Freshly squeezed juice diet: pros and cons, recipes

Food

April 9, 2021

text: My Handbook

Smoothies, soups or juices - how to choose the perfect detox program? All options are healthy. Smoothies contain more fiber, which is important for intestinal microflora and facilitates the release of toxins. Soups give you a feeling of fullness. Juices have a softer and faster effect on the digestive tract, accelerating the processes of cleansing and tissue renewal.

How to avoid fatigue and curb your appetite during detox? Why shouldn't you use fasting days as a way to lose weight? What can you eat before and after juice fasting? We answer the main questions about juice detox and share interesting recipes.

Basic rules of the freshly squeezed juice diet

Basic rules of the freshly squeezed juice diet:

• Juices in packages should not be used for dieting.
• The juice should be drunk through a straw.
• Before starting a juice diet, you should consult a doctor.
• Before drinking, the juice must be diluted with water in a ratio of 1 to 1. The water should not be carbonated or sweet.
• The diet requires preliminary preparation of the body.
• In addition to the specified volume of juice, you need to drink 1.5 liters of water every day. It can also be green tea, herbal tea.
• After preparation, the juice should be consumed within 15 minutes. It should not be stored longer.
• To prepare juice, you need to take only fresh vegetables that have not previously been frozen or canned.
• Early vegetables often contain large amounts of nitrates, so using them for juicing is not recommended.
• The juice must contain pulp, so it should not be strained or clarified.
• Alcoholic drinks are absolutely prohibited during the diet. Alcohol provokes an increased feeling of hunger, which negatively affects a person’s well-being and can lead to a breakdown.

Results and reviews

The effect of the diet depends on which juice was chosen, as well as on the duration of the technique. In addition, the final result is influenced by the individual characteristics of the body and the initial weight. If you follow the rules of the diet, then in 3 days you can get rid of 1-2 kg, in 5 days - from 2-4 kg, in a week - from 3-5 kg.

Below are reviews of the juice diet from people who have tried the method on themselves. People have different opinions about its effectiveness - it helped some, but only harmed others.

For example, the girl Svetlana writes: “I followed a juice diet in a slightly different version: for breakfast, afternoon snack and last dinner I made a freshly squeezed drink, for second breakfast and first dinner - a smoothie, and for lunch I ate raw fruits and vegetables. I don’t pursue the goal of losing weight - for me it’s primarily cleansing the body, but 2-3 extra kilos can easily be lost in a week of eating this way.”

Another girl, Christina, left the following review: “It’s a pity that I learned about the dangers of fruits only after the diet. I didn’t eat anything for a week – I just drank fresh juices, but I gained 2 kg. At first I was wondering what the reason was, but then I found out that fruits contain a large amount of sugar. It was tasty, but hungry and pointless.”

Preparing for a diet with freshly squeezed juices

To properly prepare for a diet on freshly squeezed juices, you must follow the following principles:

• The diet should be cut back a few days before starting the diet. That is, the person will eat as before, but the portions should be smaller.
• Confectionery, baked goods, sweets, smoked dishes, spicy and fried foods are excluded from the menu.
• The diet should include more fresh vegetables and fruits.
• Mayonnaise and sugar should not be eaten.

What are detox juices?

What are detox and detox juices? This is what we will talk about today.

Detox helps to launch the natural functions of cleansing our body.

All cleansing programs and methods are based on several basic rules, which, if strictly observed, can cleanse the body. These are: maintaining a certain diet, excluding unhealthy foods from the diet and including healthy foods in the diet. These are: green cocktails and smoothies, freshly squeezed juices, salads, puree soups, cereals, legumes. As well as physical exercise, healthy sleep, minimizing factors leading to stress.

And the end result will be: weight loss, improvement in the condition of skin, hair and nails, normalization of the gastrointestinal tract, good mood and energy boost for many months.

A juice cleanse is a fad diet where a person consumes only fruits and vegetable juices while abstaining from eating solid foods.

Source Wikipedia

Used for detoxification and is often part of a detox diet.

Typically, a diet can last from 2 to 7 days and include a number of vegetables, fruits and even some spices without water, which are allowed to be consumed as part of diets.

Diet options using freshly squeezed juices

Cheri Kalbom offers her followers two types of diet using freshly squeezed juices. One of them is designed for 5 days, and the other for 14 days. In turn, the menu for 14 days also has three options, all of which vary in severity.

