{"id":4097,"date":"2010-10-29T22:13:09","date_gmt":"2010-10-29T20:13:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.ultimatefatburner.com\/?p=4097"},"modified":"2015-02-15T09:34:23","modified_gmt":"2015-02-15T14:34:23","slug":"nyt-a-strange-green-journey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ultimatefatburner.com\/ufb-blog\/nyt-a-strange-green-journey\/","title":{"rendered":"NYT: “A Strange Green Journey”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Although it’s an “n = 1” record, it’s refreshing to see a healthy dose of skepticism applied\u00a0to the BS “detox” claims made by proponents of juice cleanses… and in the “Fashion & Style” section of the New York Times, no less<\/a>.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re going to have liquids, said Dr. Colbert, a staunch believer in unprocessed foods, there is certainly good to be had from eating fresh vegetables and fruits and nuts pulverized into liquid. \u201cBut most people aren\u2019t Einsteins,\u201d he added. \u201cOften their idea of a juice fast is having nothing but orange juice or apple juice for a week. In which case, you might as well call it the Toblerone diet, because that\u2019s how much sugar you\u2019re pouring into your system.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is pretty much what I did. And it\u2019s dumb. \u201cMany people are undiagnosed diabetics, and these cleanses can cause spikes and crashes in blood sugar levels that could be quite dangerous,\u201d said Nancy Kalish, a certified health coach in Brooklyn who advises clients against juice cleanses. \u201cIn addition, even if you have nothing wrong with you, this kind of cleansing puts a lot of stress on your body. Your body wants and expects food. And as with most crash diets, which is really what this is, your body thinks it\u2019s starving. It doesn\u2019t know it\u2019s going to get more food. So it lowers your metabolism, and if you do this enough, it can lower your metabolism permanently.\u201d<\/p>\n

Moreover, many doctors see juice fasting as just another form of American extremism \u2014 as Dr. Colbert put it, \u201csomewhere between religiosity and craziness.\u201d<\/p>\n

Marianne Gillow, a psychiatrist in private practice in Manhattan who consults for, among others, the Fashion Institute of Technology, sees a lot of patients with unresolved food issues. \u201cMy biggest concern about juice cleanses is that they fuel obsessive thinking,\u201d she said. \u201cPeople who have trouble managing their weight tend to be all or nothing about things. Cleansing doesn\u2019t allow you to make peace with real food.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dr. Gillow recalled one recent client who was \u201csomewhat prone to magical thinking.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cShe had a fantasy that juicing would rescue her from her overeating \u2014 and the underlying neediness,\u201d she added. \u201cSo she juices intensely, loses 20 pounds, goes on a vegan diet for the next three months, breaks down, and resumes her romance with cheese fries. The weight quickly piles back on.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

BINGO! The key words\/phrases are “all or nothing;” “obsessive thinking;” and “religiosity.” And that’s what these regimes are all about – there’s zilch science behind them<\/a>. I’m still waiting for the day when a proponent of these\u00a0products actually identifies\u00a0the so-called\u00a0“toxins”\u00a0that are\u00a0eliminated, and coughs up some credible data to prove it.<\/p>\n

Bottom line: when you quit eating crap for a while, you’re bound to feel better. But it’s not necessary to starve yourself to accomplish this.\u00a0 Skip the goofy (and expensive!) cleansing\/detox products, and just follow Dr. Colbert’s advice above. Your body will thank you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Although it’s an “n = 1” record, it’s refreshing to see a healthy dose of skepticism applied\u00a0to the BS “detox” claims made by proponents of juice cleanses… and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[7,14,28],"tags":[383,1850],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ultimatefatburner.com\/ufb-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4097"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ultimatefatburner.com\/ufb-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ultimatefatburner.com\/ufb-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ultimatefatburner.com\/ufb-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ultimatefatburner.com\/ufb-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4097"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.ultimatefatburner.com\/ufb-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4097\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9224,"href":"https:\/\/www.ultimatefatburner.com\/ufb-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4097\/revisions\/9224"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ultimatefatburner.com\/ufb-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4097"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ultimatefatburner.com\/ufb-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4097"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ultimatefatburner.com\/ufb-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4097"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}