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Juicing article - bad for your health?

I wondered what people's thoughts would be on this anti-juicing article. For those not familiar with the Daily Mail where it's published, it's not the most intelligent source of journalism by any means, but there's usually some credible research or expert opinion behind its health stories. I know there are a lot of juicing fans here, and for people with Crohn's, juicing can be a way to consume fruit and veg without fibre, so I think juicing is more useful to those with Crohn's and other digestive problems than the general population who can usually just eat fruit and veg the regular way, and it also seems to me that most of the health warnings would apply to fruit juice but not vegetable (e.g. the sugar content), but it's interesting to see potential downsides and see it labelled as a fad. I hadn't thought about the hygiene problems of juicers before either.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/a...g-body-nutrients-new-fad-not-healthy-all.html
 

DustyKat

Super Moderator
I personally think most ‘diets’, including aspects of them like juicing, are useless unless they serve a specific purpose like IBD, Coeliac, allergies and so on.

For ‘normal’ people like me what is the point of this and the vast ‘health' industry when I have nothing that stops me from eating a well balanced diet and nothing that stops me from absorbing the nutrients I need from my food.

Again, I can see the benefits of juicing, specific ways of eating and supplementation for my children but not for me.

Dusty. xxx
 
Interesting. It does have some good points, we can't forgetting juicing doesn't eliminate sugar. The fibre is not an issue for many of us. Cleaning your juicer can be harder but mine disassembles and is dishwasher safe mostly. Overall I think juicing can be a good choice still, just not the only choice you should choose.
 

DustyKat

Super Moderator
Sarah does not juice fruits for the very reason you have stated FrozenGirl, it doesn’t eliminate sugar but will concentrate them. She doesn’t eat dried fruit for this reason also.
 
I personally think most ‘diets’, including aspects of them like juicing, are useless unless they serve a specific purpose like IBD, Coeliac, allergies and so on.

For ‘normal’ people like me what is the point of this and the vast ‘health' industry when I have nothing that stops me from eating a well balanced diet and nothing that stops me from absorbing the nutrients I need from my food.

Again, I can see the benefits of juicing, specific ways of eating and supplementation for my children but not for me.

Dusty. xxx
Pretty much my thoughts too. I also think that juicing is very unlikely to be that detrimental to health, even if someone drinks juice fairly regularly - a healthy diet isn't going to be ruined by regular juice, just as a terrible diet isn't going to be neutralised by adding in juice.

But yes, juicing generally seems to be hyped-up and just unnecessary for most people. When I've had to be really strict on my fibre intake, I found much easier ways of getting vitamins in, including Ensure, tins of smooth vegetable soups, tinned fruit, and just bought cartons of apple juice and other juices - I didn't think it would make much difference if the juicing had been done by someone else rather than me doing it at home.

The article also mentions the dangers of juice fasts. The main risk mentioned was that people would get hungry and over-compensate later, resulting in weight gain, but I would have thought the much more serious danger would be the sudden shortage of calories - people could end up fainting from hunger if having nothing but juice for days or weeks.
 

CrohnsChicago

Super Moderator
I can agree and disagree with this article. The disagreement with the article that I have comes from a place where those of us with IBD are already very limited to our options. The article speaks of the importance of fiber...well most of us on this forum cannot tolerate the slightest bit of fiber. Nor can we digest whole foods as is suggested the best route on the article. I think this article is more geared towards the healthier individuals who do not have significant health issues and thus can go about their lives and diet in a variety of ways as opposed to someone with IBD or another severe health issue where our options are limited.

We do what we can, we get our nutrients the best way we can for our own bodies (SCD, Paleo Enteral Nutrition, Juicing, Pureeing, Low-Carb...etc.....). As we all know what works for one my not work for others and there are potential risks associated with any diet you have.

It's definitely not the first time I'm hearing a story like this but at the same time if I'm flaring and I have fewer options available to me, I'm going to try whatever I think will help. I've tried the juicing, and it works for me. I don't overdo it, I do a daily juice fast once in a blue moon but normally just substitute one meal per day for juice since I've been in remission. We do the same thing with medications. It's the risk we take when we do this stuff and hopefully it helps and not hurts or hurts less than it helps.

I really wish there was a right way and wrong way for these diets and medication issues but unfortunately that's not the case for us.
 
"Daily Mail" and "intelligent" don't deserve to be in the same sentence.

I had my first filling, at 38, and the dentist asked if I'd suddenly started drinking sugary drinks. I said "no, but I do drink lots of fruit juice and smoothies". Like most it hadn't really occurred to me that that meant lots of sugar. He advised always rinsing my mouth with water after drinking juice.
 
"Daily Mail" and "intelligent" don't deserve to be in the same sentence.

