Juice fasting- Is it worth following?

We all know that both vegetables and fruits are good for our overall health. Indeed, many of these natural food items tend to reduce the chances of serious illness. Some of these issues include cancer and heart diseases.

So, one needs to consume it more often, and juice fasting is a good plan.

To elaborate, juice fasting is a process that essentially includes extracting juices that are full of nutrition. Indeed, one can add many fresh vegetables and fruits into these nutritious juices for easier and faster consumption.

Over the years, this process has become popular. Given the busy lives everyone leads, that is only expected.
Many people use juice fasting as a detoxing method while also getting the necessary nutrients.

According to many studies, juice fasting can help improve the absorption of nutrients from vegetables and fruits. However, opposing studies say that juice fasting strips away the important fiber from them.

Juicing and its types
Juicing is a process that is used to extract fresh juices from both fresh vegetables and fruits. It normally strips away all the solid matter from the vegetables and fruits. To specify, the solid matter includes the pulp and seeds of these food items.

The liquid after juicing contains most of the naturally-present minerals, vitamins, and also antioxidants.

Juice fasting is basically a kind of detox that occurs with the nutritious elements in the juice. This takes a short period, though, such as three to four days.

There are many kinds of juice cleanses. Some involve homemade juices, which consist of fresh vegetables and fruits. You have to run them through a juicer or a blender.

On the other hand, some others simply buy store-bought juices.

Furthermore, the methods of juicing vary a lot, from the motor-driving method to squeezing by hand. Yet, the quality of the nutrition of juices from both processes is the same.

Two of the most common types of juicers are:

• Centrifugal

These juicers help to grind vegetables and fruits into pulp. They have a high-speed action of spinning and also a cutting blade. Here, spinning helps to separate the juice from other parts of the vegetable and fruit.

• Cold-press

Cold-press juicers are also the masticating juicers. They always tend to crush and press the vegetables and fruits more slowly. It helps to obtain more juice as much as possible.

Purpose of juice fasting

There are normally two purposes of juice fasting:

• Helps in detoxification

People often use juice fasting as the process of eliminating solid food from the diet. They rely on the consumption of juices for three days or even more.
Some people also believe that juice helps them to cleanse their body from toxins. But, there is not much scientific evidence available that can support this statement.

• To supplement a normal diet

People often use fresh juices as a supplement to the normal daily diet. After all, it helps to increase the intake of nutrients from natural ingredients. Nowadays, many people globally prefer this faster and hassle-free method to get the necessary nutrients without preparing a whole meal. Back in 2015, 71% more people bought juicers in the U.S., and this is still rising.

Working of juice fasting
During juice fasting, always try to rely on juices or smoothies for a particular duration. This duration might be for two to four days. Also, a typical juice fasting consists of three vital stages. They are:

• Preparation

Just before three to five days of starting the fast, keep yourself away from certain foods. Such foods include sugar, coffee, wheat, alcohol, meat, nicotine, dairy products, etc. As a result, they will help to prevent cravings, headaches, and also many withdrawal symptoms.
Also, try to increase the intake of fresh fruits, fluids, and vegetables during the pre-fasting.

• Cleanse

For about one to three days after the actual cleanse, you must drink at least 32 ounces of smoothies or juice. Half of your smoothies or juices should have green vegetables.

• After the fasting

Once the juice fasting is over, you must eat very light foods for a few days. And, slowly and gradually, you should add solid foods to your diet.

Activities during the fast
Some say that juice fasting helps to improve the overall health of a person. But most of the time, you may not feel good after or during the fast. Therefore, while juice fasting, you must follow the following points:

• Opt for light physical activity

Experts always recommend to tone down the schedule of exercise when you are trying out juice fasting. But, you can always choose to walk as it helps to boost lymphatic and blood circulation.

• Body massage

Go for good body massage therapy sessions. The suitable types are lymphatic drainage, Swedish, Thai, or deep tissue massages. Also, get these massages after showering and skin brushing.

