Is it a Good Idea to Switch Meals for Juices When Trying to Lose Weight?

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When it comes to weight loss, sipping spinach and other juices made of fruit and leafy greens can be a good thing.

This is because juices are loaded with vitamins, phytochemicals, antioxidants, and minerals that can help add onto the quality of your diet.

Moreover, if you engage in smart juicing, you can stay fuller for longer and as such consume fewer calories.

However, before you decide to swap full meals for juices, there are a few things you need to know about juicing.

Juicing Results Are Temporary

A liquid diet consisting of nothing but juices will give you fewer calories than you will use.

That is assuming you continue with normal everyday activities and work out several days a week. In this respect, a liquid diet can work to help you lose weight fast.

However, there are two downsides to juicing that make the weight loss results you get to enjoy only temporary.

Firstly, when you drastically cut calorie intake like a juicing diet does; your body will eventually slow down its metabolism in a bid to save its secondary energy reserves.

So, while you may shed a lot of extra pounds at first, the rate of weight loss will slow down after a while.

Secondly, sticking to a liquid diet for the rest of your life is impossible.

Therefore, unless you form healthy eating habits when you come off your juice diet, you will gain back all lost weight and probably a few extra pounds.

Juices Are a Sugar Trap

The great thing about juices is that they give you a chance to get more fruits and vegetables into your diet. As a result, you get in more nutrients than you normally would with other diets.

However, that is just about where the benefits of juicing end. Juicing also comes at a price and a hefty one at that.

Juices, especially the tastier options and those made from fruits are a sugar trap.

The exact amount of sugar tends to vary depending on what went into making the drink, but you can expect to load up on anywhere between 28grams to a whopping 90 grams of sugar with each serving.

So, when you eat nothing but juices, you will be overloading your body with sugar and carbs and forcing it to burn muscle for the energy.

The end result?

Fast weight loss plus a few other not so great side effects.

Depending on how long you juice, you can suffer a number of negative side effects ranging from nutritional deficiencies, to severe fatigue, to loss of energy and muscles, to gallstones and kidney stones.

Juices Lack the Fiber Factor

Vegetables and fruits are rich in fiber, a benefit that makes them more filling than most foods. And as we all know, filling foods are the cornerstone of weight loss diets as they keep one full for longer thus curbing overeating, which in turn works to minimize calorie intake.

Juicing machines however, tend to only squeeze out the fluid from ingredients and leave behind pulp, which is where fiber is contained.

Therefore, unless you add the pulp back into the juice or eat other fiber-rich foods, you will end up missing out on the fiber factor that makes fruits and vegetables a great addition to one’s weight loss diet.

Without the fiber advantage, you will end up missing out on one of the benefits that makes consumption of fruits and vegetables effective at boosting weight loss.

If you want to lose some weight in time for a major event (e.g. wedding, high school reunion, etc.), then by all means go ahead and take on juicing.

Liquid diets are fast acting and will allow you to lose a significant amount of weight quickly. Just make sure to juice smartly by seeking advice from a physician or dietician.

Alternatively, if you want to drop excess pounds and keep them off after being advised by your doctor to lose a certain amount of weight or simply choose to do so for various health reasons, you may want to look elsewhere when formulating your diet.

Why Cutting Fat Out of Your Diet Doesn’t Lead to Weight Loss

Think about it, eating fat will make you fat. Makes total sense, right?

Well, at least that is what we have been led to believe by the many diet fads that advocate for zero fat when it comes to weight loss. However, when you get down to the nitty-gritty of the food group that is fat, the truth about fats and dieting is not as black and white as most of us think.

Yes, it is true that fatty foods can come with the risk of increasing body fat. It is also true that completely cutting fat from your diet does not bring about fast weight loss.

So, before assuming you know everything there is to know about fat, here are some unbelievable facts that will have you thinking twice about eliminating fat from your diet.

Some Fats Are Actually Good

Not all fats are enemies of weight loss.

In fact, some fats are actually good for the body. These include the ‘Polyunsaturated fats’, which can be found in fish, corn & sunflower oil, and ‘Monounsaturated fats’ which are present in foods such as avocados, peanuts, olive oils, & sesame seeds.

Polyunsaturated fats lower bad cholesterol, prevent buildup of plaque in arteries, and prevent belly fat, while monounsaturated fats deliver several benefits ranging from improved mood to reduced risk of heart disease.

The bad fats on the other hand, are the Saturated fats (sourced from meat and dairy products) and Trans fats (chemically altered unsaturated fats) both of which are known to increase risk of heart disease.

Fat is also an important component of the body.

The average person has around 10 to 20 billion fat cells with every cell in the body being surrounded by a membrane made up of fats.

With that much adipose tissue, the body needs fat to function properly. Fats help with several important functions, from facilitating proper immune system function, to helping the body absorb vitamins A, D, E, & K., to being a major source of calories.

Eliminating fat from your diet means you will be forgoing all of these vital benefits and consequently putting your health at risk.

A Bit of Fat Can Boost Weight Loss

A little known fact about weight loss is that you actually need fat to lose fat.

Fat takes longer to digest and therefore leaves you feeling satisfied for longer. So, including a bit of the good kind of fat in your meals will leave satiated for longer and as such cause you to eat less overall.

By eating less, you will end up lowering your calorie intake, which is good for weight loss.

Another added benefit of fat is that it provides the body with more energy compared to the other food groups.

A gram of fat has 9 calories while proteins and carbohydrates only have 4 calories per gram. The extra energy from fat helps fight fatigue, a benefit that can enable one exercise harder or more frequently.

Fat Can Make Dieting Easier

It is no secret that healthy foods do not always taste as good as the not so healthy options.

For example, the rich and creamy taste of foods like ice cream and chocolate cannot be compared to the taste of something like a serving of fruit salad or a plate of vegetables regardless of how well a meal is prepared.

The thought of having to forgo favorites such as pizza and cake for something less tasty can make it difficult to stick to a weight loss diet.

A little fat however can go a long way in making healthy eating more enjoyable.

Healthy options like a little tasty olive oil or the unsaturated fats found in avocados can add flavor to healthy meals thus reducing chances of straying from a weight loss diet.

Bottom Line

From boosting overall health, to helping lower calorie intake, to keeping your energy up, the benefits of fat are not only many but they can actually help trigger more weight loss.

Therefore, if weight loss is your goal, you should treat the good fats as your friend. The trick is to apply portion control when implementing fat into your diet.

Nutritionists advice completely eliminating Trans fats from your diet, limiting saturated fats to no more than 10% of your daily calories, and keeping the good fats at 20 to 35 percent of daily calories.