The diet industry, one that sees nearly every new food plan out there fail on a yearly basis, still manages to hit the 50 billion dollar mark regardless of such failure.
Still, fad diets do not work. They produce quick results, but they are not permanent. They are eating plans that make people punish themselves by depriving them from eating. How is this effective in the long run?
Meet “Juicing”
Juicing is one of most popular diet plans today. Part of its popularity is because the juicing industry devised a myriad of different machines that claim to extract food nutrients to give users added value, for less calories, by just consuming fruits and vegetables in liquid form. Why does it fail? Well, read the top 5 reasons why.
Reason 1 : The Premise
The premise of juicing is simple, but deeply flawed: If you juice your fruits and vegetables, you will be able to get a meal-in-a-glass loaded with nutrients. As a result, you will not need to consume any other type of food since you will get all that you need from that juiced concoction.
Now, this is not unreasonable. Of course drinking fruits and veggies is better than eating them. Still, in juicing, the failure does not come from your “can dos;” the problem is everything else that you “cannot” consume.
Reason 2: Restrictions
The Juicing diet essentially asks you to drink fruit and veggies to lose weight. You are not supposed to eat anything else. The issue with this is that you may feel hungry, then drink too much juice, and then get sick of it.
The diet does not mean either that you can eat as many fruits and veggies as you want, or drink massive amounts of veggie smoothies to lose weight. The reality is that you still have to watch what you put in the juice, and you still should adhere to the recommended amounts of calories and carbohydrates for your weight, age, and height.
Keep also in mind that this is not a high-protein diet. Some people are perfectly fine with this. Others, such as extreme sports athletes, and people who train, may not be. Protein is key to build muscle, and also helps to keep you full. Just think about this before you start this or any regimen.
Reason 3: Lack of information
Here is a great WebMd article that shows that even WebMD does not set too much stock on juicing as a healthy choice.
With juicing, if you do not prepare ahead of time, the entire plan may backfire. Here are some things to consider
A. You must know what goes in your juice, and how much.
Like previously stated, you do not want to end up drinking the equivalent of 5 apples and 8 bananas in one drink; calories and sugar may pack up and there may be an overall lack of balance in other nutrients.
B. You should also know why you want to juice.
If your goal is to lose weight, then you must watch calorie and sugar consumption. Fruits, especially, can pack up quite a load of natural sweeteners that still convert to sugar, nevertheless.
Reason 4: Potential overfeeding…and weight gain!
Here is the biggest issue, and universal fear, regarding juicing. If you are going to juice, that is what you do. You do not juice AND eat a sandwich, or juice AND get soup. You simply juice. Now, suppose that you’ve just consumed all your daily calories in 5 smoothies and then stay hungry. Eating on top of juicing is a recipe for disaster. It results in overfeeding, which, in turn, results in quick weight gain.
Reason 5: Pricing
Not researching may also get you bummed out about the cost of juicing. Juice machines are not cheap. The best ones out there can cost as much as $400. Also, those expensive ones are quite awesome, taking the rinds and cores on their own. See those babies in action right here
If you do not want to invest in a machine, you may depend on a juice bar. Again, juices are expensive: How do you think the juice bars pay for their industrial-strength juicers?
Therefore, unless you are in a desperate need to juice, it is just better to eat in moderation and juice when necessary, not as a single method. It will not help you lose weight in the long run, it is very hard to keep up with it and, chances are, it will just make you hungrier than ever!
As with every diet plan, please consult with your physician prior to starting this or any lifestyle program.
