The diet you should avoid at all costs

With summer well on it's way, it's tempting to try some crazy new diet to get that body, beach ready. While a healthy diet and regular exercise is the best way to have you looking and feeling your best, it's obviously easier said than done, which is why a lot of people turn to so called 'cleanses.'

Juice cleanses are everywhere now days. In fact, it's estimated that cold-pressed juice companies, raked in almost half a billion dollars last year.

Juice cleanses are a bit vague on the details of how juicing will help you achieve the "energising, clarifying, and brightening effect" that it promises. The podcast 'Science Vs' couldn't find any evidence to suggest that putting food in a juicer could help you get rid of toxins.

So what about the weight loss?

Putting something in a juicer doesn't necessarily make it healthy. Juices can have a lot of calories and a lot of sugar. It all depends on their ingredients. One "green juice" that the pocast tested had almost half the sugar found in a can of Coke. It's not added sugar, it's naturally found in fruit, but it's still energy.

All this sugar is part of the reason why two researchers recently wrote in the Lancet that pure unsweetened juice should be characterised as "sugary drinks", just like sodas.

Juices also often lack fibre, says Professor Stella Volpe at Drexel University in Philadelphia. "Our bodies don't digest fibre, instead it creates this 'bulk' in our intestines, that might trigger feelings of us being full." 

Still, for those who are desperate to detox, science has some great news for you. We are already detoxing on a daily basis. Our kidneys are efficiently sifting through blood for potential toxins to pee out, and part of the liver's job is to take toxic substances and convert them into something harmless. No expensive juicing required.

This article was first published on nzherald.co.nz and is republished here with permission.