Juicing diet: Experts separate fact from fiction

Annet Nakiguli, a juicing fanatic who has been doing it for three years now, believes juicing is a healthy lifestyle.

“People need to understand that weight comes in many ways but most especially through poor nutrition where the body keeps on craving for more food as the one first eaten was not properly digested or used because it was not easily broken down when chewing,” defends Nakiguli.

In her layman’s understanding, this all ends in weight gain, as she further explains; “Poor digestion is as a result of food being consumed but the body is not nourished as the body finds no usefulness with what you have consumed bringing about continued food cravings which clog up in the body hence resulting into weight gain.”

What is a juicing?
During juicing or juice fast/cleanse, a person limits their diet to only fresh vegetable and fruit juices and water for anywhere from a few days to several weeks.

The fast focuses on freshly made and unpasteurised/unprocessed juice, which helps spring-clean a person’s insides, ridding them of toxic overload to aid in shedding off weight.

However, some nutrition experts have expressed misgivings about the practice, claiming that carrying out cleanses or juice fasting or detox for weeks could instead put your body at nutritional risk and doesn’t necessarily help with weight loss.

Sheila Karungi a UK-based nutritionist says fruits and vegetables form part of a healthy diet but should not be taken as a constituent diet on their own. You do not need to do anything cleansing per se, because you have a wonderful organ in your body called the liver which performs this function every day, whether you have cleansed or not.

Good or bad
Juicing will definitely get more fruits into your diet, which means more much-needed vitamins. Get a variety by mixing the fruit colours and throw some vegetables in there to diversify the benefits.

Also, Nakigul testifies that when she was expectant, her blood pressure would shoot up during stressful occasions but since she began juicing, blood pressure is the least of her worries.

On the downside, juicing deprives you of the fibre in fruits, especially if you leave out the fruit pulp. “When you eat a whole fruit or vegetable, you get the benefit of the fibre in complex form.

This keeps you feeling satisfied for longer hence preventing unnecessary snacking while getting the other benefits of roughage and fiber in the body; preventing constipation. These benefits are eliminated by juicing.

Instead, juicing releases “free sugars” which, when consumed, cause a spike in insulin in the body and can lead to diabetes if consumed a lot. There is also the danger of excess sugar being converted into fat leading to weight gain if you are consuming sweet juices.

“Long term weight management can only be achieved by embracing a healthy lifestyle not quick fixes. Exercise, eat a balance diet, drink plenty of water, cut down on the alcohol and stop smoking,” she says.

In his book, The Small Change Diet, American dietitian Keri Gans, also believes that the cleanse is just another ineffective dieting fad. “When it comes to cleansing or detox, those seem to be the words of the moment there’s no harm after one day. Is there any advantage?

Probably not but there is no harm in one day. But to be on cleanses or juice fasting or detox for weeks, you are putting your body at nutritional risk. There is no way you can meet all your nutritional needs, which consist of vitamins and minerals, from a beverage.

“The other thing is that when you go on these cleanses or detoxes, you are also prone to feeling irritable, tired, fatigued, and that shouldn’t be. One does not need to get healthy and feel like crap while doing it. It’s counterintuitive,” writes Gans.

If you are looking for weight management strategies, the best method for long-term weight management is just to try to take in less calories and displace foods with less nutrition, such as sweetened beverages and grain-based desserts, with more whole grains, fruits and veggies.

It is more nutrition and it will help cut calories. The best cleansing for your body is a diet that is well-balanced, plant-based and meets your fibre and nutrient needs.

The bottom line: Juicing might be too extreme, and the results aren’t likely to last.

Improving your juice diet
To harness the benefits of juicing and reduce the risks associated with it, www.webmd.com recommends the following additions and/or subtractions to your juicing routine;
1. So you don’t miss out on the fibre in fruit and vegetables, you can add some of the pulp back into the juice or use it in cooking. You may not need a juicing machine to make juice. You can use a blender for most whole fruits or vegetables to keep the fibre. Add water if it becomes too thick.
2.How many calories are in your juice? That depends on what is in it. Calories are a concern if it’s pure fruit juice. You could be taking up to four fruits, and the calories start adding up. If you use vegetables to juice, add a fruit such as an apple for flavour, the calories are a lot less.
3. Once your juice is ready, it is best to drink it the same day you make it, for food safety. Wash your blender or juice machine thoroughly, so it’s ready for your next batch.

4. You can make your juice more balanced by adding protein. Some good sources are almond milk, Greek yogurt, flaxseed, and peanut butter.

Weight management options

Weight loss and management isn’t a quick fix but a lifestyle. Here are some simple routines you can add to or elimnate from your lifestyle in regard to weight management:

Add protein to your diet
Your body burns calories when digesting and metabolising the protein you eat, so a high-protein diet can boost metabolism by up to 80-100 calories per day. A high-protein diet can also make you feel fuller and reduce your appetite.

Eat whole, single-ingredient foods
By doing this, you eliminate the vast majority of added sugar, added fat and processed food. Most whole foods are naturally very filling, making it a lot easier to keep within healthy calorie limits.

Avoid processed foods
Processed foods are usually high in added sugars, added fats and calories. They are also made to make you eat as much as possible. They are much more likely to cause addictive-like eating than unprocessed foods.

Limit your intake of added sugar
Eating a lot of added sugar is linked with some of the world’s leading diseases, including heart disease, type 2 diabetes and cancer

Drink Water
Drinking 0.5 liters of water may increase the calories you burn by 24–30 per cent for an hour afterward. Drinking water before meals may also lead to reduced calorie intake, especially for middle-aged and older people.

Limit your intake of refined carbs
The main dietary sources of refined carbs are white flour, white bread, white rice, sodas, pastries, snacks, sweets, pasta, breakfast cereals and added sugar.

Fast Intermittently
There are a few different ways to do intermittent fasting, including the 5:2 diet, the 16:8 method and the eat-stop-eat method. Generally, these methods make you eat fewer calories overall, without having to consciously restrict calories during the eating periods. This should lead to weight loss, as well as numerous other health benefits.

Drink (unsweetened) green tea
Green tea is a natural beverage that is loaded with antioxidants and its intake is linked with many benefits, such as increased fat burning and weight loss.

Eat more fruits and vegetables
Fruits and vegetables are extremely healthy, weight-loss-friendly foods. In addition to being high in water, nutrients and fiber, they usually have very low energy density. This makes it possible to eat large servings without consuming too many calories.

Use smaller plates
Some studies have shown that using smaller plates helps you eat less, because it changes how you see portion sizes.
Eggs are the ultimate weight loss food. They are cheap, low in calories, high in protein and loaded with all sorts of nutrients.

Spice up your meals
Chili peppers contain a compound called capsaicin, which may boost metabolism and increase the burning of fat.

Get enough sleep
Studies have shown that sleep-deprived people are up to 55 per cent more likely to become obese, compared to those who get enough sleep. This number is even higher for children. This is partly because sleep deprivation disrupts the daily fluctuations in appetite hormones, leading to poor appetite regulation.