Billed as quick-fix diets but are juice cleanses safe?

Samica Knight Image
Wednesday, February 21, 2018
Juice cleanse
They're all the rage but are juice cleanses really good for you? A doctor weighs in with some warnings.

From the cabbage soup diet to the lemon tea detox: The liquid diet, liquid fast, liquid cleanse, whichever you'd like to call it, is all the rage.

People are trying them as a boost for weight loss. Amy Quinn and her husband used it as a jumpstart to a healthy lifestyle.

"It was more of an experiment. Nothing for long term. Just a reboot. Let's get back to the basics and see how we can manage hunger pains," said Quinn.

They tried the "squeeze online" 30 day liquid cleanse.

"The juices we used they laid it out for you. Each bottle was labeled A - E that was your breakfast, your snack, so there was no guesswork," explained Quinn.

After one week, Amy lost four pounds and her husband lost 10 pounds.

RELATED: The doctor is in: Here's what you can do for better health

But are liquid diets healthy?

"There are certain liquid diets that have very few nutrients to them. Ones that are based on things like tea and lemon juice, those sort of things where maybe there's not much in the way of proteins, carbohydrates or fats which we all need to be healthy," said Kelsey Seybold Clinic physician Dr. Patrick Carter.

Dr. Carter said it's important to make sure you're getting all of your vitamins and nutrients and that you don't stay on the liquid diet too long.

"You don't want to be too extreme and you don't want to stretch them out to the point where you get malnourished. Some of these are what I call extreme liquid diets that are not particularly good for your health," said Dr. Carter.

Dr. Carter also warns that if you have any medical issues or if you are on medications you need to be very careful about using a liquid diet for any great length of time.

"I'll put it this way, if a diet or product is promising that you'll lose say five pounds in three days, it is primary water that you're losing," said Dr. Carter.

RELATED: Keep it simple: Easy juicing recipes you can make at home

Here are easy-to-follow recipes if you're ready to try juicing.

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