I had my first filling, at 38, and the dentist asked if I'd suddenly started drinking sugary drinks. I said "no, but I do drink lots of fruit juice and smoothies". Like most it hadn't really occurred to me that that meant lots of sugar. He advised always rinsing my mouth with water after drinking juice.
Apparently fruit juice may soon no longer count as one of the NHS's official "5 a day" fruit and veg portions because of the sugar content: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-29986012

Your experience with the dentist reminds me of problems my mum had trying to take care of our teeth when we were kids. We used to drink a lot of Diet Coke, and my mum assumed that since it was diet, it wouldn't be bad for our teeth because it didn't contain sugar. But the dentist told her the acid in Diet Coke would be just as bad for our teeth. So she stopped buying us Coke and instead bought.... orange juice. :p Then the dentist said, no, that's worse, it's got sugar and acid. She really tried to take care of our teeth. Maybe if she had young kids now she wouldn't have made mistakes because there's more information publicised about healthy eating and drinking now. I've always hated the taste of water, so after the dentist ruled out Coke and juice I mainly just drank milk or sugar-free squash.

That said, none of my siblings have had any dental problems whatsoever. I have, but due to a medical condition, not because of what I ate or drank - I've never had a filling. So maybe Coke and juice aren't always terrible for teeth.
 
I gave my older children all the juice they wanted, but when my daughter was born in 93' they told me to water it down, so she drank it 50/50 until she was school age, as did her little brother who has Crohn's. The understanding was that drinking a lot of juice killed a toddler's appetite for healthy FOOD and could make them chubby.

Only one of my children have had more than 1 cavity and he has a major sweet tooth. One has never had a cavity and the other 2 had one each, in a baby tooth.

When my son was so underweight without much of an appetite, I think organic apple juice may have saved him.

I think soda pop is the devil and I rarely allowed my children to have it. For years, my kids got to have A soda on Friday night, with their (usually) homemade pizza. :)

"Mom's a control freak" lol
 
Not a control freak - I completely understand. I think my mum was a control freak, it just wasn't at all clear what drinks needed controlling much of the time!

My sister now has a toddler, and a constant theme of conversation between her and my mum is how healthy eating for little kids has completely changed in the last 20 - 30 years. My nephew is given mainly water to drink. He had a lot of milk when younger, obviously, and still has some now but besides that he only really drinks water.

When I drink Coke when around him - yeah, I stopped listening to my dentist :p - we put it in the same category as hot tea, hot coffee and alcohol - i.e. grown-up drinks that he can't touch. I don't think my sister ever gives him juice actually. She watches his diet carefully because he did become overweight at one point, but she does it in ways that don't always make much sense to me, e.g. he has to eat oat porridge at breakfast because she doesn't want him having wheat as his only grain, which he has in bread and crackers :confused2: - I suggested cornflakes, but she insists he needs oats, so I just leave her to it, lol. But she is strict on sugar, for his weight and his teeth, and no juice and definitely no fizzy drinks!
 
I think the trouble is people like this journalist insist on lumping all juices into the same category.

An orange juice you buy in a bottle has nothing at all in common with a juice of fruits and vegetables that you do at home - they are completely different.
One has been processed to death (quite literally) there is almost none of the fresh vitamins and alive goodness left in it after they pasturise it and it is full of processed sugar that they add in afterwards.

They totally contradict them selves when they say eat whole fresh fruit and veg instead but go on to say that "according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, bugs in the fruit pose additional dangers. It cautions that all raw food can harbour pathogens that cause vomiting, diarrhoea and — in worst-case scenarios — conditions like hepatitis and even kidney failure.
While the fruit juice you buy at the supermarket has been pasteurised to prevent these problems, the stuff you make at home hasn't. Washing the fruit beforehand can help, but it’s far from a fail-safe."

So basically pasturise everything you eat !

Jason Vales answer to all this was great -

"Quick, stop whatever you’re doing, get your juicer and smash it to smithereens. For if you haven’t already heard, the news is in: junk food, it transpires, is not to blame for the obesity and health crisis – it’s apple, cucumber and broccoli juice!

