Juicing to lose weight can be a great addition to your weight loss regimen. Now, can you lose weight only by juicing? Yes, if you use it as a meal replacement. However, it’s hard to become completely satiated drinking just vegetable/fruit juice. You can certainly use a juicer to construct a smoothie by adding some yogurt and protein powder. This would allow you to use the “juice” as a meal replacement drink thus eliminating calories and allowing you to lose weight.
Problems With Juicing Weight Loss
Calories
One of the problems you may run into if you try to use juice to lose weight is that if you use the typical recipe for a juice drink it’s possible to reach up and over 400 calories per drink. Losing weight requires a calorie deficit each day in which you burn off more than you consume. If you add 400 calories to your diet every day it’s going to be very difficult to lose weight. If you juice to lose weight you’ll have to make up for the calories in the juice by eating less food. This is going to be difficult because, as I mentioned before, the juice is not going to fill you up (if it does it won’t last very long).
Lack Of Protein
Weight loss juice drinks made from fruits and vegetables is often very low in protein. This is a problem because protein helps your body build tissue and aids in weight loss. A study done recently in the Journal Of The American College Of Nutrition stated that diets low in protein are not as effective as diets that are high in protein. Your typical juice drink contains only around 5-8 grams of protein.
Positives Of Juicing Weight Loss
Tons Of Vitamins
If you drink juice to lose weight (used as a meal replacement) then you’re loading up on powerful vitamins. Also, vitamins have been shown to help people lose weight. For example, vitamin B12 has been found to boost metabolism. A study at Arizona State University found that the amount of Vitamin C in a person’s blood stream was linked to how quickly that person burned fat and turned it into energy. Vitamins B2, B3 and B5 have also been found to boost metabolic rates.
Tons Of Minerals
Fruits and vegetables are packed-full of minerals that your body needs and can aid in weight loss. Not all minerals help you lose weight, of course, but some do. For example, it’s been found that a daily intake of around 1,500 mg of calcium cause the body to absorb less fat (compared to a daily intake of 500 mg of calcium).
Should You Try A Juicing Weight Loss Fast?
Juice fast weight loss is where you consume only juice and vitamin supplements for a certain period of time. Does it work? Of course. Anytime you severely restrict calorie consumption you’re going to lose weight. There have been numerous accounts of people losing up to or over 30 pounds on a juice fast.
It really comes down to what you want to do and what your goals are. If you don’t mind putting the weight back on pretty quickly after you stop the juice fast, then yes, you could do a juice fast (please consult your doctor before attempting any “crash” diet). Plus, it’s going to be VERY difficult because you’re going to be constantly hungry while fasting. In this way, juicing weight loss is no different than the cabbage soup diet, the lemonade cleanse diet, or any other radical diet.
When it’s all over and you go back to your regular diet routine you’ll be calorie starved, and more than likely, you’ll eat MORE than you did when you started the diet. So, you may actually gain more weight and be heavier after the diet than you were before.
The Bottom Line
Although juicing weight loss is effective, it’s only effective in the short term. You’re likely to gain back all the weight you lost (and more) when it’s over. Fruit juice weight loss can work and you can lose weight while juicing but we recommend you stick to a healthy, balanced diet with plenty of exercise if you want to lose weight and keep it off permanently.
