Alright so that’s 2 carrots, 1 head of broccoli, 10 grapes, a couple slices of ginger, and some celery.
I gotta be honest, just writing that first sentence was painful, but there are still millions of people out there who actually believe that putting all those ingredients in a blender and drinking it will actually “cleanse” and “detox” their body.
Why do people do these cleansing and detox diets?
Because there is an incredible marketing/advertising force behind these diets. From the Master Cleanse to Natalia Rose and her crazy diets, these companies and people will do anything to convince you that detoxifying your body is the greatest thing in the world.
And let’s not forget about celebrities like Beyonce and Salma Hayek who endorse these very diets, because you know, people will do believe anything Beyonce says or does.
Also, we have these ridiculous movies that come out like Fat, Sick, And Nearly Dead. It’s a movie about an incredibly overweight and unhealthy man named Joe Cross who decides to go on a juice cleanse where he will drink nothing but fresh fruit and vegetables for 60 days.
And spoiler warning, the movie ends with Joe losing significant amounts of weight and becoming healthy again. But did Joe lose the weight because of all the fruits and veggies he drank? HELL NO! Joe lost weight because he was consuming an extremely low calorie diet, nothing more. Detoxing with juice had nothing to do with it at all.
But that’s the problem, most people are going to watch Fat, Sick, And Nearly Dead and think that it was the juice, not the reduced calorie intake that resulted in Joe’s weight loss, and that’s just going to continue fueling the fallacy that detox diets are good.
lost the weight but the whole juicing thing is ridiculous]
There is no proof people!
Like seriously, there are things in fitness and health that are somewhat arguable, but detox and cleansing diets are NOT one of them. There is literally not a single piece of scientific research that shows that these diets are effective.
I mean, even doctors and scientists deny the fact that “detoxing” does anything for your body. Everything you read about detox diets is just a combination of theory and really good marketing. It’s a big fat lie.
I mean, even if I wanted to, I couldn’t quote any research about detox diets because there is none. If you have any research to show me, then please, be my guest.
It’s impossible to “detox” your body
It’s crazy, but I think that people who use detox diets have this imaginary image in their mind that all the juice that they’re drinking is somehow “attacking” all the “dirty” stuff in their body and removing it. Tell me I’m wrong.
The official definition of detox is to rid the body of poisonous substances. So if you overdosed on prescription medicine or accidentally drank some rat poison, then only then would you actually have to detox your body with professional medical help.
But when it comes to losing weight and health, the term detox has ABSOLUTELY no meaning at all.
Your kidneys and liver detox just fine by themselves.
But how do people lose weight and get healthy with detox diets?
As you can see, I’m not a fan of detox diets and neither should you be, but then how is it that millions of people are able to use it with success?
The answer is simple – the people who use detox diets eat very little calories.
It has nothing to do with the fruits, vegetables, or maple syrup bullshit that they’re drinking. The ONLY reason that people lose weight with these diets is because they consume very little calories.
I can’t stress this enough, if you want to lose weight and get healthy, all you have to do is eat less and watch how much you eat. Blending up a bunch of fruits and veggies does absolutely nothing for your body except make you feel groggy because you have to drink that blended crap.
So what should I do to lose weight and get healthy?
Well for one thing, don’t go on detox diet. They work for weight loss, but that’s only because it forces you to consume an extremely low amount of calories.
If you really want to give your body a break from all the food you’ve been eating, then why don’t you give intermittent fasting a shot. Intermittent fasting is pretty much juice fasting without the juice and gimmicks. All you’re doing is staying away from food for a specified amount of time.
Check out my article on intermittent fasting if you want to learn more about IF.
Bottom line: just eat a sensible reduced calorie diet and don’t worry whether or not you’re “detoxing” your body or not, because that’s not possible. If you’re consistently losing fat each week, then you’re on your way to becoming healthier 🙂
You’ve been scammed, but that’s okay
In my opinion, companies and people who promote cleansing and detox diets are nothing but scam artists. They know exactly what to say and do to convince people to buy that $80 bottle of juice that will supposedly change your life.
The fitness/health industry is full of lies and deception. It’s one of those industries that “if it sounds good on paper then people will do it” type of things, if you get what I’m saying.
Hopefully I’ve convinced you that cleansing and detox diets are nothing but a big fat scam. Now if you know anyone who works at Master Cleanse, then feel free to spam them with this article.
What do you think? Do you “detox” your body? Let me know below.
I agree that there is no concrete evidence at all. Many raw plant chemicals are even toxic but no distinction is being made here at all. Some people mash up avocado seeds in a blender and say they are full of concentrated antioxidants – but they are also full of persin – which would kill your dog if it ate it. I don’t want to be the first human added to that list with some weird disease.
