Have you you been on the merry-go-round of diet fads? Perhaps you’ve found yourself in the same vicious cycle of restriction, binge eating, and weight gain over and over again. Or maybe you’re sick of wasting your money on expensive weight loss supplements that do not work.
If what you’ve read above resonates with you, it may be time to try a juice cleanse—a healthy way to lose weight and kickoff healthier eating habits for the long term.
Juicing really is all that and a bag of chips (or fruit) when it comes to weight loss. And for good reason.
How Does Juicing Work For Weight Loss?
What sets juice cleansing apart from other trendy diets in the weight loss world is that when you drink juice, your body receives concentrated forms of cold-pressed fruit and vegetable juices made from whole fruits and vegetables. These whole foods are jam-packed with nutrients like vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, which help your body to function optimally.
While eating whole fruits and veggies has benefits, drinking juice allows you to absorb more nutrients without having to eat as much. These nutrients directly penetrate your gut and are easily absorbed into your body.
A trendy diet fad means you’ll likely restrict your calorie intake or eat some low-calorie frozen TV dinners. As a holistic nutritionist for over 20 years, I have learned that restricting calories or eating processed “health” foods doesn’t work long-term, and you will be likely to fail if you try losing weight this way. Your body needs calories. And it needs real food.
Nutritionist Tip: Keep in mind that cleanses are low-calorie. However, they act as the foundation for your weight loss journey. They work best as part of a balanced diet of whole foods, like fruits, vegetables, and healthy whole grains. Plus, you can eat as many fruits and veggies as you want while cleansing.
When you flood your body with the nutrients it needs, not only will you lose weight and keep it off, but you’ll also notice a ton of other health benefits as well.
Health Benefits of Juicing
Losing weight is a huge benefit of juicing, but it’s not the only benefit. When you try a juice diet, you can expect to not only lose weight but also experience:
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Detox - Juicing helps the body detoxify. This is due to antioxidant content. Antioxidants in fruit help remove free radicals that cause disease in the body. Plus, drinking more liquids naturally supports the body’s detoxification through waste elimination.
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A Jumpstart to Healthier Habits - A cleanse is the foundation of shaking old dietary habits and implementing new ones. When you start to drop the junk foods in the Standard American Diet, you begin to see how detrimental they are to your weight loss goals and overall health. If you keep at it, you can literally watch your tastebuds change. And a healthy diet won’t seem so out of reach. You’ll begin to crave a green apple over a candy bar.
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Improved Digestive Health - Trying a juice fast allows your digestive system to rest and reset. Unlike processed or cooked foods, raw juices are easy on your digestive system. When you drink juices, you can say “goodbye” to uncomfortable bloating and “hello” to a quicker metabolism.
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Stronger Immunity - Many of our juice recipes contain vitamin C, the supreme vitamin for your immune system. Flooding your system with fresh juice from citrus fruits like orange and lemon juice helps to promote white blood cells in your body, which are responsible for fighting viruses and infections [1].
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Increased Energy Levels - The body utilizes a lot of energy to digest food. When you give your body a break from hard-to-digest foods, your body can better distribute energy to where it’s needed.
Plus, fruits contain natural sugars, which give your body slow, sustained energy while keeping you full.
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Glowing Skin - Vitamin A, also known as retinol, is the skin vitamin. Vitamin A is known for its skin smoothing and anti-aging abilities. Our cold-pressed vegetable and fruit juices are loaded with natural vitamin A from dark leafy greens. Just one green juice a day keeps the skin glowing from within.
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Hydration - Fruits and vegetables have high water content, which properly hydrates your body. Staying hydrated is crucial when trying to reach your weight loss goals because it controls your appetite and even curbs cravings. Not to mention, we recommend 6 of our juice recipes daily while cleansing, along with water and herbal teas (that’s a lot of hydration).
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Nutrients - Juice cleansing provides a quick source of easily digestible nutrients, which can contribute to increased energy levels. The absence of heavy, processed foods during a cleanse allows the digestive system to take a break, redirecting energy towards other bodily functions and promoting a sense of lightness and vitality.
When you set your body up for success with cleansing, not only will you lose weight, but you’ll also reap the many benefits that trying a cleanse has to offer.
Experience The Benefits of a Juice Cleanse
Common Misconceptions of Juicing
People often have misconceptions about cleansing that might make them hesitant to try one. As a holistic nutritionist, I'm here to clear up some of those apprehensions.
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Side Effects - Before you go down the rabbit hole of why you shouldn’t cleanse, take a breather. Side effects with this type of cleanse are unlikely. In some cases people may experience some fatigue, headaches, cravings, and frequency of urination.
