Juicing - Weight Loss?

In general, there's no great benefit to juicing over other means. The one benefit a juicer does provide is that you can get a large serving's worth of vegetables and fruit in one glass, but that also can mean high calories depending on what you pulp. If you don't like eating vegetables, it can be a benefit, but there's also downsides there.

Juicing machines often remove the fiber from the vegetables and fruits you pulp. Fiber is something your body needs for good digestion.

It's easy to get more calories you need by juicing a lot of fruit and veggies into a glass.

Drinking your meals can make it hard to feel satiated enough to keep with this process for a long time. This leads to eating more than planned, and actually gaining weight when you get more calories than you burn.

Companies that make juicing machines make a lot of claims about "releasing nutrients", etc. Most of it is misleading at best.

Carolyn8505 wrote: »

I bought a juicer and have decided to try it out and replace Breakfast and Lunch with juice during the weekdays. Any tips? Or has anyone seen results by doing this?

You can juice all you want, but you will not lose weight unless you consume less calories than you burn. Juicing is not a quick fix, or magic, plus it's better to just learn portion control and eat real food.

Also, juicing takes the fiber out of foods. You need fiber to poop.

I have a juicer and I love it, but I have never replaced a meal with homemade juice. I will sometimes make juice to have as a snack, or to have with a meal or snack. Other than this, I eat my food.

Remember: it's calories in/calories out for weight loss. Learn portion control and stay away from quick fixes.

DemoraFairy wrote: »

bpetrosky wrote: »

In general, there's no great benefit to juicing over other means. The one benefit a juicer does provide is that you can get a large serving's worth of vegetables and fruit in one glass, but that also can mean high calories depending on what you pulp. If you don't like eating vegetables, it can be a benefit, but there's also downsides there.

Juicing machines often remove the fiber from the vegetables and fruits you pulp. Fiber is something your body needs for good digestion.

It's easy to get more calories you need by juicing a lot of fruit and veggies into a glass.

Drinking your meals can make it hard to feel satiated enough to keep with this process for a long time. This leads to eating more than planned, and actually gaining weight when you get more calories than you burn.

Companies that make juicing machines make a lot of claims about "releasing nutrients", etc. Most of it is misleading at best.

All of this. Juicing is great if you love juice, but I wouldn't recommend replacing 2 meals 5 days a week with just juice.

This.

I also wouldn't replace meals with it.

Don't meal Replace with it. I tried it once for about a week, BIG MISTAKE! TMI...it really messed up my bowels..lol. Juicing can be healthy as long as you add it to an already healthy diet, but don't cut out eating

I usually consume more calories and get less benefits from food when juicing than eating the whole food. Juicing removes some of the good stuff.

But, I've never used it as meal replacement because I'm pretty sure I'd starve.

My tip is don't do it.

Juicing is expensive, messy, too high in carbs and too low in fiber/protein. It's not worth it.

For me, juice is like 450 calories of Dammit I'm Still Hungry.

It's like popping a multivitamin with a glass of Kool-Aid and calling it a meal.

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Ninkyou wrote: »

DemoraFairy wrote: »

bpetrosky wrote: »

In general, there's no great benefit to juicing over other means. The one benefit a juicer does provide is that you can get a large serving's worth of vegetables and fruit in one glass, but that also can mean high calories depending on what you pulp. If you don't like eating vegetables, it can be a benefit, but there's also downsides there.

Juicing machines often remove the fiber from the vegetables and fruits you pulp. Fiber is something your body needs for good digestion.

It's easy to get more calories you need by juicing a lot of fruit and veggies into a glass.

Drinking your meals can make it hard to feel satiated enough to keep with this process for a long time. This leads to eating more than planned, and actually gaining weight when you get more calories than you burn.

Companies that make juicing machines make a lot of claims about "releasing nutrients", etc. Most of it is misleading at best.

All of this. Juicing is great if you love juice, but I wouldn't recommend replacing 2 meals 5 days a week with just juice.

This.

I also wouldn't replace meals with it.

Cosign.

You'll be STARVING.

fwiw, I prefer smoothies. All of the fiber and nutrients remain, and you can add fats and protein to your vegetable and fruit smoothies, making them more "meal" like.

PeachyPlum wrote: »

For me, juice is like 450 calories of Dammit I'm Still Hungry.

Exactly!

There is a lot of very misleading information here. If you use a high quality juicer and juice only the freshest, organic vegetables and fruits, juicing is extremely good for you. The idea behind juicing rather than whole food is that it allows you to consume the nutrients from many more fruits/veggies than you could eat in a sitting, say 5 servings just for one meal. You can use it to replace meals if you are using mostly veggies and minimal, low sugar fruits. However, many new to juicing go for the high sugar fruits because it appeals to their taste buds. That's how you end up with high-calorie juices. (Smoothies are a totally different animal altogether.) Using it as a meal replacement can be very effective for cleaning the digestive system, as it gives it a chance to relax, free of meats and other heavy foods which take a long time to digest. It is up to the individual person, whether that is right for them. It makes sense to use a juice in the morning, for example, as a healthy habit for someone who is not in the habit of eating any breakfast. It might not be right for someone who already eats a healthy breakfast. It might be a good choice for someone who has only a few minutes for lunch to prepare ahead of time and bring to work with them. It takes some knowledge and effort, but when done properly, the health benefits are amazing. And let us not forget, all calories are not the same.

