amino acids IN ONE FOOD ITEM. Also, even if you ate a metric butt-ton of fruits and veggies each day, you still wouldn't get the amount of protein necessary for tissue repair if you are exercising vigorously. Even if you were a sedentary individual the protein yield from the aforementioned diet is subpar.

**** (This is ultimately what is wrong with the fitness industry today. People believing things that they read from unreliable sources).****

OK then, please support what you are saying with a reliable source. Or any source, for that matter. Not more than 10 years old please.

I'm at work so I can't go rummaging through my biochemistry textbooks but how about Medline Plus? I would also like to point out that most of the places you will see chanting that there are plenty of proteins in fruits and vegetables are texts that advocate a vegetarian diet and, in doing so, immediately expose their fatal flaw; they are inexplicably biased. Humans are omnivores and are healthiest when they consume a balanced diet. I would also like to point out that, if veggies and fruits contain complete proteins, why is it that I can sport a lbm of 250lbs+ (and so can a lot of other lifters with meat heavy diets) but vegans, aside from less than a handful of exceptions, are generally immaciated? The answer: because fruits and veggies don't contain enough proteins or the right amino acids to facilitate tissue repair. Why is this even an argument?

I'm at work so I can't go rummaging through my biochemistry textbooks but how about Medline Plus? I would also like to point out that most of the places you will see chanting that there are plenty of proteins in fruits and vegetables are texts that advocate a vegetarian diet and, in doing so, immediately expose their fatal flaw; they are inexplicably biased. Humans are omnivores and are healthiest when they consume a balanced diet. I would also like to point out that, if veggies and fruits contain complete proteins, why is it that I can sport a lbm of 250lbs+ (and so can a lot of other lifters with meat heavy diets) but vegans, aside from less than a handful of exceptions, are generally immaciated? The answer: because fruits and veggies don't contain enough proteins or the right amino acids to facilitate tissue repair. Why is this even an argument?

the only single source of complete protein is animal. however, by eating the right fruits, vegetables, grains, and legumes, one can have a complete protein profile. fruits, veg, grains, and legumes can provide ALL of the proper amino acids necessary to a healthy lifestyle - even necessary to building muscle. and soy is NOT an animal source, yet provides a complete protein profile:

Michelfelder, A. (2009). Soy: a complete source of protein. American Family Physician, 79(1), 43-47.

you are incorrect. it is completely possible to get all essential amino acids from non-animal sources, if you plan well and know your sources.

*edit - i also know numerous vegans, only one of whom would be considered below body weight. you can be fat or skinny on any diet, depending on what you eat.

I'm at work so I can't go rummaging through my biochemistry textbooks but how about Medline Plus? I would also like to point out that most of the places you will see chanting that there are plenty of proteins in fruits and vegetables are texts that advocate a vegetarian diet and, in doing so, immediately expose their fatal flaw; they are inexplicably biased. Humans are omnivores and are healthiest when they consume a balanced diet. I would also like to point out that, if veggies and fruits contain complete proteins, why is it that I can sport a lbm of 250lbs+ (and so can a lot of other lifters with meat heavy diets) but vegans, aside from less than a handful of exceptions, are generally immaciated? The answer: because fruits and veggies don't contain enough proteins or the right amino acids to facilitate tissue repair. Why is this even an argument?

the only single source of complete protein is animal. however, by eating the right fruits, vegetables, grains, and legumes, one can have a complete protein profile. fruits, veg, grains, and legumes can provide ALL of the proper amino acids necessary to a healthy lifestyle - even necessary to building muscle. and soy is NOT an animal source, yet provides a complete protein profile:

Michelfelder, A. (2009). Soy: a complete source of protein. American Family Physician, 79(1), 43-47.

you are incorrect. it is completely possible to get all essential amino acids from non-animal sources, if you plan well and know your sources.

*edit - i also know numerous vegans, only one of whom would be considered below body weight. you can be fat or skinny on any diet, depending on what you eat.

You needed to read the comments leading up to that one before you commented. All of the information you gave had already been discussed in this thread and, despite your delivery, was in agreeance with what I said. Also, I'm not talking about being fat or skinny, I'm talking about lean body mass, which you cannot have a lot of on every diet.

this is what you said on an earlier post:

"There is plenty of calcium in some veggies but there is not a significant amount of protein and the small amount of protein that is present does not have a complete amino acid profile needed to sustain muscle mass (not to mention life!) in humans"

you did not provide proof of that statement, i have provided proof to the contrary. i read all of the comments. and based on your previous statement, was *not* in agreement with what you said. i'm all for a healthy debate, but i don't like when misinformation or opinion is stated as fact because it may mislead other people. humans do not need to consume animal products to be healthy and obtain all of the nutrients necessary for optimum health.

[/quote]

The only thing I can think of that they could be referring to are complementary proteins; however, if you don't eat the veggies whose proteins complement one another you still will not get all of the essential amino acids. Meat, dairy and a select few others (soy, quinoa, and buckwheat) are the only protein sources which contain all 8 of the essential amino acids IN ONE FOOD ITEM.[/quote]

Oh look, here it is