• Practice body and mind wellness

There are many negative effects on your health due to stress, and those can impair your detoxification attempt. So, always allow your mind to rest properly first. Try to get a good amount of rest and also go to bed early.

• Prepare yourself for different emotions

Old emotions may arise during juice fasting. Therefore, make yourself emotionally prepared to cope up with all the different emotional changes.

Pros of juice fasting
There are different advantages of juice fasting. Some of them are:

• Better health

Since vegetables and fruits are rich in nutrients, drinking fresh juices from them has many benefits. Indeed, you would get a higher intake of minerals, vitamins, and many other anti-inflammatory compounds. These compounds boost immunity, energy, and also your overall health.

• Removal of toxins

Juice fasting helps to remove all the toxins from the body. There is very little evidence about this point, but some experts believe it flushes out the toxins.

• Improve digestion

There are many enzymes in raw juices. They help to improve the digestion of the body. According to research, juice fasting can alter intestinal microbiota that helps to lose weight.

Obtain lots of nutrients
Juice fasting is the easiest way to obtain a lot of nutrients. Many people fail to obtain enough nutrients from a normal diet. Because of the processing methods, the levels of nutrients in the food become extremely low. Therefore the food you eat is of much lower levels of nutrients.

The levels of environmental pollution and levels of stress increase the requirements for certain kinds of nutrients. Vegetables and fruits are full of nutrients such as antioxidants, vitamins, plant compounds, and minerals. They are capable enough to protect your health against all diseases.

Therefore, to intake all the essential nutrients faster, you can surely rely on fresh juices from vegetables and fruits. But make sure to drink at least 32 ounces of juice when you are opting for juice fasting to intake sufficient nutrients.

Protect against diseases
There is ample evidence that proves that vegetables and fruits reduce the risk of diseases. Fruit juices tend to lower the risks of heart diseases as they have a high content of antioxidants. But you need to make sure that you drink enough juices, especially green vegetable juices.

Cons of juice fasting
Juice fasting is not appropriate for everyone. It must not be the option available for children or pregnant women at any cost. Also, this is not for people who have chronic liver or diabetes or gallbladder issues.

Some of the main concerns are:

• Kidney health

Juice fasting often includes juices that are from leafy greens, dark, and also beets. They are rich in oxalate and can cause severe kidney stones, including kidney stones and other issues. Indeed, oxalate presence has almost a 40-50% chance of causing kidney failure.

• Bacterial infection

Some ready-made juices are not properly treated or unpasteurized juice. As a result, they start feeling sick due to bacterial infection. This problem is most common in people who are elderly and also those with a chronic illness. Plus, this is also typical in young children.

• Best to intake whole veggies and fruits

The fiber content of vegetables and fruits is very important to consume. Everyone’s health needs a proper fiber intake to experience the full benefits of a plant. Many antioxidants are naturally bound to plant fibers.

However, the process of juicing takes out the juice but leaves the fibrous parts. Therefore, in the case of juice fasting, you are losing all the fibers that your body actually needs. They play a very vital role in the health benefits of human beings. For example, a juiced apple can induce 6.9% more bad cholesterol than a regular apple.

According to studies, 90% of the plants’ fibers are not present during the process of juicing. However, it depends mainly upon the juicer. The majority of the fiber is not present, while some soluble fibers remain.

• Juice fasting is a bad idea for weight loss

Many people choose juice as a means of weight loss. Most juice fasting diets involve the consumption of 600 to 1000 calories per day from the juices. It results in a severe deficit of calories and fast loss of weight.

However, it is very tough to stick to this process of fasting for more than a few days. This severe restriction of calories eventually slows down the metabolism in the longer run. And ultimately, they lead to deficiencies of nutrients in the long-term scenario.

The bottom line
There are many advantages as well as disadvantages of juice fasting. You need to understand properly what your body is capable of first. After that, and judging the pros and cons of juice fasting, you can decide which way to go. Also, when you try it, make sure to drink freshly made juices instead of marketed ones. Indeed, the former ones have a higher level of nutrition content.