daltonjsmom wrote: »

There is a lot of very misleading information here. If you use a high quality juicer and juice only the freshest, organic vegetables and fruits, juicing is extremely good for you. The idea behind juicing rather than whole food is that it allows you to consume the nutrients from many more fruits/veggies than you could eat in a sitting, say 5 servings just for one meal. You can use it to replace meals if you are using mostly veggies and minimal, low sugar fruits. However, many new to juicing go for the high sugar fruits because it appeals to their taste buds. That's how you end up with high-calorie juices. (Smoothies are a totally different animal altogether.) Using it as a meal replacement can be very effective for cleaning the digestive system, as it gives it a chance to relax, free of meats and other heavy foods which take a long time to digest. It is up to the individual person, whether that is right for them. It makes sense to use a juice in the morning, for example, as a healthy habit for someone who is not in the habit of eating any breakfast. It might not be right for someone who already eats a healthy breakfast. It might be a good choice for someone who has only a few minutes for lunch to prepare ahead of time and bring to work with them. It takes some knowledge and effort, but when done properly, the health benefits are amazing. And let us not forget, all calories are not the same.

Sources? None of this is true. Your digestive system does not need to "relax" until you're dead, for one thing. This is total woo-woo.

If you need the "nutrients" from so many fruits and vegetables without the fibre, pop a multivitamin and skip the hundreds of calories worth of sugar water.

PeachyPlum wrote: »

For me, juice is like 450 calories of Dammit I'm Still Hungry.

It's like popping a multivitamin with a glass of Kool-Aid and calling it a meal.

Hahaha! So true.

PeachyPlum wrote: »

daltonjsmom wrote: »

There is a lot of very misleading information here:

"If you use a high quality juicer and juice only the freshest, organic vegetables and fruits, juicing is extremely good for you. The idea behind juicing rather than whole food is that it allows you to consume the nutrients from many more fruits/veggies than you could eat in a sitting, say 5 servings just for one meal. You can use it to replace meals if you are using mostly veggies and minimal, low sugar fruits. However, many new to juicing go for the high sugar fruits because it appeals to their taste buds. That's how you end up with high-calorie juices. (Smoothies are a totally different animal altogether.) Using it as a meal replacement can be very effective for cleaning the digestive system, as it gives it a chance to relax, free of meats and other heavy foods which take a long time to digest. It is up to the individual person, whether that is right for them. It makes sense to use a juice in the morning, for example, as a healthy habit for someone who is not in the habit of eating any breakfast. It might not be right for someone who already eats a healthy breakfast. It might be a good choice for someone who has only a few minutes for lunch to prepare ahead of time and bring to work with them. It takes some knowledge and effort, but when done properly, the health benefits are amazing. And let us not forget, all calories are not the same."

FTFY

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PeachyPlum wrote: »

daltonjsmom wrote: »

There is a lot of very misleading information here:

"If you use a high quality juicer and juice only the freshest, organic vegetables and fruits, juicing is extremely good for you. The idea behind juicing rather than whole food is that it allows you to consume the nutrients from many more fruits/veggies than you could eat in a sitting, say 5 servings just for one meal. You can use it to replace meals if you are using mostly veggies and minimal, low sugar fruits. However, many new to juicing go for the high sugar fruits because it appeals to their taste buds. That's how you end up with high-calorie juices. (Smoothies are a totally different animal altogether.) Using it as a meal replacement can be very effective for cleaning the digestive system, as it gives it a chance to relax, free of meats and other heavy foods which take a long time to digest. It is up to the individual person, whether that is right for them. It makes sense to use a juice in the morning, for example, as a healthy habit for someone who is not in the habit of eating any breakfast. It might not be right for someone who already eats a healthy breakfast. It might be a good choice for someone who has only a few minutes for lunch to prepare ahead of time and bring to work with them. It takes some knowledge and effort, but when done properly, the health benefits are amazing. And let us not forget, all calories are not the same."

FTFY

Uh, according to NHS guidelines you can't get more than one 'serving' of your five-a-day from juice. Because fibre. Drinking two pints of juice is not much better for you than drinking one glass - and probably worse, because calories.

Not to mention that fruit juice is acidic and will do the exact opposite of 'relaxing' your bowels. Too much on an empty stomach will probably give you tummy ache, as well as eroding your teeth.

And, uh, yeah, all calories are the same. That's what 'calorie' means, it's a unit of measurement.

OP; meal replacements are generally unpopular in these parts, and for a variety of very good reasons (they're expensive, difficult to sustain, and even if they work, they don't fix the underlying problems of eating too much).

That said, I do in fact use meal replacement shakes, largely because I have health problems that make eating solid food three times a day difficult/impossible. That means that I have had the exact same meal 340 times (13 times a week) in the last six months. That's a pretty big undertaking, and not one I recommend if you can avoid it. But if you really want to try meal replacements, skip the juice, look for a product or recipe that meets your fat/protein targets (the most common ones are stuffed full of sugar, which makes them high calorie and likely to throw off your macros for the whole day) and buy a fibre supplement.