Juicing has become an increasingly popular way for people to get more fruits and vegetables into their diets. Proponents claim that juicing can provide health benefits like weight loss, improved energy, and better skin. But is juicing actually a good substitute for solid meals?
What is juicing?
Juicing refers to extracting the liquid contents of fruits and vegetables. This is typically done by running produce through a juicer machine, which separates the juice from the pulp or fiber. The resulting beverage contains most of the vitamins, minerals, and plant chemicals from the produce used. However, the fiber content is dramatically reduced.
People juice fruits and vegetables like celery, kale, carrots, apples, spinach, cucumbers, and beets. The juice can be consumed immediately or stored in the refrigerator for a couple days.
Some of the purported benefits of juicing include:
- Increased intake of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants
- Aid in weight loss
- Detoxification
- Clearer skin
- Reduced inflammation
- More energy
Many people use juicing as a meal replacement, swapping solid foods for fruit and vegetable juices a few times per week. Various juice cleanses and detoxes take this even further, having people consume only juices for 3–10 days.
Nutrition content of juices
There’s no doubt that juice contains a concentrated dose of vitamins, minerals, and beneficial plant compounds. For example, 1 cup (240 ml) of spinach juice provides:
- Vitamin A: 56% of the RDI
- Vitamin C: 28% of the RDI
- Vitamin K: 605% of the RDI
- Folate: 16% of the RDI
- Potassium: 21% of the RDI
- Copper: 15% of the RDI
- Manganese: 15% of the RDI
Juices based around fruits like oranges, grapefruits, and red grapes are loaded with vitamin C. Green juices provide minerals like iron, calcium, and magnesium in addition to a range of antioxidants.
However, fruits and vegetables lose much of their solid mass when they are juiced. It takes 3–4 oranges to make 1 cup (240 ml) of orange juice. So while juice provides nutritional benefits, the servings you need to drink to replace solid food can add up.
Juices lack fiber and protein
The main downside to replacing meals with juice is the loss of fiber and protein.
Fiber is an important nutrient found concentrated in the pulp and skins of fruits and veggies. It moves through your digestive system mostly intact, adding bulk to stools and promoting regular bowel movements.
Fiber also:
- reduces cholesterol levels
- stabilizes blood sugar levels
- provides fuel for your gut bacteria
- helps control calorie intake by slowing digestion and increasing feelings of fullness
Juices contain very little fiber since most of it is removed when making the juice. For example, while a medium apple contains 4.4 grams of fiber, apple juice has only 0.5 grams.
Protein is another nutrient lacking in juice. Protein plays an important role in almost all bodily functions, including:
- building muscle
- fighting infection
- providing energy
- balancing hormone levels
- slowing aging
While produce like spinach and kale contain some protein, their protein content is relatively low compared to foods like lean meats, eggs, legumes, nuts, and seeds.
Replacing meals too often with juice can lead to low intakes of protein and fiber, potentially resulting in health issues.
Juicing removes beneficial plant compounds
Some plant compounds have powerful health benefits but are bound to the fibers in fruits and vegetables. Juicing tends to remove most of these beneficial compounds.
For example, many antioxidants that are linked with reduced risk of heart disease and cancer are found in apple peels. Since this part is discarded when juicing, some of the apples’ antioxidant content is lost.
The same holds true for compounds like resveratrol found in grape skins and sulforaphane found in broccoli. Blender juices that contain pulp likely retain more nutrients overall but still lack the larger mass and fibers of whole produce.
Juicing effects on weight loss
Proponents often cite juicing as a simple method for increasing nutrient intake while reducing calorie consumption. In theory, replacing some meals with juice could lead to weight loss.
However, the evidence does not strongly support juicing for weight loss.
While replacing a meal with a juice may reduce calorie intake temporarily, your hunger and appetite will likely remain unaffected. This often leads to consuming extra calories later in the day.
The lack of protein, fat, and fiber in juice makes you feel hungrier than if you ate a meal with whole produce. Over time, drinking juice with each meal is likely unsustainable and ineffective for weight loss.
That said, replacing the occasional meal with juice may still be a good way to increase your intake of vegetables if this is something you struggle with normally.
Juice cleanses for weight loss not recommended
Juice cleanses typically involve consuming only fruit and vegetable juices for 3–10 days in a row.
Proponents claim that juice cleanses remove toxins from your system, reduce inflammation, and help you lose weight quickly.
However, there is no evidence that juicing results in significant toxin removal. Your body already has effective systems in place to detoxify and remove toxins and wastes.
While juice cleanses may help you lose a few pounds quickly, this benefit is likely short-lived. As soon as you return to normal eating, the weight will return.
Reducing your calorie intake to such extremes may also cause issues like fatigue, anxiety, irritability, constipation, nutritional deficiencies, and an impaired immune response.
There are much healthier and more sustainable dietary patterns that provide the benefits of weight loss and health without the risks linked to prolonged juice fasts.
Downsides to frequent juicing
There are several potential problems with replacing too many meals with juice:
- Nutrient deficiencies. Drinking juice doesn’t provide enough protein, fiber, fat, or many micronutrients. Over time, nutrient shortfalls may develop.