I must admit I always had my suspicions. Look in the fridge of any morbidly obese person and all you’ll see is a stack of cucumber, broccoli, carrots, apples and celery all waiting to be juiced. I should have put two and two together years ago when watching programs such as ‘half tonne woman’ and ‘Britain’s fattest man’. All you see on these shows are extremely overweight people, unable to move, getting increasingly frustrated that they no longer have the energy or ability to juice their vegetables. Whenever you see any fat and sick person, you and I both know, a juicer and some vegetables will be lurking somewhere in the background. I don’t know why I haven’t seen it up until now, it seems so obvious once you look at this evidence. As we speak our National Health Service is being brought to its knees because of the sheer volume of people who are now drinking freshly extracted fruit and vegetable juices, it’s so mind-blowingly obvious I don’t know why I haven’t figured this out until now. I never once, not once, put our obesity and health crisis down to the liquid contained within fruits and vegetables and I’m questioning why I haven’t seen this until now when all the signs were there for all to see. Well, when I say I have finally seen the real cause the obesity and health crisis sweeping the nation, it wasn’t actually my astute observations at all, and I really shouldn’t take the credit, it was an extremely insightful woman, Alice Smellie, writing in yesterday’s Daily Mail who finally enabled me to see the light. Finally the cause of obesity and type 2 diabetes has surfaced and we have the Daily Mail and Alice Smellie to thank.

Now clearly I am being facetious (I’m now hoping you haven’t taken me seriously and smashed up your juicer!) but Alice Smellie was being one hundred percent serious when she wrote this double page headline..."

You can read the full rebuttal here - http://news.juicemaster.com/stop-juicing-now-health-waist-line-depend/
 
Lenny, I was only allowed a single pop on each weekend day (2 total). I never felt like I was missing much and now I rarely drink it.
 
I think the trouble is people like this journalist insist on lumping all juices into the same category.

An orange juice you buy in a bottle has nothing at all in common with a juice of fruits and vegetables that you do at home - they are completely different.
One has been processed to death (quite literally) there is almost none of the fresh vitamins and alive goodness left in it after they pasturise it and it is full of processed sugar that they add in afterwards.
I'm not sure that's true as they did distiguish shop-bought from homemade juice, and they also made the point that some juices (mainly fruit) contain more calories and sugar than others (mainly vegetables).

But, yes, I agree with the blog pointing fun at it to show how ridiculous it is to blame juice for obesity, whether juiced at home or not. I suppose the nutritionists that the Daily Mail was getting information from were pointing out that juice does contain calories and sugar, and doesn't contain fibre, because they want to discourage people from getting all their fruit and veg from low fibre juice, and stop them drinking litres of juice a day with the misconception that it contains hardly any calories. But people already know other foods are bad for them, foods that contain far more calories than juice, and it doesn't stop them eating them. Though I guess it's still better to be informed.
 
I'm on the low fiber/low residue diet and have been juicing so I can get more veggies in. I thought the bulk of the article was pretty poor. Of course, you need to watch how much fruit you use, but if you can't eat the fiber, you might as well get the juice.
 
I wondered what people's thoughts would be on this anti-juicing article. For those not familiar with the Daily Mail where it's published, it's not the most intelligent source of journalism by any means,-
Ha ha :ylol2: you have got that right. I learn more from the reader comments than I do the articles.

One week they tell you how bad juicing is, and the next they tell you how good it is. It is a terrible inaccurate scaremongering paper. But I like reading the comments.

Blaming juicing for obesity is extremely strange. Especially since many people go on juice cleanses to lose weight. There is lots of added sugar in processed bottled juice true. But real "juicing" involves putting a cucumber and some kale through a juicer and there is virtually no sugar in that.

Whilst there are certainly celebrities jumping on the bandwagon and their followers, I would hardly call juicing a fad. It has been around for at least 50 years; bit long for a mere fad.

I can make my own mind up from what benefits juicing gives me - don't need some idiotic so-called expert telling me what to think. I am an expert for me.

Juicing is the healthiest thing I have ever done for myself. And I have found it an absolute lifesaver in regards to UC flares.

On the cosmetic side of things, my teeth, hair, nails and skin are great now. Before I started juicing I looked wane, pale, sick and weak from UC. Now I look the picture of health.

I have juiced veggies every day for over five years now and never had a hygiene issue. As long as you wash your juicer after every use; there are no hygiene issues.
 
people could end up fainting from hunger if having nothing but juice for days or weeks.
After about day four the hunger ceases. Just did three weeks on a juice cleanse and was able to work and go about daily life. No hunger. No problem. No fainting. Lost a little weight around the face but not much. Mainly did it to give my digestive system a rest and a chance to heal.

People do it to lose weight yes. And of course if people stuff themselves again after the cleanse, they will regain the weight. But most sensible people use it as a kick start to a healthier lifestyle and continue on.

Most people do it to heal themselves:

http://www.superjuiceme.com/
 
Ha ha you have got that right. I learn more from the reader comments than I do the articles.
Yeah, I read it for fun, not to keep myself informed. ;)

Whilst there are certainly celebrities jumping on the bandwagon and their followers, I would hardly call juicing a fad. It has been around for at least 50 years; bit long for a mere fad.
I don't know; I think its current incarnation is a fad. Longstanding things can develop into fads.

