If you’re looking to drop a few pounds this year, you may be looking for a quick fix that doesn’t taste like tar, cardboard, or cabbage. Enter juicing, an eating approach that replaces solid food with liquid produce to create a caloric deficit—and typically doesn’t taste half bad. As popular as it is, most experts agree that juicing isn’t ideal for sustainable weight loss or even health because, well, hunger. But that’s not all. Here’s everything you need to know if you’re considering juicing for weight loss.
What is juicing?
Technically, “juicing” is simply the process or removing liquid from fruit and vegetables and separating it from the fiber. “Most of the nutrients in the produce remain in the juice,” says registered dietitian Libby Mills, MS, national spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. The term “juicing” is also used in reference to juice cleansing, a dieting tactic that calls for drinking juice for energy and nutrients instead of meals or food altogether for a set period of time. Advocates claim it “detoxes” the body or “resets” it—benefits that are clinically merky. “It’s ridiculous to think that five days of drinking juice will do a better job at detoxifying your body than the evolutionary mechanisms that we’ve developed over tens of thousands of years,” says Dr. Charlie Seltzer, MD, a weight loss physician based in Philadelphia. Juicing can, however, lead to weight loss if the body burns more calories than are present in the juice ingested.
Is juicing good for weight loss?
In short, no. But that doesn’t mean it’s not effective—at least initially. “Due to the restrictive nature of a juice cleanse, you’ll probably eat fewer calories than your body needs,” says Dr. Seltzer. “Anything you do to eat fewer calories than you burn will help you lose weight.” Juicing also starves your body of fat and protein and reduces your carbohydrate intake, which leads to the loss of the sugar we typically store in our muscles. Because those sugars typically bind with water, this will result in a significant drop in the scale, Dr. Seltzer explains. The thing is, it’s fat loss—not water loss—that makes your clothes fit differently, he says. And once you go back to eating food (which is inevitable, really) your body will regain the water and every pound it lost. “Restricting calories and limiting nutrients to only fruits and vegetables make juicing an unsustainable strategy for weight management,” Mills agrees. If you’re thinking you could actually go for an orange juice right this second and wouldn’t really mind sipping it instead of food for life, think again. The severe energy restriction that occurs when you eliminate solid calories can contribute to feeling of deprivation, cravings, food obsession, and rebound eating or binging, according to Mills: “The yo-yo effect can be psychologically and emotionally damaging.” Practically speaking, drinking juice and juice alone for weight loss just doesn’t make sense since it omits the fiber that keeps us full and makes it easier to shrug off extra snacks and second servings that contribute to excess weight, says Dr. Seltzer, who sees fiber as pivotal to any sustainable weight loss plan.
Is juicing healthy?
There’s no question about it: It doesn’t get much healthier than fruits and vegetables, and you might think that the liquid versions would follow suit. “Short-term juicing as a meal replacement can kick-start a healthier way of living by interfering with patterns of social, emotional, environmental, and habitual eating,” acknowledges Mills. But fruit and vegetable juice just doesn’t deliver adequate protein, fiber, essential fatty acids, or B vitamins, she warns. What’s more, juicing doesn’t promote the absorption of fat-soluble vitamins such as vitamins D and E. It’s why over time, drinking solely juice can contribute to deficiencies that already interfere the health of roughly 10 percent of the U.S. population, according the most recent CDC records available. Don’t get us wrong: Juicing can fit into a balanced eating pattern and help you get more fruits and vegetables into your diet—particularly if you save the fiber from the juiced produce and incorporate it into muffins, pancakes, and meatloaf, as Mills recommends for maintaining the benefit of eating the whole fruit and vegetable.
Side effects of juicing for weight loss
Despite what you might imagine, going all in on a juicing won’t immediately leave you feeling light as a feather. “An increase in fruits from juicing can cause constipation, increase in gas, bloating and diarrhea,” Mills warns. But it gets worse: Brace yourself for feeling hangry, fatigued, dizzy, and light-headed, additional side effects of extreme calorie restriction. Essentially? “You’ll be miserable because you’re only drinking juice,” Dr. Seltzer says. If you enjoy moving your body, these symptoms could be compounded. “Juicing may not provide enough calories to support being physically active, training and sport performance,” Mills says. It’s also worth noting that juicing is medically contraindicated for some: If you have kidney disease, diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, gastrointestinal disease, colon surgery, severe hemorrhoids, or are taking certain medications as common as blood thinners, amping up your intake of green juice ingredients such as spinach and kale can interfere with your health. It’s ever the more reason to discuss any dietary changes or diet attempts with your doctor. With a clean bill of health, “doing it for five days probably won’t hurt you,” Dr. Seltzer says. “But it would be a waste of five days.”
Practical considerations of juicing for weight loss
It’s important to note that juicing sure isn’t cheap. A juicer can costs at least three figures, and the produce alone adds up, since you need a fairly high volume to yield a decent pour. To that point, storing enough produce to keep you up to your knees in juice all day can pose its own problems.
How to juice safely
If you still want to try a juice cleanse, Mills says juicing can co-exist with eating or be something you try for just one meal or one day. After all, “the digestive tract works better with food moving through it,” she explains. Here are some other tips she recommends for those who insist:
Discuss your approach with your doctor. They can rule out pre-existing conditions that may make you a bad candidate for juicing.Wash your produce. Even if you aren’t planning on eating the peel, there could be bacteria on the outside of the produce, and that can get into your juice.Juice on-demand. Because raw juice can develop bacteria easily, it doesn’t store well. So while it might be more convenient to batch juice your drinks, it’s safer to make one glass at a time. Don’t use juicing as your go-to fix-all to justify binging. It creates a cycle that’s as unproductive as it is unhealthy.
The best juices for weight loss
Just like there is no one ingredient that will serve as a magic ticket back to your goal weight, there’s no one juice that experts recommend guzzling for results. There is, however, one way to keep your juice calories in check: “Focus on more vegetables than fruit,” Mills advises. The juice with the fewest number of calories will be the most effective, Dr. Seltzer agrees, explaining that vegetable juices have fewer calories than fruit juices due to lower sugar content. Since fiber helps you stay full and satisfied, opt for a juicer that doesn’t remove the fiber from the liquid. You can also consider adding low-fat milk or yogurt to make your juice more substantial and keep your appetite at bay. Otherwise, the best recipe for weight loss doesn’t require any juicing at all. “I’ve never seen anyone lose weight from juicing and keep it off,” says Dr. Seltzer, who’s been in practice for more than a decade. “I’ve never prescribed it and never will." Next up: Can CBD Help With Weight Loss?
Sources
Libby Mills, MS, RDN, spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and DieteticsDr. Charlie Seltzer, MD, Philadelphia-based weight loss physician