- Lower muscle mass. Lack of protein coupled with calorie restriction may lead to loss of muscle mass and a slower metabolism.
- Dental erosion. Fruit juices are acidic, which may damage tooth enamel, increasing decay risk.
- Unstable blood sugar. The fiber content in juice is unable to slow down the release of sugars into your bloodstream, which can cause energy crashes.
- Increased hunger. Juices digest quickly, leaving you hungry soon after drinking them. This makes sticking to juices long-term difficult.
- Food waste. Juices require several pieces of produce to make a single cup, resulting in waste.
For most people, the risks of replacing too many meals with juice likely outweigh any potential benefits.
Is juicing good for you?
There are a few groups who may benefit from occasional use of juicing:
- Those who struggle to eat enough fruits and vegetables. Juicing can be an easy way to add produce into your diet.
- Individuals recovering from illness. The increased vitamin and mineral content in juice may be beneficial during recovery.
- Older adults with reduced appetite. Juices provide nutrients from produce that they otherwise may not consume.
- Endurance athletes. Juicing fruits around workouts may help performance and recovery.
However, even for these groups, incorporating blender juices with the pulp may be a better option than removing the pulp entirely.
Potential benefits of juicing
Here are some of the evidence-based benefits that juicing may provide in moderation for some people:
- Increased produce intake. Juicing is an easy way to add fruits and veggies into your diet, especially if you struggle to eat them normally.
- Greater antioxidant intake. Fruits and vegetables are rich in antioxidants that help fight oxidative damage from free radicals.
- Vitamin and mineral boost. Juices are high in nutrients like vitamin C, folate, potassium, iron, and more.
- Higher phytonutrient intake. Phytonutrients in produce may help lower inflammation, blood pressure, and cholesterol.
- Blood sugar control. Despite their high carb content, some juices slow digestion and blood sugar spikes.
- Immune function. The vitamin C and antioxidants in juice may improve immune defense and skin health.
Overall, the primary benefit of juicing is increasing your produce intake. This may provide health advantages for some people — but only if it does not come at the expense of consuming whole fruits and vegetables.
Is juicing better than whole produce?
For most people, consuming whole fruits and vegetables is a healthier choice than replacing meals with juice.
Chewed produce adds more fiber, plant compounds, protein, and healthy fat compared to fruit and vegetable juice. Whole fruits and veggies also do not lack pulp and require less produce to feel satiated.
While juice can be an easy way to add nutrients from produce into your diet, it does not provide complete nutrition. Drinking juice alone fails to meet daily protein, fat, fiber, and micronutrient requirements.
If you’re finding it hard to get enough servings of fruits and vegetables, here are some tips:
- Add berries, banana, or apple to your morning oatmeal
- Include vegetables in your eggs or mixed into breakfast tacos
- Snack on carrots, celery, peppers, or edamame during the day
- Drink vegetable smoothies made with yogurt for more protein
- Add leafy greens to soups, stews, and curries
- Enjoy salads with lunch and dinner
- Roast vegetables like broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and cauliflower for side dishes
With a little creativity, you can easily increase your daily produce intake without relying solely on juices.
Is juicing safe?
For most healthy people, drinking small amounts of fresh, homemade juice is likely safe if done in moderation. However, some groups may need to exercise caution with high intakes of juice.
- Those with diabetes. Fruit juice can spike blood sugar levels.
- Individuals with kidney problems. Large amounts of potassium from juicing may be harmful.
- People taking certain medications. Juicing large amounts of grapefruit, spinach, kale, carrots, and parsley may interact with some prescriptions.
- Children. Too much juice can contribute to dental cavities and excess calorie intake.
Drinking more than one 8-ounce (240-ml) serving per day is not recommended, especially for children. Older adults and people with health conditions like kidney disease or diabetes should talk to their healthcare provider about safe intake levels.
Pregnant women should take extra precautions with juice and clean fruits and vegetables thoroughly to minimize risk of foodborne illnesses like listeriosis. Making your own juice at home and drinking it immediately is likely safest.
Safety tips for juicing
Here are some precautions to take if you want to start juicing:
- Drink no more than 8 ounces (240 ml) of juice per day if you’re healthy.
- Consume juice alongside balanced meals, not instead of them.
- Alternate juices with smoothies that contain yogurt, nut butter, or protein powder.
- Drink only fresh juice you make at home from quality produce.
- Clean your juicer properly after each use to avoid growth of mold and bacteria.
- Introduce juices slowly to assess tolerance, especially if you have diabetes or kidney disease.
The bottom line
Juicing can be a healthy way to increase your produce intake and gain more beneficial plant compounds and nutrients from fruits and vegetables.
However, drinking juice should not replace eating whole fruits and vegetables. Consuming produce in its whole form provides more fiber, protein, antioxidants, and beneficial plant compounds.
For most people, eating plenty of produce and limiting juice to 4–8 ounces (120–240 ml) per day may provide some benefits without the downsides linked to excessive juice intake.
While juicing is not a meal replacement, it can add important vitamins and minerals to your diet when done in moderation.