After about day four the hunger ceases. Just did three weeks on a juice cleanse and was able to work and go about daily life. No hunger. No problem. No fainting. Lost a little weight around the face but not much. Mainly did it to give my digestive system a rest and a chance to heal.
I think many people would react differently to fasting.
 
I think many people would react differently to fasting.
Speaking to a friend who is a naturopath of 30 years standing, who over the past 20 years has guided thousands and thousands of people through successful set juice cleanses, he says:

Some people with certain diseases and health conditions should not juice cleanse (unless under strict supervision and after clearance from a health care practitioner) – for example: eating disorders, diabetics, very high or very low blood pressure and pregnancy.

For everyone else it is safe…….as long as they follow procedure and drink adequate fluids (water and juice), as recommended.

If someone stupidly goes off half-cocked not really understanding what they are doing and they fail to drink adequate fluids daily, then yes there is a possibility of passing out from dehydration. Or they may feel dizzy if they exercise or over extended themselves physically. But they won’t be hungry on a cleanse; so no chance of passing out from that.

But if you are sensible and follow set guidelines; you will be fine.

In 20 years, not one single person has passed out on him.

For home use, it is generally recommended that people start off slowly with a 1 - 5 day cleanse, and only proceed to longer periods once comfortable. But if under medical supervision; they can obviously go longer sooner.

Human nature says there will always be some moron that does the wrong thing because they did not educate themselves in the first place - otherwise most people are sensible doing something like this and will take precautions (maybe some fruit or broth on hand) to ensure a safe successful cleanse.
 

Jennifer

Adminstrator
Staff member
Location
SLO
It's important to inform your doctor if you're going on an all liquid diet. Not only can they help guide you through it but they can also help make sure you're getting adequate nutrition and they're informed about how bad your symptoms really are (if they are so bad you need to go on all liquids then your doctor needs to be aware). If you develop any symptoms of feeling lightheaded, dizzy, have headaches, feel extremely weak etc, then inform your doctor as these may be signs that you aren't getting enough nutrition or fluids. If you do develop any of these symptoms that doesn't mean that you're a moron or did anything wrong. Everyone is different and when you have IBD you're already dealing with absorption, vitamin and nutrient deficiency issues so each liquid diet will need to be tailored to the individual.
 
If you are on medication or under doctor care - then yes of course you need to. Otherwise why? In my extensive experience, doctors know jack-shit about nutrition.
Opps. Sorry! :eek: What I meant to say last night before my computer crashed was:

If you are on medication or under doctor care - then yes of course you need to. Otherwise why? In my extensive experience, doctors know jack-shit about nutrition…………………better to speak to a naturopath, holistic educator or a herbalist. These people are trained in nutrition. Most doctors are not.
 

Jennifer

Adminstrator
Staff member
Location
SLO
The majority of members on this forum are under a doctor's care and should be in order to at the very least have proper testing done. If you want to see someone else on the side for peace of mind or added guidance then that's fine. I'm not sure I understand your question other than for the sake of argument, this is a forum for those who suffer from IBD where most are under a doctor's care, hence why I said they should always inform their doctor because of the reasons I mentioned above.
 
this is a forum for those who suffer from IBD where most are under a doctor's care,
Sorry if I have upset you in any way.

But you seem to have misunderstood the intention and connotation of my post. I am certainly not trying to create an argument.

Of course, I am guessing that 99.99% on this forum are under doctors care.

I am simply suggesting that a naturopath, herbalist, nutritionist, wholefood coach or dietician, is far better equipped, better trained and more knowledgeable (than a family GP doctor), if you want to ensure you are getting excellent nutritional advice and to ensure you getting adequate nutrition whilst fasting or doing a juice detox.

I also suffer from IBD. Had UC for 15 years.

But I am not under the care of a doctor full time. And I would never seek nutritional advice from one. I have never met a doctor who is knowledgeable about such specialised things.

Certainly I would tell them what I was doing diet wise (liquid diet), but I would never rely on them for nutritional advice. Because they never learn proper nutrition at medical school. They just follow the text book food pyramid like everyone else and you really cannot follow that with C&UC

The only doctor I know of (who knows about nutrition) is a USA doctor called Dr. Joel Fuhrman, MD.

My own doctors and gastro gave me the most terrible nutritional advice when I was first diagnosed with UC. I reckon they made me worse. My condition has only improved since I sought specialized nutritional knowledge from a naturopath / herbalist / nutritionist and wholefood coach.

Again, I am so not trying to be argumentative. I am simply speaking from my own experiences over the past 15 years. And others in my UC support group tell me exactly the same.

I hope that clears up any misunderstanding.
 
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