In addition, you can arrange fasting days for yourself, when you drink exclusively juice throughout the day.

One day juice diet

A one-day juice diet is a preparatory option before starting a longer weight loss method. It can also be used as a fasting day, when you are allowed to drink only vegetable juice and vegetable broth. You should also drink clean, still water and herbal tea.

You need to prepare the juice yourself. To do this, you can use the following vegetables: tomatoes, carrots, beets, sweet peppers, herbs and parsley roots, celery. It is allowed to consume juices either individually or mix them.

One-day juice diet menu:

• First meal: tea (herbal or green with lemon juice), or water with lemon juice and a glass of juice.
• Snack: herbal tea, vegetable juice, glass of water with lemon.
• Main meal: a mix of 8 different juices, or vegetable juice.
• Snack: heated vegetable broth, a glass of water with lemon, vegetable juice.
• Dinner: avocado and carrot smoothie, or a glass of vegetable juice, or a cucumber and avocado smoothie.

Juice diet for 5 days

You need to eat a five-day juice diet 5 times a day.

The menu is standard and does not change throughout the entire time:

• Morning (08:00) – a glass of apple juice and a glass of green tea.
• First snack (10:00 – 12:00) – juice mix: lemon + orange + pineapple.
• Day (13:00) – fruit and vegetable smoothie (apple, celery, carrots, beets).
• Second snack (15:00) – any juice, 1 glass.
• Evening (18:00) – 100 g of pineapple and a glass of pineapple juice.
• Before bed (21:00) – vegetable juice from tomatoes and carrots. It is permissible to prepare a mix of these juices.

When hunger begins to torment you between main meals, you can quench it with a glass of water or unsweetened green tea.

14 Day Juice Diet

A diet designed for 14 days is excellent not only for losing weight, but also for cleansing and rejuvenating the body. The main product is juice; in addition, you need to drink at least 8 glasses of plain water per day.

A gentle option.

In the gentle version, it is necessary to replace only one main meal with juice. The rest of the time, a person follows his usual menu. It will not be possible to quickly get rid of extra pounds on such a diet. Therefore, it is recommended to those people who want to fix the results already achieved, and not lose weight. This diet can be followed for a long period of time, because it does not cause metabolic problems and is not dangerous to health.

If you want to lose weight at the same time, then each serving can be reduced to 250 g. It is also advisable to exclude fatty and fried foods, sweets, sugar and salt from the menu, or limit their consumption.

Moderate option.

If you follow a moderate diet, you will need to replace two main meals with juice: breakfast and dinner. During your lunch break you should avoid meat dishes. If it is difficult to endure a vegetarian menu, then eating meat is allowed, but in limited quantities. Moreover, you can eat as many vegetables for lunch as you want.

This diet can last from 5 days to a week, but no more than 2 weeks. In 14 days you will be able to get rid of 7 kg of excess weight.

Strict option.

A strict version of the diet involves eating exclusively freshly pressed juices. You should only drink vegetable and fruit juices that contain pulp. They are not sweetened or added salt.

Juice can be replaced with tea, rosehip decoction, still mineral water. They also don't have any added sugar. You need to drink at least 2 liters of liquids per day.

This diet option is suitable only for those people who have good endurance. For each day of the diet you will lose 1 kg of weight.

Menu (Power Mode)

Try to carry out juice therapy according to the time: on an empty stomach, water with lemon, the first dose at 7.00, the second - 9-9.30, the third - at 12.00, the fourth - at 14.30, the fifth - 17.00, the sixth - 19.30, the seventh - 21.30. If you want to lose weight, do not abuse fruit juices, as they contain a lot of fructose, focus on vegetable ones.

Having endured this difficult diet and undergone a juice cleanse, monitor your diet in the future. Since after a low-calorie diet, an increased appetite occurs and the body tries to make up for what was “lost.” Try to eat often and eat less high-calorie foods, suppress hunger with kefir, green tea with honey, low-fat cottage cheese and yogurt with fruit.

Menu for 7 days of strict juice diet

For all 7 days, the menu should be free of flour products, alcoholic beverages, coffee, sugar and confectionery.

Recipes

You can drink pure juices without mixing them. But nutritionists advise making mixes, since vegetables and fruits in them enhance each other’s effects. So don't be afraid to experiment and try different recipes.

