Juice Diet

DazednConfoosed · July 2011

So I watched Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead and I've been curious about the "juicing" diet the movie is mainly about. I realize that nutrients in general would not be an issue and that I would have no lack of energy to fuel my system. I have over 350,000 calories just laying around my stomach that can confirm the "no lack of energy" part. My main concern had been about protein.

Granted, I am not any kind of medical or nutritional profesional. Nevertheless, I am aware of a lot of the general nutritional health information that is available to the public. I know that if a diet is to be attempted, one should make sure that we are not hindering our health by creating a shortage or deficiency in vitamins, minerals, fiber and protein. Maybe I'm missing some, but, I'm not a professional.

In doing a vegetable and fruit juice diet, I immediately realized that there would be no shortage of vitamins, minerals and fiber. However, as previously stated, I was concerned about protein. How would it be possible to maintain a balanced protein intake while strictly on a vegetable and fruit juice diet?

To me, proteins meant meat and some other things likes soy, dairy and some seeds like nuts and beans. However, I was wrong. I found a site cronometer.com and after posting about in here on this site anothe user lead me to nutritiondata.com. Using both sites I learned that some proteins are available through vegetables. I have not yet checked fruits, however, what I learned about vegetables was exciting enough to post about it. It turns out that it *IS* possible to maintain a strictly vegetable juice diet without creating a protein deficient diet.

You may think a "duh" is deserved since we know that there are vegetarians and vegans that maintain a healthy balance without having a protein deficiency. Remember, however, that many of these vegetarians achieve it through eggs and dairy products and vegans through additional supplements. One of the main reasons for this diet is detoxifying the body which is why stopping any non-prescribed, over-the-counter dietary supplements is suggested. This is why my concern was with obtaining sufficient proteins with only fruits and vegetables.

In short, if you are thinking about trying a "juicing" diet and are concerned about nutrients, do not worry. It is possible to maintain a healthy balance of fiber, vitamins, minerals and proteins without creating a deficiency of any of these with a strict vegetable and fruit juice diet.

rtmama · July 2011

I don't think it's healthy to just eat one type of food, ie veg and fruit. I think a balance is needed. grains, beans, a little bit of meat, fish, eggs, dairy are all needed for a balanced diet.

Plus, psychologically it could be very difficult and cravings for foods your body is missing can cause problems.

siouxsie212 · July 2011

I thought it was a great film. If I did it, I'd add in some non-GMO protein powder perhaps. 1 cup of spinach has 5 grams of protein, so you should be able to get a lot from veggies like that!

Crickks · July 2011

Bump

DazednConfoosed · August 2011

I just read an article from that same site that the juicing fast is from and the doctor that wrote it confirms that, if done correctly with a variety of vegetables and plenty of greens, even a 15 day fast is not long enough to create a deficiency. However, though I do not know if I can afford it for that long, I am aiming at sixty days just like the movie. I have written in to ask and will continue to research. In the mean time, I start my fasting Aug 2nd. I'll keep you guys posted.

ShrinkinMel · August 2011

Only reason I'd do it would be for a detox cleanse type thing. I don't think they are meant to be a balanced diet providing all the nutrients. I think it can be a great way to give a picky eater a clean slate and new "tastes". Plus you can stick to that for 30-60 days you can probably stick to eating healthy whole foods after.

overzoelous · August 2011

There are protein powders that you can add to your water. I believe Special K makes them. They come in easy to carry packets similar to crystal lite or propel. Hope this helps!

DazednConfoosed · August 2011

I don't think it's healthy to just eat one type of food, ie veg and fruit. I think a balance is needed. grains, beans, a little bit of meat, fish, eggs, dairy are all needed for a balanced diet.

Plus, psychologically it could be very difficult and cravings for foods your body is missing can cause problems.

You're right. However, you need to look at why we need these things in terms of what they each provide. For example, in keeping with the protein discussion, our bodies need protein. However, the body doesn't care where it gets it from, same goes for any nutrient, it just wants to and needs to get it. So if you provide the protein from a vegetable source, say, soy for example, you can cut out eggs and dairy and meats altogether, once again, in keeping with the protein discussion.

To expand the example to everything else, lets look at what some of your examples provide us.

What does a hard boiled egg provide us vs 1tbs (7g) dried spirulina? (I'm using hard boiled example because I don't want to look up the added things the oil or butter used to cook it would add.)

0.5g of ash (who knew?) / zero ash
186.5g of cholesterol (you don't need it) / zero cholesterol
less than 0.1g of omega 3 / 0.1mg
0.6g of omega 6 / 0.1mg
1.6g saturated fat / 0.2mg
6.3g of 18 different types of amino acids (protein) / 4g of 17 different types of amino acids (proteins)
less than 1mg of B1 / 0.2mg
0.6 micrograms of B12 / zero
0.3mg of B2 / 0.3mg
less than 0.1mg of B3 / 0.9mg
0.7mg of B5 / 0.2mg
0.1mg of B6 / zero
22 micromiligrams of Folate / 6.6mcg
248.1 IU of Vitamin A / 6.8ui
43.5 IU of Vitamin D / zero
0.5mg of Vitamin E / 0.4mg
0.2 micrograms of Vitamin K / 1.8mcg
25mg of Calcium / 8.4mg
less than 0.1 mg of Copper / 0.4mg
0.6 mg Iron / 2mg
5mg Magnesium / 13.7mg
less than 0.1mg Manganese / 0.1mg
86mg Phosphorus / 8.3mg
63mg Potasium / 95.4mg
15.4 micrograms of Selenium / 0.5mcg
62mg Sodium / 73.4mg
0.5mg Zing / 0.1mg
also spirulina adds 0.7mg Vit C which the egg doesn't provide

(all per cronometer.com)

Are they equal? No. However, it goes to show that they both provide many of the same nutrients. Make it two tablespoonsfull of spirulina instead of one and you have way more stuff than one hard boiled egg provides with a lot less calories which means you can eat other things to fill in for those calories, if you're a calorie counter, which will in turn provide even more nutrients for the same calorie count.