If you want to prevent the possibility of these symptoms, there are steps you can take. Cut out all meat, dairy, and grains a couple of days to a week before you cleanse. Refrain from consuming alcohol, refined sugars, and refined carbohydrates. Eat a plant-based diet full of raw fruits and vegetables. This will prepare your body for a cleanse and help you ease into it while removing some poor dietary habits earlier. It can also potentially increase the amount of weight you lose.
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Sugar Content - This is probably the biggest apprehension when it comes to juicing. I have heard time and time again, “There’s too much sugar in juice.” And while the sugar grams in juice may be higher, the important thing to differentiate here is the TYPE of sugar.
The sugar in a candy bar versus the natural sugar in a cold-pressed juice is not equal. Refined sugar is awful for you and will cause blood sugar spikes and prevent you from reaching your target healthy weight, while natural sugar in juice is good for your body. Your body was designed to thrive on fruit sugars. -
Calorie Content - Many people assume that limiting calories means losing more belly fat, but that’s not the case. When you count calories, your stress levels increase, increasing cortisol and potentially causing weight gain [2].
Your body relies on calories for energy and sustenance. And while on a juice cleanse, your calorie content is lower than normal to give your digestive system a break; I still recommend eating raw fruit, vegetables, or a plain baked sweet/white potato if you feel hungry.
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One Size Fits All - There is no such thing as “a one size fits all” approach to weight loss. A majority of people will lose weight from a cleanse. Some may lose a lot more than others. It’s important to consider that everyone’s body is different here.
Results may also vary depending on how you prepare for your cleanse and how disciplined you are to stick with it and make lifestyle changes post-cleanse. You can cleanse, but if you eat fast food every day after a cleanse, you will likely gain the weight back.
That being said, there are ways you can maximize your cleansing results. I wrote an entire blog post about it here. Always consult your trusted healthcare professional if you’re unsure if cleansing is right for you.
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Giving Up Coffee - This one is for my caffeine people. No, you do not have to give up coffee when you cleanse, but you may need to change how you take your coffee. Try a CLEAN, non-dairy milk alternative, like MALK oat milk (my personal favorite). Some other clean companies include Elmhurst or Three Trees clean nut milks. Use raw honey to sweeten instead of table sugar.
The idea is to avoid foods that could mess with your results. These creamers and milks often have terrible ingredients, from chemical additives and preservatives to artificial sweeteners and added refined sugars. Your health and wellness goals are better off without these ingredients.
The Raw Generation Difference
Now that you know cleanses are an amazing weight loss tool, it’s important to note that all juice cleanses are not created equal.
Other companies resort to chemical processes to heat their juices. This diminishes the quality and taste to the point of no return. They then add sweeteners and other additives for shelf stability (which is why they can last on shelves for a long time). This method is anything but fresh. Plus, both nutrients and taste are impacted.
Raw Generations juices truly are the best juices because they remain intact and close to their natural form (as nature intended). No heat or added sugars could ever compromise our quality.
And the best part is that you get fresh juices delivered straight to your door without totally destroying your kitchen. No juicer and no mess...
What To Include in My Juicing Diet For Effective Weight Loss
Each cleanse we have on our website has weight loss properties, but the best cleanse for weight loss is none other than our best-selling Skinny Cleanse®. After a consumer survey was conducted, we found that, on average, our customers lost 5 lbs. in 3 days, 8 lbs. in 5 days, and 10 lbs. in 7 days*.
During this cleanse, you’ll drink 6 cold-pressed weight loss juices ranging from tasty, cold-pressed fruit and vegetable juices, including:
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(2) Sweet Greens: Apple juice, triple-filtered water, kale juice, spinach juice, collard juice, lemon juice
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(1) Tarte Greens: Apple juice, cucumber juice, celery juice, spinach juice, lemon juice, triple-filtered water
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(1) Citrus Carrot: Carrot juice, orange juice, apple juice, ginger juice, lemon juice, triple-filtered water
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(1) Sweet Roots: Apple juice, carrot juice, beet juice, triple-filtered water, lemon juice
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(1) Cool Greens: Apple juice, pineapple juice, cucumber juice, aloe vera juice, lime juice, triple-filtered water
You can eat raw fruits, steamed or raw veggies, and a plain baked or sweet potato with sea salt in conjunction with your juices.
I believe that it's important to listen to your body’s cues. If you’re hungry, eat. Your weight loss goals will not be impacted as long as you’re consuming cleanse-approved foods. So, have a piece of grapefruit or a slice of watermelon guilt-free. For more on cleanse-approved foods, check out our blog post.
Lose Weight With The Skinny Cleanse®
Drop Pounds With Juice
If you’ve found yourself in the cycle of fads and frustration with ineffective weight loss methods, a juice cleanse may be just what you’re looking for.
Concentrated nutrients in cold-pressed juices support your body in much deeper ways.
Rid your mind of those common misconceptions and try something that actually works.
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