The general scheme for preparing fresh juices and smoothies with pulp in a blender, which are allowed on a juice diet:

1. Whether or not to peel and remove fruits and vegetables is an individual choice.
2. Cut firm, whole fruits and vegetables into pieces. Chop leafy vegetables (cabbage) or tear them with your hands (lettuce, sorrel). Chop the greens.
3. Place all ingredients in a blender and blend.
4. If necessary, add water and beat again.

Fruits and vegetables are passed through the juicer according to the instructions for the equipment, since the models differ in the principle of operation. Then they can be mixed with each other or diluted with water (filtered, mineral, but without gas).

Ratio and compatibility of ingredients:

• a bunch of mint, 20 g each of lemon and quince, 40 g of cucumber, 40 ml of water, 80 g of pear;
• 60 g each of pumpkin pulp and honeysuckle, 40 g of quince, 40 ml of water;
• 100 g tomatoes, 40 g white cabbage, 60 g carrots, a bunch of dill, a sprig of basil;
• 40 g sea buckthorn, 60 g honeysuckle, 100 ml water;
• 80 g of watermelon pulp, 60 g of peaches and cucumbers;
• 80 g each of red pepper and tomatoes, 40 g of zucchini, a bunch of cilantro and a little celery;
• 60 g each of melon and apricots, 80 ml of water;
• 40 g of carrots and potatoes, 80 g of tomatoes, 40 ml of water;
• 80 g watermelon pulp, 60 g each melon and gooseberry;
• 60 g of carrots and peaches, 40 g of any berries, 40 ml of water.

These drinks will surprise you with their unusual taste, diversify your diet and help you last until the end.

This is interesting. Pomegranate juice increases testosterone levels in men by 25%. So with it they can not only lose weight, but also improve their reproductive abilities at the same time.

Quitting the diet

To properly exit the diet, you need to smoothly transition to solid food.

Immediately after completing the weight loss technique, semi-liquid foods are introduced into the menu and only then switch to solid foods:

• The menu on the first day of leaving the diet, in addition to juices, should be supplemented with a glass of low-fat yogurt or kefir.
• The next day, boiled oatmeal is eaten. Porridge should be cooked in water, without sugar or salt.
• The next day you can indulge in vegetable soup in the form of puree.

The vegetables are then consumed stewed, sautéed or stewed. After 7 days, the diet is supplemented with seafood and fish fillets. After another week, meat is introduced.

Beneficial properties of some juices

Beneficial properties of juices:

• Parsley juice: treatment of genitourinary diseases; you should not drink more than 1 tablespoon of juice in its pure form at a time. If you dilute it with carrot juice in a portion of 1 to 3, you can relieve tired eyes.
• Melon juice allows you to cleanse the body and remove toxins from it. You can drink it for kidney diseases, a tendency to constipation, and dermatological diseases.
• Watermelon juice helps eliminate edema that was caused by heart and vascular diseases, or kidney pathologies.
• Beet juice – stimulates the formation of red blood cells. It is not drunk in its pure form; it can be diluted with carrot juice.
• Grape juice helps lower blood cholesterol levels, increases sweating and has a diuretic effect. It is good to drink to improve your mood, increase your performance, and quickly get rid of stress.
• Cherry juice has an antiseptic effect and destroys staphylococci and streptococci.
• Pomegranate juice increases hemoglobin.
• Grapefruit juice is useful for high blood pressure, fatigue and osteosclerosis. Grapefruit juice normalizes sleep.
• Pear juice helps destroy microbes and has a diuretic effect.
• Rowan juice fights Staphylococcus aureus and can be drunk for gastritis and hemorrhoids.
• Chokeberry juice helps reduce blood pressure, reduces the intensity of toxicosis during pregnancy, fights viruses, and increases immune strength.
• Currant juice has a general strengthening effect.
• Apple juice helps strengthen the heart and blood vessels, remove salts from the body, and increase mental performance. This juice normalizes intestinal function and allows toxins to be removed from the body. It is useful to drink for constipation.
• Cabbage juice is drunk for diseases of the intestines and stomach, and for pathologies of the liver and spleen.
• Celery juice is beneficial for people suffering from diabetes and osteoporosis. It is used for pathologies of the urinary system.
• Carrot juice helps increase the body's own defenses, has a beneficial effect on the nervous system, improves digestion, and strengthens tooth enamel. It should be drunk by people with vision problems.

