The Juice Cleanse diet is a fad diet. It requires people to drink a certain amount of juice and prohibits people from eating food. There are a lot of dangers involved with this fad diet. Before you begin a new diet, it is a good idea to speak with your doctor about it.
What is the Juice Cleanse Diet?
The Juice Cleanse diet has gone by different names over the years including: Cleanse, Master Cleanse, Detox, and the “Maple Syrup Diet” (made popular when Beyonce did it years ago). The Hollywood 48 hour miracle diet is a Juice Cleanse diet. Years ago, a version of this diet required people to drink only orange juice.
In general, the Juice Cleanse Diet is one that requires people to drink a specific amount of juice over a certain number of days. People can drink all the water they want while on this fad diet, but are prohibited from eating any food.
Where did the Juice Cleanse Diet come from?
There isn’t a direct, single, source that spawned the many versions of the Juice Cleanse Diet. Some think the basic idea was derived from fasting that people were doing for religious reasons. It separates the act of fasting from the religious purpose for it.
Why do people choose the Juice Cleanse Diet?
The biggest reason is that this diet promises that a person will lose a great deal of weight, in a short time, without having to exercise or count calories. It sounds very easy to do, and it has a very limited duration. To many, it sounds like an quick and easy way to lose weight.
Others choose this diet because they are confused about how the body deals with toxins. The main function of your liver is to detox your body. The liver does not store toxins. It turns potentially harmful chemicals into water-soluble chemicals that can be sweated or excreted from the body. Your kidneys and colon are also designed to get rid of toxins.
Potential Dangers of the Juice Cleanse Diet
One danger is that the juices people consume while on this fad diet contain almost no protein. People need to intake a daily supply of protein to build healthy immune cells and to regenerate muscle after a workout. Lack of protein can make a person more susceptible to infections (this is especially true for older adults).
Perhaps the biggest danger of the Juice Cleanse Diet is that it is teaching people to create an unhealthy relationship with food. It doesn’t teach people to count calories, or how to identify healthy foods, or what a healthy portion size looks like. It doesn’t encourage people to exercise. People who lose water weight during the Juice Cleanse tend to regain that weight after the fad diet is over.
Image by thedabblist on Flickr.
Related Articles at Families.com:
* Beyonce Warns Against the Maple Syrup Diet
* Hollywood 48-hour Miracle Diet (Part 1 of a series of 3)
* Health Issues With Apple Juice and Toddlers