Introduction
Juicing has become a popular way for people to try to lose weight and body fat. The idea is that by extracting the juice from fruits and vegetables, you can consume a lot of nutrients without the fiber. Many proponents of juicing claim it can help you shed pounds and reduce body fat quickly. But is juicing truly an effective way to lose body fat? Let’s take a closer look.
How Juicing Works
Juicing extracts the juice from fruits and vegetables, leaving behind the fiber. For example, one medium apple may contain around 4.4 grams of fiber. But when you juice that apple, the resulting juice contains little to no fiber.
Because fiber helps you feel full, removing it allows you to consume a lot of produce quickly and take in more calories. On a typical 2,000 calorie diet, you’d likely eat around 3-4 servings of fruit and 2-3 servings of veggies per day. But you could easily juice the equivalent of 10 or more servings of fruits and veggies in a large juice!
Without fiber, that massive influx of sugars from the juiced produce can spike your blood sugar and insulin levels. This leads to fat storage, especially increased visceral fat around your organs.
Juicing Removes Nutrients
In addition to removing fiber, juicing gets rid of many other nutrients found in whole fruits and vegetables:
- Vitamin C
- Vitamin K
- Potassium
- Magnesium
- Polyphenols
These nutrients help reduce inflammation, improve heart health, stabilize blood sugar levels, and more. For example, polyphenols are plant compounds that may help combat weight gain. But up to 80-90% of polyphenols are removed during juicing.
Lacks Protein
Juice diets also lack protein, which helps keep you feeling full and metabolize fat. Without adequate protein, you may lose lean muscle mass as you lose weight. As a result, your body fat percentage may increase even as the number on the scale goes down.
May Cause an Energy Crash
At first, a flood of fruit sugars into your system may make you feel energized. But that energy surge is quickly followed by an energy crash as your blood sugar spikes and drops. Low energy can reduce your metabolism and make it harder to maintain muscle mass.
Difficult to Sustain Long-Term
Juice diets are often difficult to sustain for more than a few days at a time. After the initial burst of energy, your calorie intake drops very low. This leads to intense hunger, cravings, and fatigue. It’s challenging to stick with such a restrictive diet for long.
Once you resume normal eating, you’ll likely regain any weight and body fat lost initially unless you make permanent diet changes.
The Verdict
Based on the drawbacks, juicing is generally not an effective or sustainable way to lose body fat. Here’s a quick summary:
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
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While juice can be a tasty way to add extra servings of produce into your diet, it shouldn’t form the main basis of your nutrition.
Healthier Alternatives for Losing Fat
If you want to shed body fat, focus instead on these evidence-based strategies:
Strength Training
Lifting weights and doing resistance exercises stresses your muscles in a way that increases lean mass. The more calorie-burning muscle you have, the easier it becomes to lean out. Aim for 2-3 strength sessions per week.
Adequate Protein Intake
Getting around 0.7-1 gram of protein per pound of body weight helps preserve and build calorie-burning lean muscle while losing fat. Include a good protein source at each meal.
High-Fiber Carbs
Unlike juice, high-fiber carbs like vegetables, beans, whole grains and fruit allow you to fill up on fewer calories. They also help stabilize blood sugar levels.
Healthy Fats
Don’t fear healthy fats from olive oil, nuts, seeds, avocado, and fatty fish. They provide essential fatty acids that reduce inflammation and help your body better metabolize body fat.
Calorie Deficit
You must burn more calories than you consume to tap into stored body fat. A deficit of 500 per day can lead to 1 pound lost per week. Monitor your intake and activity using an app.
Interval Training
In addition to strength training, do short bouts of high-intensity cardio like sprints, cycling, or metabolic circuits. This torches calories and keeps your metabolism revved up.
The Bottom Line
While juicing can help you take in a lot of vitamins and minerals from produce, it is generally not an effective way to lose body fat specifically. Removing fiber makes juices less filling, and lack of protein can diminish fat-burning muscle. For lasting results, focus on strength training, nutrition, and sustainable diet and lifestyle habits. Adding some vegetable juice to your routine as a supplement can be beneficial, but it should not become the main component of your diet.
References
- Kim S, Willis LM, Kadowaki T, et al. Fruit juice and incident diabetes: a systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies. Diabetologia. 2021;64(5):1085–1097.
- Wang PY, Fang JC, Gao ZH, Zhang C, Xie SY. Higher intake of fruits, vegetables or their fiber reduces the risk of type 2 diabetes: A meta-analysis. J Diabetes Investig. 2016;7(1):56–69.
- Wu Y, Zhang D, Jiang X, Jiang W. Fruit and vegetable consumption and risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus: a dose-response meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies. Nutr Metab Cardiovasc Dis. 2015;25(2):140-147.
- Schwingshackl L, Hoffmann G. Diet Quality as Assessed by the Healthy Eating Index, the Alternate Healthy Eating Index, the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension Score, and Health Outcomes: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Cohort Studies. J Acad Nutr Diet. 2015;115(5):780-800.e5.
- Rock CL, Flatt SW, Pakiz B, et al. Weight Loss, Dietary Restraint, and Disordered Eating in the Women’s Health Initiative Dietary Modification Trial. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2017;25(1):79–86.
- Tobias DK, Chen M, Manson JE, Ludwig DS, Willett W, Hu FB. Effect of low-fat diet interventions versus other diet interventions on long-term weight change in adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Lancet Diabetes Endocrinol. 2015;3(12):968-979.
