Is A Juice Fast A Good Way to “Jump Start” Weight Loss?

 

Is a ‘juice fast’ a good way to ‘jump start’ your metabolism if you’re going Paleo for weight loss reasons?

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but no, it’s not.

Why?

First of all, depending on what type of juice we’re talking about, this type of approach can be any or all of the following:

• Too high in sugar (for those juices that are mainly fruit)
• Too low in calories (if it’s all veggie juice)
• Conducive to functioning on an insulin-response based (fat sparing- as in- hang on to the fat/burn the carbs) metabolism; the opposite of what anyone trying to lose weight would want.
• Not balanced in terms of Paleo macro nutrient ratio (Paleo is at least 40 – 50% complex carbs from veggies and fruit with the remaining 50 – 60% divided equally between protein and fat). Juice, veggie and fruit, is almost completely carbohydrate and has little to no protein or fat.
• Too low in fiber. When we juice, we remove almost all traces of dietary fiber.
• Unbalanced in terms of vitamins and minerals.  Just as we want balance in our macro nutrients, they’re equally as important to have in our micros.   Eating wild proteins and natural fats with our veggies provides this perfect balance; juices do not.

You may have tried juice fasting before and noticed the weight fall off, initially, then see it stop and gradually you returned to your old eating habits after growing frustrated on top of being too hungry.

Best answer?

Go Paleo and be patient.   It will take longer to shed weight compared to any quick-fix approach, but in the realm of weight loss, slow but steady is really the only way to win the game, once and for all.

And what about adding cayenne pepper to boost your metabolism, or a sprinkling of dehydrated, green super food?

Not happening.  Any thermogenic result from eating spicy food or vitamins supplied from green powder are still not nearly enough to compensate for simply eating the proper portion of real, whole food.