Is a Juice Detox Healthy?
We all want to lead the healthiest lifestyles possible. Being fit and healthy means you can do all the things you want to do without struggling or finding yourself in physical pain. It helps you feel better in yourself and prevents your chances of developing illness. Many of us will do all sorts of things to keep in the best condition possible. We’ll try to maintain a healthy BMI. We’ll eat a balanced diet. We’ll make sure to get our recommended one hundred and fifty minutes of moderate aerobic exercise each week. But every now and then, trends pop up claiming to be the next new best thing to do for your health and wellbeing. Juicing is one of them. You may have heard a lot about juicing, seen all sorts of celebrities promoting juicing, and you may even have friends who have tried a juice detox themselves. But is a juice detox actually any good for you? Does it really offer any health benefits? Here’s a little more information on the subject to help you make the best decision for your health and wellbeing.
Juice Detoxes
Put simply, a juice detox is when you consume nothing but freshly pressed juices for up to ten days straight. The premise behind this that juicing your fruit and veg supposedly helps you to absorb more nutrients more easily than eating them alone. But can drinking juice and juice alone for such a long period really be any good for you? Any form of cleanse or detox diet cuts out junk food from your diet completely, which can give your digestive system a well-deserved break from saturated fats, excess salts and excess sugars. Juice can also provide your body with many of the vitamins from fruit and vegetables that your body needs to function properly too. But when it comes down to it, solely drinking juice really isn’t good for your overall health and wellbeing. Your body needs a balanced diet, drawing from all of the different food groups, to have everything that it needs to function. Any diet that goes to extremes and completely cuts out any food group, never mind solid foods as a whole, isn’t going to provide you with sustainable, long lasting or healthy benefits. Instead, you need to incorporate juices into a healthy and balanced diet to really reap the benefits from them.
A Balanced Diet
A balanced diet should see you reach your recommended calorie intake each day, incorporating all of the different food groups onto each plate throughout the day. Your recommended calorie intake will vary depending on various factors. Here are some recommendations:
- Children aged 2 to 8 – 1000 to 1400 calories
- Girls aged 9 to 13 – 1400 to 1600 calories
- Boys aged 9 to 13 – 1600 to 2000 calories
- Active women aged 14 to 30 – 2400 calories
- Sedentary women aged 14 to 30 – 1800 to 2000 calories
- Active men aged 14 to 30 – 2800 to 3200 calories
- Sedentary men aged 14 to 30 – 2000 to 2600 calories
- Active adults over 30 – 2000 to 3000 calories
- Sedentary adults over 30 – 1600 to 2400 calories
Recipe Ideas
If you’re going to incorporate some healthy juices into your day, here are a few recipes that can help you along the way!
Homemade v8 juice
You may have tried v8 juice bottled in shops. It’s good for you, but it’s costly if you regularly buy it ready-made. The good news is there is a great homemade v8 juice recipe you can follow to make the same great juice, but at a lower cost.
Pineapple, apple, and spinach
Sure it may sound odd putting spinach in a juice, but the pineapple and apple in this recipe will mask the flavor, helping you to eat your greens without wincing at the taste. Spinach is high in vitamin K, vitamin A, potassium, magnesium, iron, copper and dietary fiber, so really is a great addition to any juice. All of the ingredients for this juice recipe will be available at your local supermarket or fruit market. Apples and spinach are also cheap, making this an affordable juice to have on a regular basis.
Apple, carrot, and ginger
This is a recipe you’ll see in most juice bars. The strong flavors are a great alternative for perking you up in the morning instead of drinking a coffee. Not many of us get enough ginger in our diets. It’s packed with natural antioxidants and will banish toxins from your body.It is also a great natural decongestant, so perfect if you have a cold.
As you can see, full juice detoxes should be avoided, but incorporating a juice into your day is a really healthy life choice. Just make sure to clean your teeth properly afterwards!
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