Diet and weight loss is not a topic that Americans take lightly. Every year, Americans spend over sixty billion dollars on weight loss supplements, programs, and diets. However, people are now moving away from the tedious calorie-counting and more towards ‘natural’ options, like 21-day juice cleanses and meal replacement protein shakes. Most people know that to eat a balanced diet is key to being healthy, but is fueling your body with only juice for a set amount of days really healthy? Is replacing an entire meal with a simple protein drink really beneficial for your body? Or are these weight loss techniques actually depriving your body of the nutrients you need in order to function on a daily basis, therefore making your lose weight in an unhealthy manner?
The key to losing weight is to expend more calories than you take in. If a person eats a lot of high-calorie foods, yet exercises extremely rigorously, they still may be able to obtain a healthy weight. The same idea goes for the other side of the spectrum. If a person rarely exercises, yet only consumes very little calories, they still will lose weight even with the little amount of exercise. However, this side of the spectrum is where things begin to turn from healthy weight loss into starving your body.
Many people believe the common myth that calories are harmful for the body. However, your body could not function without them. About 20% of your caloric intake heads straight to your brain to fuel the vital neuron impulses that carry out important functions ranging from your thoughts and memories to your breathing and heartrate. Purposely giving your body fewer calories than it requires is putting your health in jeopardy. Replacing meals or surviving solely on juice for many weeks is a good way to cut out vital calories and put your health at stake.
Meal replacements and juice cleanses also don’t offer the full range of nutrients your body craves. Perhaps the biggest nutrient left out is healthy fats, which are unsaturated and include Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids. When people hear the word fat, they think of it as unhealthy. However, healthy fats are vital in our diets just as much as proteins and vitamins. They support our metabolism, boost immunity, help with hormone production, and are crucial for the absorption of vitamin A and D. Again, to rid your body of such nutrients is put your health on the line. Meal replacements are mostly sugar and powdered protein, and juice cleanses are mostly sugar and plant fiber. To survive solely on these two things is to deprive your body of the wide range of nutrients it needs.
“Protein shakes shouldn’t be a replacement for a meal,” says senior Maddux Snook, who admits he drinks them. “They’re called a supplement for a reason.”
“These are not only some of the worst decisions for your body, but also for your mind,” says senior Courtney Chandler, who opens up an interesting perspective. “You’re losing out on a calm time where you can focus on enjoying the food you’re eating and talking with the people around you.” In other words, juice cleanses and diet fads rid you of the family dinner type feel that goes along with eating. For most people, that time out of the day is very important.
In the end, that 21-day juice cleanse you saw on Twitter is most likely just a hoax. Obviously, juice smoothies and protein shakes are perfectly fine in moderation, but to make those items your primary source of caloric intake is dangerous, as it is to do so with any food item. So be careful of what you put into your body, and always make sure it is healthy and well-balanced.
