Smoothie or Juice Cleanse: Battle of the Blends

A lot of my friends, family and clients often asks me what type of detoxes are the best. My advice is always the same - be careful to avoid the extreme, unhealthy ones!

Perhaps you have already tried one, whether it’s a trendy fasting diet or a liquid cleanse. Many these can be harmful to the digestive system and lead to an imbalance of nutrients, infiltrating your bloodstream with toxic substances, slowing down your metabolism and causing your weight in the long term to yo-yo up and down. Plus a lot of them are based on rigid protocols, allowing you only juice, smoothies, water or raw foods - and I have strong opinions on each of these.

Here is why I am not a firm believer of juice and smoothie cleanses.

Juice Cleanse

I am a huge advocate of juicing. It can be an effective way to flood your body with nutrients that you might not otherwise get. Used in non-Western medicine for hundreds of years, it can also cleanse your body, eliminate bloating, ward off cravings, increase energy, clear up skin, and even treat serious diseases. Not to mention that it is all the “in thing” right now, with the new juice bars and home delivery services popping up to capitalise on the trend.

So juicing is the best thing ever, right? Well, not exactly! Where people go wrong is by drinking too many fruits and not enough vegetables. Fruit juice - even if you make it yourself - is a highly concentrated source of sugar. Yes, it’s natural sugar, accompanied by vitamins, minerals and phytochemical. But it can have a surprisingly high calorie count. More important, what’s missing from juice is fibre. Without fibre, the body absorbs sugar more quickly, triggering a rapid increase in blood sugar levels and impending metabolism. Also, we need fibre to assist our bowels in healthy elimination. Some juice cleanses advice you to supplement with psyllium husk powder, or to schedule colonics or enemas to assist with bowel movements. Any protocol that requires an extra step (like a colonic) in order to use the toilet is not a healthy way to cleanse.

Please stay away from commercial fruit juice, which is often laced with refined sugars such as table sugar (sucrose) or high-fructose corn syrup, neither of which contains the nutrients found in natural fruit juices. A report published in the American journal of Public Health in 2012 noted, “Excessive fruit juice consumption is associated with increased risk for obesity. Moreover, there is recent scientific evidence that sucrose consumption without the corresponding fiber, as is commonly present in fruit juice, is associated with the metabolic syndrome, liver injury and obesity” Bottom line : The calories you drink as fruit juice are more likely to show up on the scale than the calories you chew as actual fruits - plus lead to additional health problems.

Juices also lack protein, which we need to maintain our beautiful, body defining muscle. In face, within the first two days of a juice cleanse (if you last that long), your body is coerced into burning precious muscle for fuel. Nutrient deficiencies interfere with detoxification and starve out helpful gut bacteria. What’s more, all-juice cleanses, particularly vegetable-based ones, are extremely low in calories, so your body goes into panic mode and clings to its fat stores to avert starvation. even if you do lose a few kilograms, it’s mostly water weight. Your brain also sends up an SOS to halt some processes to conserve fuel. I am talking about hormone production and healing, both of which are vital to your health - anything that cuts them off is not going to make you feel better. Doing a juice cleanse can have the effect of slowing down your metabolism and in extreme cases lead to the onset of an eating disorder. It’s important to recognise these negative side effects during a juice cleanse.

Many people swear by juice cleanses, and I am not here to say they are wrong. What works for some won’t work for others. Juicing is a beautiful method to inundate your body with nutrients, but rather than drink juice all week long to the exclusion of clean solid food, try enjoying it as a nutrient-loaded snack. If you really want to try it, do a one-day green juice fast to giv eyour body a healthy kick start. Anything longer than a day won’t teach you the necessary habits to eat nutritiously over the long term.

Smoothie Cleanses

What I love about smoothies is that they can really help you beat cravings for good. The reason is that they contain fibre, which makes you feel full. Whenever someone tells me she isn’t confident that she will succeed on a detox, I always recommend adding one my green smoothie recipes for one to two weeks before trying a. full detox. It conquers cravings by creating fullness, boosts energy and brightens up skin.

Although this is the healthiest of all the fad cleanses I hear about, it can be hard to maintain. Who wants to drink smoothies for days on end? This can be boring and too restrictive, possibly leading to bingeing and weight gain once you stop the smoothie diet. I don’t promote this method because it still doesn’t teach you how to eat. Ive have found that when people do this type of detox, they do see results and feel amazing, but have a hard time when life kicks back in and they have to go to restaurants, resist treats at work, and make dinner for their family. Smoothies are a great complement to a healthy eating plan; however, I don’t think they are the best for a cleanse.

It is also tough if you live in a place where it isn’t warm all the time. As people in the middle of a cold winter if they want a smoothie or smoothie bowl, and the answer is almost always no. We need different foods to support us in different seasons, and in winter, something that cools the body will not aid in digestion, help your metabolism or keep you satisfied as much as a warming or grounding food will.

Bottom line : I do include a smoothie in my daily routine, BUT I get to enjoy it alongside many other delicious clean foods.