Are juice cleanses expensive?
Juice cleanses have become an increasingly popular way for people to quickly lose weight, detox, and reset their diet. During a juice cleanse, you consume nothing but freshly squeezed fruit and vegetable juices for a set period of time, typically between 3 and 7 days. While juice cleanses may provide health benefits, they can also come with a hefty price tag. In this article, we’ll take a detailed look at the costs associated with juice cleanses to help you determine if they are worth the investment.
The Basics of Juice Cleanses
A juice cleanse involves eliminating all solid foods from your diet and replacing them with fresh, raw fruit and vegetable juices. Most cleanse programs provide you with 6-8 bottles of juice per day, with each bottle containing around 16 ounces. The juices are designed to provide your body with all the vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals, and antioxidants it needs while giving your digestive system a rest from solid foods. This liquid diet allows the body to focus its energy on cleansing itself of built-up toxins rather than digesting solid foods.
Most juice cleanses last for 3-5 days, but they can range from 1-7 days or longer. The short duration of juice cleanses means they provide more of a “reboot” rather than long-term weight loss. However, many people report losing between 5-10 pounds during a 3-day cleanse by eliminating bloat and water weight. Other purported benefits of juice cleansing include improved energy, clearer skin, better sleep, reduced cravings, and elimination of toxins.
Cost Breakdown of a 3-Day Juice Cleanse
To get an accurate look at how much a standard juice cleanse costs, let’s break down the price for a 3-day cleanse providing six 16-ounce bottles per day:
| Item | Typical Cost |
|---|---|
| 18 bottles of cold-pressed juice | $150 |
| Delivery fees | $15 |
| Total Cost | $165 |
As you can see, just the juices alone for a 3-day cleanse can cost around $150. When you factor in delivery fees or pickup costs, the total for a short juice cleanse typically ranges from $150-200.
Cost Per Day for Juice Cleansing
Looking at the per-day cost helps put the price of a juice cleanse into perspective:
| Cleanse Length | Typical Cost | Cost Per Day |
|---|---|---|
| 3 days | $165 | $55 |
| 5 days | $275 | $55 |
| 7 days | $385 | $55 |
A 3-day juice cleanse costs around $55 per day when you factor in the total price. The per day cost typically stays the same for longer cleanses since you are getting larger bulk discounts on the juices. This daily cost gives you six 16-ounce bottles of fresh, organic juice per day.
Cost Comparison to Groceries
To determine if a $55 daily juice cleanse cost is expensive, let’s compare it to a normal day’s worth of groceries:
| Grocery Items | Typical Cost |
|---|---|
| 1 lb chicken breast | $3 |
| Salad mix greens | $3 |
| 1 lb sweet potato | $2 |
| 1 bunch kale | $3 |
| 2 apples | $2 |
| 1 lb strawberries | $4 |
| 1 bunch bananas | $2 |
| 2 cups rice | $1 |
| 1 gallon milk | $3 |
| Total | $23 |
As you can see from this rough breakdown, a standard day’s groceries for things like proteins, fruits, vegetables, and grains can easily cost around $23. Compared to the $55 daily cost of a juice cleanse, some may argue the cleanse is expensive. However, juice cleanses provide complete convenience and involve no preparation, cooking, or cleaning up. The juices are also all organic and cold-pressed, providing higher quality nutrition than typical grocery produce. So the cost difference reflects the convenience and quality factors.
Cost of Juice Cleanses vs. Restaurants
We can also compare the daily cost of a juice cleanse to the price per day of eating meals from restaurants and food delivery services:
| Meals | Typical Cost |
|---|---|
| Breakfast sandwich & coffee | $12 |
| Salad takeout lunch | $15 |
| Delivery pizza dinner | $20 |
| Total | $47 |
Eating three meals per day from restaurants or getting food delivery can easily exceed $45. Compared to outsourcing all your meals for the day, a $55 juice cleanse starts to look more affordable. Considering the cleanse also provides complete nutrition and eliminates any cooking or dishes, the price difference versus takeout food is not too extreme.
Factors Affecting the Cost of a Juice Cleanse
While a 3-day juice cleanse typically costs around $150-$200, there are several factors that can raise or lower the price:
- Cleanse duration – Longer cleanses of 5-7 days can cost $275 or more but bring down the daily price due to bulk discounts.
- Organic and cold-pressed juices – Higher quality juices greatly increase costs but provide more nutrients.
- Fruit and veggie types – Juices made with premium ingredients like acai, mangosteen, kale, or coconut water raise the price.
- Additional nut milks – Offering specialty nut milks like cashew or almond raises costs by $2-3 per day.
- Meal delivery fees – Having juices delivered can tack on $10-20+ per day for shipping.
- Shopping for your own produce – Buying your own fruits and veggies to juice at home can save 50% or more.
The fastest way reduce your juice cleanse costs is to prepare the juices yourself at home using a juicer. But this requires a significant time investment in grocery shopping and juicing prep.
Is an Expensive Juice Cleanse Worth It?
With all juice cleanse programs costing around $50+ per day, are they ultimately worth the high price? Here are some pros and cons to consider:
Potential Benefits
- Rapid weight loss of up to 2 lbs per day
- Body detox and elimination of toxins
- Increased energy and mental clarity
- Improved skin and reduction of acne
- Lowered risk of disease from high vegetable & fruit intake
- Break in unhealthy eating patterns
Drawbacks
- Hunger from lack of protein and calories
- Difficulty sticking to all liquids
- Lack of clinically proven long-term health benefits
- Weight regain after cleanse ends
- High cost for temporary results
The benefits you receive from a juice cleanse will depend heavily on your goals, level of commitment, and the specific ingredients used in the juices. A juice cleanse can provide a short “reset” and break from unhealthy eating patterns if you can fit the high costs into your budget. But relying on juice cleanses too frequently can become very expensive.
Tips for Saving Money on Juice Cleanses
Here are some tips to help control the costs of a periodic juice cleanse:
- Do a 3-day cleanse instead of 5+ days to spend less per cleanse.
- Split costs with a friend by sharing a juice cleanse kit.
- Buy produce and juices from wholesale clubs like Costco or Sam’s Club.
- Use a juicer at home and make your own juices when possible.
- Substitute water or regular juices for more costly nut milks.
- Reuse any glass juice bottles from delivery companies.
- Look for discount codes and coupons from juice cleanse companies.
- Only do a cleanse occasionally instead of monthly.
The Bottom Line on Juice Cleanse Costs
A juice cleanse lasting 3-5 days typically costs around $150-$250, which breaks down to around $50-60 per day. This daily cost is 2-3x higher than if you were to purchase groceries and make your own meals. However, juice cleanses provide extreme convenience, higher quality produce, and potential health benefits. While not affordable for most people to do daily or weekly, juice cleanses can provide a beneficial periodic reset and break from unhealthy eating when used sparingly.
The high costs of juice cleanses come from the large amounts of organic fruits and vegetables required plus the convenience of having them juiced and delivered to your door. If you want to control costs, making your own juices at home using a juicer and buying wholesale produce can cut the price in half or more. But the time investment must be factored in. Overall, juice cleanses can be an expensive but potentially rewarding investment if used judiciously and if the benefits align with your health goals.