Iodine for example causes a detox – because it displaces other unwelcome halogens such as bromine, chlorine and fluorine – but there is real science behind this. I don’t see any for vegetable juices. In any case meat has for the most part all the minerals a body needs and most of the vitamins and enzymes needed to make use of them so perhaps it’s all just another self-righteous, moralistic spiritual cleansing load of cr*p.
Why would you ever eat an Avo seed?
Yes some plants have been sprayed to keep the bugs off, but it is still far better then eating meat products and processed foods which have a much higher chemical/toxic rating. Food from the ground is always best, organic even better… there is definite science you just got to look in the right places, not just people posting there views on their internet blogs etc
What the health – Netflix is a good place to start.
Juice plus and University of Newcastle – youtube
hope these 2 links off the top of my head help x
Yes if you burn off more calories then you take in, you should lose the weight. So in that sense I do agree with you. The whole point in the juicing detox is that you’re eating natural ingredients verses processed shit, which is all over the globe. Processed food is not good for your body and if you truly paid attention to the movie Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead, he talked to several people that were on medications from being sick and fat over the years and once they did the reboot for a long period of time they were able to stop taking medications completely. So right there when you say there’s no evidence and it’s all just marketing, I don’t believe that. I’ve done a shorter juice detox and I could feel my body was cleaner. If you’re not a fan of juicing I don’t see the point in making an article against it, obviously there’s more than one way to lose weight and some people won’t have the discipline for juicing. People haven’t been scammed. The movie’s not even promoting you to buy bottled juices, it’s urging you to buy/even grow your own fruits and veggies. Aside from that, it’s urging you to not buy into the marketing that’s all around you. This generation’s been programmed to give into eating whatever your heart desires (even though you know it’s bad for you) and that’s why everyone’s getting fat and sick.
i dont do any of that crap cuz its bullshit and i hate that people are getting scammed out of their hard earned money all the time by big business and i say shame on celebrities for their endorsements of anything that misleads the public. Irresponsible use of their status. I thank you for presenting your articles and hope people will listen…the powers that be dont have your best interest in mind…only their own.
Unfortunately only 1% will listen 🙁
Where’s the scam? I’ve just done 28 days. All it cost me was the fruit and veg I bought from the local store? Who scammed me?
I feel amazing. Loads more energy, thinking more clearly, skin is clearer, nails and hair growing faster which is a sure sign the body is functioning better, sleeping better, less pain.
Sorry, but I don’t feel scammed!
I’m not sure you even know what your talking about, since when is buying fruits and vegetables and putting them into a juice and drinking it scamming people out of their hard earned money? This entire article is the dumbest thing I have just about ever read. It’s fact that fruits and vegetables are good for everyones body and last I checked no famous people are marketing the consumption of fruits and vegetables and scamming anyone into eating more of what we should b eating anyway!
I think this article is missing the point, During the juice fasting your body is not using massive amounts of energy Breaking down proteins and solid foods and what happens is your intestinal track starts to clean out the leftover toxins that remain there throughout the years.
It can’t really be a scam when all you have to do is go to the grocery and buy fruits and vegetables and then choose them.
I did have a hard time trying to find studies from the bias medical community. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t any proof.. first of all that’s kind of common sense. And second of all ask around and you will see the amazing results that people have acheived. I frequent health food stores and groceries and people I run into daily have been able to explain the benefits that seen from these cleanses.
Perhaps there are scam artists but not anywhere near the scale of the medical community. I would reccomend watching or reading “Joe Rose” and his early videos about juicing.
I think you are all missing the bigger picture that Joe Cross is trying to get you to think about the type of food you put into your body and how by eating vegetables in the form of a juice cleanse how it changed his health and overall life. If you have actually watched the Documentary you will learn that Joe Cross takes a journey of self-discovery and takes control of his life choices to make better decisions that has led him to a healthier state than he was in before he started down this road. My father-in-law just turned 94 January 1st, 2017 and he has lived his life eating, for the most part, the way that Joe Cross and many other Health Paraprofessionals suggest you to live. He has no health concerns other than old age to contend with. My mother and father grew up in the Prairie Provinces in Canada eating from the land and are now in their mid 80’s and are still healthy and active if not more so than people half their age. Why is this important to mention you ask, well, my whole life my mother has guided me and my 2 siblings to make smart food choices, especially with all the “easy” and expensive “fast food” solutions out there. Before you go believing every person that puts an argument out there to dispute someone else’s success try thinking for yourself, do your own research and ask yourself, “why is this person trying to dispute eating vegetables”? Be the creator of your own destiny!
