Q: What are your thoughts on doing a liquid cleanse diet?
A: I’m a fan of a cleanse diet. However, I’m not a fan of a liquid cleanse diet.
It’s hard to feel empowered when you’re drinking your breakfast. And your lunch. And your snacks. And your dinner. . . I need to chew. You?
I prefer a real food cleanse diet.
I believe in eating whole foods to fuel and energize your body. Eating proper portions of fiber rich, high antioxidant foods such as fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, legumes, and also eating lean protein and healthy fat, will give you the results you want for your health and weight for the long term.
You don’t need to go to the extreme of liquid cleansing to achieve this.
Yep, as boring as it may sound, eating healthy foods as part of an overall balanced diet is the best way to lose weight and keep it off.
4 benefits from a real food cleanse diet for a few days include
- Ridding your body of toxins like pollution, pesticides, chemicals and additives (your body does this all the time thanks to detox organs like your liver and kidneys, but cleansing may take it up a notch)
- Reinvigorating your body and reducing inflammation by fueling up with vitamins and minerals
- Reducing bloat and quick loss of water weight
- Giving yourself an opportunity to mentally have a starting point to taking your nutrition up a notch and laying the foundation (or framework) for long term behaviors
Now, there are exceptions to every rule. I may green light a liquid cleanse for a specific situation or condition such as an individual needing to recover from GI distress. Sometimes bowel rest can be helpful to get a client back on a healthy track.
Very infrequently I may have a client who needs something extreme to break a cycle and get to a new starting point on a healthy diet and a food cleanse isn’t an option because they’re overwhelmed by the prep (simple as it may be) or really resistant to alternatives.
But, 99% of the time I recommend a whole, real solid food cleanse, not a liquid cleanse.
Here are 4 reasons why I don’t like a liquid cleanse diet:
- Likely you’ll be very hungry and feel grumpy
- It often leads to yo yo dieting because you’ll probably gain weight (and likely more back) immediately following
- It’s difficult to stick to if family meals are part of your life and/or you dine out
- You won’t have the energy to exercise
Steer clear of liquid cleansing. If you want to take your healthy diet up a notch and give yourself a nutrition boost and weight loss push, try one of my real food cleanses!
