Many people try juicing as a way to jump start a diet before transitioning to eating a whole food, low-fat diet. Juicing involves feeding fruits and vegetables -- preferably organic varieties -- through a juicing machine. Freshly extracted juices have vitamins and enzymes not found in processed juices. You can juice to replace one meal a day, or to serve as a snack to help you reduce calories. If you want to juice fast for a few to several days to drop weight, get medical clearance first.
Consume Freshly Extracted Juices
In order to lose 1 lb., you must either reduce or burn off through exercise 3,500 calories. For most people that means trimming 500 calories per day for seven days or including some form of cardio exercise to burn calories. An immediate way to trim at least 250 calories is to replace one commercial coffee drink with a fresh juice. For example, a large latte with the works can be up to 375 calories. If you consume 6 oz. of carrot, apple and ginger juice from a juice bar, you are getting approximately 150 calories. If you consume more than one coffee drink, consider making that two juices, instead.
Juice for Breakfast
Replace one meal with a juice if desired. Breakfast might be a good meal to replace as it is often eaten on the run and can be high in calories. Consider that a medium sugar doughnut is about 325 calories. Add one coffee drink, and the first meal of the day can easily reach 600 calories or more.
If you juice one pitted date, 1/2 cup of papaya, two apples and six small strawberries, that provides about 250 calories. This juice is more substantial as you are adding papaya. Its fruit sugar, unlike refined white sugar, will digest more slowly, keeping your blood sugar levels balanced. That will help keep you feeling full longer and less likely to sabotage your diet.
Macerate Fresh Fruit
You might be someone who can stick to a reasonable diet but reach for sugary and high-calorie snacks when you are away from home. Even when you cannot find a juice bar, you can "cheat" a bit and use fresh fruit by manually mashing it up in a cup with a fork. For example, mash 1/3 cup of blueberries with the same amount of strawberries and thin with water. That provides a sweet drink with no refined sugar.
Juice Fast with Doctor's Approval
Juice fasting requires an excellent juicer as you will be consuming several juices a day. Elson Haas, M.D., author of "The New Detox Diet," has led several juicing groups every spring as a way to help clients cleanse the gastrointestinal tract for health benefits including weight loss, improving digestion and elimination.
Carrie L'Esperance, author of "The Seasonal Detox Diet," details several different juice fasts. For example, one is based on apple juice, which has pectin that can soften stool and help cleanse the colon. The detoxification aspect of juicing allows "stored" waste to be removed and clear the entire gastrointestinal tract.
Check with your doctor for the appropriate length of time of a juice fast for your needs.
References
- "The New Detox Diet"; Elson Haas, M.D.; 2004
- "The New Seasonal Detox Diet"; Carrie L'Esperance; 2002
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