Alright, now on to the bonus installment of
our Smoothies Vs. Juices series.
(from Kevin Gianni, The Renegade Health Show)
What is better for cleansing and removing toxins:
An all smoothie cleanse or a juice fast?
To start, the premise of cleansing is to allow
your body to heal itself and remove toxins
naturally.
So first off, both smoothies and juices, as long
as they're organic (and even if they're not),
are both very effective for cleansing on the
short term. (Let's say short term is 3-10 days.)
Why?
Because they give your body a break from the
more difficult foods to digest.
It's about what you leave out of your diet
that is most important.
So when it comes to cleansing, they both do
work.
I prefer a smoothie cleanse (like the one we
have in the Raw Food Challenge) for the simple
fact that you can do it for longer.
I'm not a fan of long term juice fasting and
in some cases long term juice feasting.
First off it's an irregular eating pattern, so
this can create disordered eating.
I know plenty of people who juice fast about
once a month, but binge the rest of the time.
As you know this is extremely unhealthy for
your metabolism.
It seems like they use juice fasting or juice
feasting as a traditional "diet" or as a
punishment for being bad, or to release the
"toxins" they have accumulated in the last
few weeks.
When you do a smoothie cleanse, you are much
closer to eating real food so it doesn't cause
as many disordered eating patterns AND you're
getting much more calories.
Remember, we can't subscribe to the calorie
restriction diet, until we know exactly what
it is. It does NOT mean we are supposed to
eat less calories than our body needs.
It means that we're to be smart about our
portion sizes. The scientists in these studies
"restrict" the calories of the animals. They
don't starve them. "Restriction" only means
there is enough food, but not too much.
Anyway, with smoothies your chances of getting
more calories are increased dramatically so
you're able to maintain the cleanse longer.
On a juice fast, with little apple or carrot
juice, you'd be lucky to get 500 calories
a day. With a smoothie cleanse you can get
upwards of 2000-2500.
And here's what's great... is that since many
of the nutrients in the smoothie cleanse are
simple sugars, vitamins and minerals, your
body will start to cleanse and detoxify naturally.
This doesn't mean a juice fast isn't good.
We just did one in Costa Rica.
And if you're medically instructed to do one,
don't listen to me! :-)
I just prefet the smoothie cleanse for the
majority of people's needs. Which is to get
a litte more energy, maybe lose some weight
and to jump start their healthy diet.
One last thing on a smoothie cleanse vs. juice
fast...
For weight loss, I think a smoothie cleanse
is better as well.
I think creating long term good eating habits
is best overall, but for the short term smoothie
take the cake (he he)...
Why?
Because you can lose weight more gradually.
In all my work as a trainer and health coash,
I've seen many diets and how they work with
my clients.
First and foremost, if you lose weight too
fast (with very few exceptions) you're poised
to gain it back and more.
A juice fast will cause to you lose a lost of
weight fast and when you're done, most people
will gain it back and more in a short period
of time.
I lost 9 pounds on our Costa Rica fast (I really
didn't care to lose any!).
But it was back in no time.
For me that was a plus, because I didn't want
to be so thin, but I didn't try to gain the
weight back. It just came back quickly.
So imagine if you were trying to lose weight,
you did, then you gained it right back in a
short time like that. (Plus more)
Not very comforting.
With smoothies, at least you can give your
body some time to adjust and lose weight a
little more gradually.
It still may be fast, but your chances of
creating a healthy habit with something that
you can maintain, such as a smoothie every
day, is much higher than with juices.
I'm sure there will be plenty of opinions
and thoughts about this and I welcome them.
Just remember the most effective things to
do for cleansing and detoxifying is to remove
toxins from your diet in the first place.
Your body will clear up some of the rest
when you eat clean.
So these arguments are maybe even a little too
detailed than anyone needs.
But it's fun to explain and maybe it will help
you decide which way is best for you!