Lynn, when I was very young I was macrobiotic. At that time I also tried to get people to think about the type of food they put into their bodies. I did not portray myself as an expert, though. Nor did I sell my knowledge. Incidentally, did your father-in-law, your father and mother do juicing? I’d be very curious to learn how they did…
I don’t know whether you are right, or Joe is, or whoever else, but my question to you is this – if you realy soley on scientific research to, let’s say’, believe that certain process is in fact true, what kind of scientific methodology you used to proove that Joe’s sucess was due to his low calroies intake? 🙂
I started watching the aforementioned Joe Cross video. Well, actually I fast forward to (10 minutes?) him putting veggies he had just purchased, inside his “juicer”… So much care to get “organic” veggies/fruits yet no cleaning before juicing? Mmm… Also, what does Joe Cross have against the beautiful pulp full of gorgeous fiber? I really don’t get it.
Now, I simply LOVED Phil’s comment: “Where’s the scam? I’ve just done 28 days. All it cost me was the fruit and veg I bought from the local store? Who scammed me?” Bless his naive little soul… Unless Phil mashed the fruits/veggies by hand, pressed them through a sieve, then through some fine muslin to get to almost pure juice, he needed something else. And what would that something else be? Well, a juicer, no less! And guess who sells juicers? Our pal Joe Cross does! From $100 up (plus taxes, mind you) you can get your own dream juicer.
No, not really a scam, since Joe is not forcing anyone to buy his products–which are a total of seven: apps, books, certification, coaching services, juicers, movies and protein powder, plus T-shirts and totes! The scam is in the fact that there is no scientific evidence that this man’s diet “detoxes” yet he sells it as such! Any pharmaceutical company that dared less than he does would be closed by now!
Thanks for the article, Keith. And congratulations on this excellent website.
PS: The link to “intermittent fasting” is not working.
I’ve never watched fat sick and nearly dead. Nor do I have the will to. However, I’m just curious to know what your credentials are Keith? You’ve brought up an interesting arguement. My girlfriend and I have been debating getting a $300 juicer and then this article pops up. I was a former substance abuser. I’ve been looking into alternative diets for a healthier lifestyle in order to cleanse my liver and gut from the damage I’ve done to myself. Such diets include IF, ketogenic diet, etc. Could you point me in the direction of some useful information to study the methodology of these diets a bit further? Thanks. -Tyler
One would have to be completely desperate to take this man’s advise. “Like seriously”. Amazing how you tell people Joe’s weight loss is from him consuming a low amount of calories yet fail to mention how he was off his 11 medications after 60 days. You use zero scientific facts to back up your claims, yet you say “like seriously”, and “literally”. And we are supposed to take you seriously because you have a sense of humor about your mole.
Sara Mata Stevens is just one name who comes to mind. I’m not sure if you are deliberately misleading people or are just pathetically ignorant. Either way, your article is scary for a whole host of reason.
http://thechalkboardmag.com/new-science-health-benefits-of-juicing
https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2015/04/11/health-benefits-juicing.aspx
I see a lot of common sense in the fact that if you if you lose weight you will feel better and be healthier, weather or not you have a disease or toxins in your body. How is that a scam or a lie?
All of these ingredients are probably cheaper than the food you are eating now and just about everybody has a blender. So how is that a scam?
To me a scam is when somebody is selling some miracle product, or a miracle machine.
What is Joe selling? A book? Just don’t buy the book and you haven’t been scammed.
I am going to give it a try because it wont cost me anything and the worst that could happen is that it does not work.
I am 76 and weigh around 250 lbs, I have psoriatic arthritis, serious osteoarthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, macrocytosis, mgus, hypertension, and a few other chronic diseases. Loosing weight will help me feel better.
So what do I have to loose?
Mike B.
PS:
I take prednisone, leflunomide, cimzia (certolizumab pegol costing $3000 per month) gabapentin, mirabegron, hydrochlorothiazide, solifenacin, lisinopril, atenolol, vitamin D3, vitamin B complex, apixaban, methocarbamol and 3 otc sleep aids. I frequently use topical ointments containing NSAIDs diclofenac, trolamine salicylate and lidocaine plus menthol, methyl salicylate and camphor. Any reduction in dosages or numbers of drugs due to weight loss would be an improvement.
Joe cross is a total scam… and obsessed with food like a bottomless pit glutton. It’s a disgrace he hawks a machine because he makes a profit being an owner of the company, the machine is barely adequate and over priced