Which juice to choose

The choice is individual and depends on various factors:

1. Taste preferences: if you like tomato, choose it; you can’t stand cabbage; you don’t have to choke on it just because it’s on the menu.
2. Financial opportunities: it’s one thing to buy apples for 100 rubles, another thing to buy pineapple for 500.
3. Body needs: each drink has a set of health benefits.
4. Expected results in weight loss: you can choose raspberry (100 kcal), or you can choose tomato (21 kcal).
5. Allergies: citrus fruits and berries are often powerful allergens.

Our review of 19 vegetable and fruit juices with their calorie content and features will also help you in your choice.

Fruit or vegetable?

Vegetables are lower in calories than fruits and have more powerful cleansing properties. But they contain less vitamins and amino acids. And some of them don’t taste very good without salt and spices, to put it mildly (cabbage or cucumber, for example).

Fruit ones are more tasty, contain many vitamins, and do not allow you to break down. But they are higher in carbohydrates and calories, which will somewhat slow down the weight loss process.

Nutritionists advise not to choose between them, but to combine them within one diet.

With the world - one by one. Not long ago, Brazilian scientists published their research data that the best cure for obesity is mango juice.

Pros and cons of the fresh juice diet

Pros of the juice diet:

• It is possible to cleanse the intestines of toxins.
• The body is rejuvenated and healthier as a whole, metabolic processes at the cellular level are improved.
• The complexion becomes better, nails and hair become stronger.
• Immunity increases.
• Symptoms of any disease become less intense.
• Metabolism returns to normal.
• A person loses weight without harm to health.
• The diet can be followed almost all year round.
• The juice is prepared very quickly.
• The diet is convenient for people who spend all day at work.
• The diet does not provoke a strong feeling of hunger.
• The calorie content of juices is not high, a person does not receive solid food, so his stomach decreases in size.

Cons of the juice diet:

• You will need to rinse your mouth thoroughly after each intake of juice. The acid contained in them corrodes the enamel and can provoke the development of caries.
• You won't be able to stick to a diet if you don't have a juicer at home.
• A strict diet is difficult to maintain.
• You should not practice the diet against the background of allergies, gastritis and stomach ulcers.
• Fruit and vegetable juices contain a lot of sugar, so they fill you up quickly, but after a short time the feeling of fullness is replaced by a feeling of hunger. This may be accompanied by dizziness and headaches.
• Drinking acidic juices can cause ulcers or gastritis.
• Possible increase in blood cholesterol levels.
• A juice diet can cause constipation.
• The juice diet is not balanced; a person does not receive proteins and fats, calcium and vitamin D.
• Dry skin and early wrinkles may appear.
• There is a risk of developing diabetes mellitus.
• After a diet, hair may begin to fall out.

Mechanism of weight loss

A diet based on juices is good because they are a natural storehouse of vitamins, minerals, amino acids and fiber (fresh juices with pulp are also allowed). This means that it does not threaten vitamin deficiency and exhaustion. Weight loss is achieved through:

• suppressing hunger;
• elimination of edema;
• acceleration of metabolism;
• breakdown of fats (certain juices have this property);
• improved digestion;
• reducing the size of the stomach.

A juice diet is quite enough not only for weight loss, but also for cleansing the body. Healthy drinks wash away toxins, harmful decay products, heavy metal compounds and toxins, while simultaneously carrying out complex fortification and providing energy for the whole day.

Contraindications

You can't stick to a juice diet:

• Pancreatitis and diabetes are absolute contraindications!
• Children, nursing and pregnant women.
• Patients with cancer, epilepsy, hypotension and low blood sugar.
• Patients with anorexia and bulimia.
• Before preparing for surgery and during the rehabilitation period after surgery.
• During treatment of any diseases, while taking medications.

Risks of Juice Fasting

The health benefits of juice fasting have not been scientifically proven. Detox diets, depending on the type and duration, can cause a variety of health problems, including muscle loss and fat regain after detoxification.

The main health risks of juice fasting include:

• Dizziness;
• Diarrhea, which can lead to dehydration;
• Fainting due to a sudden drop in blood pressure;
• Protein or calcium deficiency due to prolonged juice fasting;
• Metabolic crises in people with undiagnosed diabetes or hypoglycemia.

Doctor says

Anastasia Mertsalova

The combined opinion of doctors on this issue

Hypoglycemia is a condition characterized by a low concentration of glucose in the blood.

Detox is contraindicated for problems with the gastrointestinal tract, people with diseases of the cardiovascular system, diabetes, during pregnancy and breastfeeding.