Juice fast

Brenda Watson, digestive care expert, explains that fasting is the abstinence from food for a period of time for therapeutic or religious purposes. This supports the body by resting the digestive system and releasing energy for the body to use elsewhere. A short-term fast can last for on to three days. Longer than this would be considered long-term fasting. A water fast is not recommended unless supervised by a doctor. Toxins stored in the body begin to be released and could cause some severe detox reactions. Also, people with blood sugar problems could be adversely affected. Most people can adequately and safely maintain a detoxification programme based on juicing fresh fruits and vegetables. These supply the nutrients needed to support the body, and they require very little digestion.

On her website she states that although it is unreasonable to eat 10 to 20 pounds of vegetables, it is easy to consume the juice from 10 to 20 pounds of vegetables during the course of a day. Even if the average person were able to eat that many vegetables, 90% or more of the nutrients would be eliminated in the vegetable fiber as it passes through the body. Juicing provides the full value - 100% - of the nutrients since the juice, containing all the nutrients, is normally separated from the vegetable fiber by the juicer. Freshly prepared juices are quickly and easily digested and absorbed in approximately 1/2 hour.

However, there is a new trend among dieters to use juice fasting to shed those extra pounds in just a few days. Popular juice diets such as The Original Celebratory Juice Diet and The Master Cleanser are tempting people by claiming fast and easy weight loss in the form of a tasty juice. Unfortunately this is too good to be true and there are a number of health risks involved.

While the exact concoctions vary, most juice fasts and cleanses prescribe some kind of liquid-only diet from one to 10 days with the goal of helping you lose weight. These methods claim to "cleanse" an overburdened body by giving it a break from digesting processed foods, and eliminating unhealthy toxins that have accumulated in your body. During that time the only sustenance fasters will ingest is about 32 to 64 ounces of fruit or vegetable juices, occasionally diluted with water. Many fasts will recommend using only organic fruits and vegetables to minimize the intake of environmental toxins from pesticides and herbicides.

Because these diets severely restrict caloric and sodium intake, you will drop weight fast. Sure, you may lose a few pounds, but most of the pounds lost are water weight, which is usually quickly regained after ending the fast.

Furthermore, fasts generally provide an incomplete source of calories and overall nutrition and therefore are not recommended for individuals who are pregnant, or have diabetes mellitus, an eating disorder, kidney or liver disease, gout, asthma, or impaired immune function. Anyone with a chronic disease should consult their physician before even considering a fast, says Tricia Bland, MPH, RD, and Certified Personal Trainer. "The human body requires carbohydrates, protein, fat and water for normal metabolic processes to occur. If one of these substrates is eliminated, normal metabolism can become impaired and a deficiency can result," she says.

Some of the other documented negative side effects of fasting include headaches, low blood sugar, dizziness, fatigue, bad breath, hunger, constipation and diarrhea. "Additionally, the lack of protein in juice fasts can result in a decrease in blood proteins which can affect the way prescription drugs are absorbed," warns Bland. An important consideration for anyone taking medication. So perhaps a one day fast, with the intention of detoxing you system is fine, but much longer and that and you risk doing more damage than good.

Although I won't be doing any extreme fasting, I have decided to replace my lunch with a 'drink'. Before today I was having one for breakfast, then one with my lunch. This is purely because I have discovered that these smoothies can be high in calories. I'm not concerned about losing any weight but I certainly don't want to GAIN any!

As some days my breakfast isn't filling me up I went for an energy packed smoothie this morning. 'Round the clock' is made by blending together avocado, banana and milk. When it came out it looked a milky green colour and was too thick to drink so i had to blend some more milk into it. Despite it's odd appearance and strange texture this smoothie was very pleasant and very filling (I couldn't drink it all). Rating 5/5

Today's Ratings (out of 5)

Energy: 3

Hassle: 3

Benefits: 3