NUTRITION
Should you do a juice cleanse?
Get the facts before you jump aboard this popular diet trend.
A bout of weekend overindulgence or a body panic before a big event, and it can be tempting to climb aboard the next fad diet promising speedy and impressive results. One of the most popular examples is the coveted juice cleanse – a costly all-liquid diet that claims to rid your body of harmful toxins, prevent disease, reset your digestive system, and even aid in fat
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loss. But what does science have to say about detoxes? What is a juice cleanse? A juice cleanse or ‘detox’ is a temporary diet that involves consuming pressed juice from fruits and vegetables with the goal of detoxifying organs and losing fat. On average, these programs recommend no solid food consumption for three to five days (although some can last up to 10), drinking only the juices prescribed throughout
the day. These juices are completely void of pulp, which means they contain zero fibre or protein.
that eating satiating and nutrient-dense whole fruits or vegetables provides more of a benefit.
While there is nothing wrong with juicing as part of a balanced nutrition plan, such as adding a green juice to your breakfast or sipping on one as a snack, drinking only juice all day, every day for an extended period of time can be problematic. In fact, many experts still contest
The key problem when it comes to juice cleanse programs is a lack of legitimacy: most of the espoused health claims are supported by purely anecdotal evidence and fail to provide any scientifically backed data. Here are the hard truths: April/May 2020
MODEL CARLEEN LAWTHER HAIR & MAKEUP MARISSA CLEMENCE PHOTOGRAPHY PAUL BUCETA ILLUSTRATION NAME/SHUTTERSTOCK.COM
WRITTEN BY DR MEGAN RIGBY, DOCTOR OF NURSING PRACTICE AND NUTRITION CONSULTANT, THEMACROMINI.COM
