My 3-day juice cleanse experiment – and why I’ll never try this again

About a month ago, my husband IM’d me and said, hey, everyone at my office is going to try a juice cleanse. You interested? After weighing my skepticism that this would be beneficial, thinking I’d read some positive things about juice cleansing, and contemplating my goal this year to qualify for triathlon nationals and wanting to up my game, I said, okay.

Now I wish I would have done my homework before agreeing. So, this blog is to provide some information I found, a view of my own experience, and my recommendations for anyone interested in trying this quickie “body-cleansing”, “detoxifying”, “energizing” diet.

The information available out there seems to be, on initial glance, a mixture of pros, cons, and middle of the road. I was able to find a couple of positive sites:

http://www.healthguidance.org/entry/9956/1/Juice-Diet--Pros-and-Cons.html

http://laurenconrad.com/blog/2013/01/detox-diary-my-3-day-juice-cleanse-pros-cons-health-benefits/

These reports include power words like “glowing skin”, “renewed energy”, “no more cravings for sweet or fatty foods”, and just an overall feeling of increased well-being. In the blog, Lauren glosses over the negative sides of her juice cleanse experience, and focuses mainly on all the benefits.

I didn’t quite have the same experience.

In full disclosure, I began my juice cleanse with a little trepidation blended with a fairly hefty lump of skepticism. My therapist recently invited me to read “Intuitive Eating: A Revolutionary Program that Works” by Evelyn Tribole, M.S., R.D.; and Elyse Resch, M.S., R.D., F.A.D. to help me have a healthier relationship with food and my body. The concepts are making sense to me – listening to your body’s cues, eating when hungry, stopping as soon as you’re full, throwing out the diets, etc. In fact, it was while reading this book on day 2 of my cleanse that I really began questioning whether I was doing more harm than good to my body.

What follows is a list of common “benefits” (taken from: http://healthmeup.com/photogallery-diet-fitness/detox-diet-pros-and-cons-of-a-juice-cleanse/27447) of the juice cleanse and my personal experience, with some research I found. But, as Lavar would say, you don’t have to take my word for it!

1. Weight Loss

Granted, most reports admited that any weight you lose during a juice cleanse is quickly gained back, because you mostly lose water. Well, I see your water loss and raise you three fold.

We have one of those nifty Tanita scales that measures lots of stuff. The proof is in the numbers. Below are my measurements, 2 days before I started the juice cleanse (and on the final day of a wellness challenge at work, so I was working hard to maintain my normal weight), compared to the morning after the cleanse, before I finally got to eat real food (Note that I exercised Day 1 (about 2 hours), and Day 2 (45 minutes easy).

Measurement	December 31, 2014	January 5, 2015
Weight	128.7 lbs	124.1 lbs
Body Fat	19.2%	21.4%
Body Water	57.5%	55.9%
Bone Mass	5.3 lbs	5 lbs
Muscle Mass	98.7 lbs	92.5 lbs

 

Now, fluctuations are normal in anyone’s composition, but to me, this is pretty telling. Not only did I lose water weight, I also lost bone mass and muscle mass… and I gained fat!

2. Improves Immune Functions

Today, 2 days after the juice cleanse, I am coming down with a cold. Sure, could be a coincidence.

3. Easy way to increase fruit and vegetable intake

Yes, this one is true – if your body isn’t made like mine. I learned a while ago in triathlon that my body doesn’t absorb liquids as well as solids. During the cleanse, I was peeing everyone 20-40 minutes. Not only was that a total pain, but I really felt like my body wasn’t absorbing ANY of the nutrients – there was no time!

4. Retrain your Taste Buds

This one was actually true. By day 2, I was much more aware of the flavors in my juices, and it was great (except for the tomato based ones – yucky!). On day 3, when the juice maker-upper added herbs to the juices, I was loving the flavors! It was like a Redneck at a swanky party. My taste buds didn’t know what to think!

But alas, they’re back to normal now.

5. Curb unhealthy food cravings

This one is completely bogus. At least for me. The entire 3 days I couldn’t stop thinking about all the foods I wanted to eat – cookies, chocolate, waffles, pizza. The only reason I didn’t gorge myself on unhealthy stuff afterwards was because I am feeling more committed to the Intuitive Eating mindset now, and I keep asking myself, will that make me feel better or worse if I eat it?

Interestingly, in the Intuitive Eating book, they refer to a study called “Experimental Starvation in Man” by Ancel Keys et al., published in 1945. They took a bunch of healthy guys, let them eat whatever they wanted for three months (usually averaging 3,492 calories a day), then for the next 6 months, lived in a “semistarvation” state, averaging about 1,570 calories per day. They were required to lose 19-28% of their weight depending on body composition. The book authors noted that much of what the participants experienced is similar to a diet.

·         Metabolic rates decreased by 40%

·         They became obsessed with food – talking about it constantly, researching recipes, more cravings

·         Changed eating style – going between eating ravenously to dragging out the meal as long as they could.

·         The men seemed to go crazy – becoming bulimic, binging on junk food and healthy food, and even stealing penny candy. Some exercised more- just to get more food rations. Personalities also changed – many became constantly irritable, moody, apathetic and depressed.

During the refeeding period, when they could eat whatever they wanted, their appetites seemed insatiable. Some of them went on 8,000-10,000 calorie binges on weekends. It took most of them 5 months to get back to “normal”.

In just my short 3-day experience, I can tell you I experienced a lot of these same things. And now I’m struggling to get back to my “normal”. 

6.  Flush out Toxins

This is a misnomer. In reality, fiber, which is in the skin and pulp of most fruits and veggies, is removed during juicing. This is the very thing your body needs to remove toxins.

Other things to consider

Besides the above mentioned, these juice cleansings are usually pretty pricey. A 5-day supply for us was $250. That’s more than double what I spend at the grocery store for a family of 4 for an entire week.

Those with diabetes (and hypoglycemia) probably shouldn’t do this. The concentrated amounts of sugar in the juices spike your blood sugar. Mine always crashed about an hour later, leaving me shaking and weak. So much for “resetting” my blood sugar levels as was suggested.

Conclusion

In a nutshell, I’m glad I did this so I could learn from it. And I do believe that some people could benefit, especially if they think really positively about it (placebo effect). But, do your research before trying something like this, and start with a 3 day plan first. And don’t be afraid to bow out early if you experience extreme side effects. I had a few moments scattered throughout day 2 and 3 where I wasn’t ravenous, but they were always short lived. For me, the proposed benefits didn’t outweigh the consequences. I laid around for 3 days doing almost nothing because I had no energy. And now I’m paying the price trying to regain my strength, fitness levels, body composition, and health. For me, the juice cleanse is one I will cross off my list –along with every other diet out there. From here on out, it’s Intuitive Eating for me!