Is Cleansing and Juice Fasting good for you?

That time of year is here.  It’s the holidays! …which may also means that the guilt of over-indulgence is rapidly approaching.  Then the story begins. "The holidays bring sugar cookies, stuffing and pumpkin pie, and all this Harry Potter-like magic that compels me to put these holiday foods in my mouth! This magic has banished my sense of reasoning and willpower."

The over-indulgence means that soon it will be time to "make-up" for all the holiday food that has held a hypnotic sway over us for six weeks.

Overwhelmed with guilt, many of us resort to… Cleansing.  Just say NO. Consider this your intervention.  And if you don’t believe me, I borrowed some key points from the WSJ as to why you shouldn't buy into the "Cleansing" hype.

Here is the explanation of juicing by one ex­pert, Linda Lee, di­rec­tor of the Johns Hop­kins In­te­gra-tive Med­i­cine and Di­ges­tive Cen­ter in Mary­land. “The term ‘cleanse’ is a mar­ket­ing tool, and any claims of its ben­e­fits aren't ev­i­dence-based at this time.” Dr. Lee goes on to say that no sci­en­tific stud­ies have proven that a juice diet or food-cleanse re­moves tox­ins from the body.

Wait. Can't you lose weight on a cleanse?  Here is the science behind the "magic.” It's called the "Laxative Effect!” Since you are not eating the juices you drink goes right to the large intestine, where it gets fermented by your gut bacteria, which can result in a laxative effect, that of course can aid in weight loss much like food poisoning could help you lose weight.

Dr.Lee says, “I have a lot of pa­tients who say they feel bet­ter be­cause they are to­tally empty,” and you're prob­a­bly running on fumes. 

And, she adds, af­ter a few days of caloric re­stric­tion, which likely re­sults in de­hy­dra­tion since much of the body’s wa­ter in­take comes from food sources, a per­son prob­a­bly won’t be at op­ti­mal health. You can also be­come nu­tri­ent de­fi­cient.

Dr.Lee's advice echos my advice, stick to a healthy diet and make bet­ter choices, she says, and there will be no need for a star­va­tion cleanse that could cause more harm than good.  I would be more mindful about eating more vegetables and cutting back on sugar and white flour foods.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/do-cleanses-really-work-1418064817

Is there any science behind the magic of juice fasting and cleansing? RoyAlexanderFitness.com shares Dr.Lee's expert advice as it appeared in the Wall Street Journal.