What does that all mean? It means that you can get the same nutrients from more than one source. This means that, even though you are right in that a varied diet is healthy, the thought that any one of those food groups (meats, grains and dairy specifically) are needed is wrong.

Varied food groups instead of all vegies is healthy but not healther than all vegies. It is also cheaper which is why I can't afford to cut them out for ever. I also refuse to give up my medium rare stake which is why I won't give it up for ever. However, believing that cutting out any or all of those three food groups or any of the items you mentioned is unhealthy is not correct either.

DazednConfoosed · August 2011

There are protein powders that you can add to your water. I believe Special K makes them. They come in easy to carry packets similar to crystal lite or propel. Hope this helps!

Thanks! I was also thinking about spirulina. However, as I get further in my research, which I still need to do more of, I am finding that of the amino acids that make up the proteins, only some are needed by the body and that most can be provided vegetables. I'm also learning that a mix of green vegetables can actually provide more kinds of amino acids than one stake can. As I mentioned above, I'm not cutting out my delicious stake for ever, however, for the duration of the diet, vegetables can provide all the kinds of proteins I need.

My left over concern now, though smaller, is, what quantities of the juices I will be drinking will I need to drink in order to keep the risk of a protein deficiency at a minimum. If, however, a more than minimum risk will still be affecting me, you are right, protein supplements, like spirulina, will have to be used.

DazednConfoosed · August 2011

Only reason I'd do it would be for a detox cleanse type thing. I don't think they are meant to be a balanced diet providing all the nutrients. I think it can be a great way to give a picky eater a clean slate and new "tastes". Plus you can stick to that for 30-60 days you can probably stick to eating healthy whole foods after.

You are absolutely right. Detoxing is what it is really meant for. The added bonus of loosing weight is a greater focus in my case. However, my concern was about nutrient deficiencies. Then as I researched and learned, my only remaining concern was protein deficiency. Now, as I have posted, the concern is minimized and I only have a few questions left about it.

DazednConfoosed · August 2011

I just learned which amino acids are considered essential and their recommended daily ammounts according to the World Health Organization (according to wikipedia). They are as follows:

Name ................ mg per kg of body weight

Isoleucene ..... 20mg

Leucine ..... 39mg

Lysine ..... 30mg

Methionine + Cysteine (combined) ..... 10.4mg + 4.1mg (15 total)

Phenylalanine + Tyrosine (combined) ..... 25mg (total)

Theronine ..... 15mg

Typtophan ..... 4mg

Valine ..... 26mg

The combined ones are combined because the body can make one out of the other. For example, if you consume 25mg per kg of body weight of Phynelalanine, your body will make it into Tyrosine as needed and vice versa.

In my case, I weigh 330 lbs. However, I don't wish to remain at that weight. My lean body mass is around 160 lbs which is roughly 75kg. So for my daily amounts I will multiply the above listed mg amounts times 75 to make sure I am getting enough to maintain my lean body mass (since I don't want to maintain the body fat.

. I will check out the numbers from my juicing diet with cronometer.com to see how I'm doing on protein intake and keep you guys posted later.

Divagettinfitin2011 · December 2011

Bump

DazednConfoosed · March 2012

So I'm thinking of MAYBE trying this again this year. Last year was a major fail, I have NO will power. So, I hope it's OK to revive this thread as I will continue adding to this information.

For now, I've done some more research and found out something VERY valuable to me. A top contributor that goes by ClickMaster on Yahoo!Answers.com linked the following page to an answer he provided:

http://www.cdc.gov/nutrition/everyone/basics/protein.html#How much protein

This shows that, according to the CDC, an adult female needs ~46g of protein and an adult male ~56g of protein a day to stay within the recommended daily allowance.

Interestingly, I found that the V28 juice recipe from www.jointhereboot.com has 17g of protein. In my experience, each recipe is enough for about two glasses of juice. Make this recipe three times a day (trust me, it sounds like a lot, but, it's not) and you have 54g of protein from vegetable juice. This is more than a woman would need and about as much as a man needs in a day.

FINALLY! A year later, but, I finally have an answer. Following a strict juice diet will NOT produce a protein deficiency for as long as you are careful to choose your vegetables wisely.

DreamersWifey · March 2012

LOL I'm watching this movie right now!

DazednConfoosed · March 2012

Oh! Also, I forgot to mention. That same contributor, ClickMaster, also provided a few more links. Among them was the following:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15212752

This shows that my previous understanding of the amounts of protein needed were wrong. To go far above the recommended daily allowance is a waste, especially if you are a healthy athlete since the healthier you are the better you use up proteins and therefore the less you need of them.

Juice Diet

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