Raw juices can be extremely healthy for anyone looking to detox their body.  However, there are some serious problems that can arise in the body if juicing is done excessively.

Although this website is geared towards the health benefits of juicing, there are some warnings everyone should be made aware before juicing.  With that said, juicing can be excellent for overall health if done correctly and responsibly.  If you’re interested in purchasing a juicer, we highly recommend you visit our buyers guide and comparison page.

Unfortunately, there are individuals who promote living on raw juices only and to embark on extremely long juice fast.  We do not recommend either of those two and believe juicing should be done in combination with a whole foods diet.

There are several misconceptions about juicing that need to be discussed in order to inform those thinking about juicing regularly.  Don’t take this the wrong way; juicing is amazing for those coming from a standard American diet.  However, those who are already healthy and detox regularly can overdo it with too much juicing. 

As a result, this can have negative side effects on the body.

Raw Juice Deficient in Vitamins and EFA

It’s important to understand that juicing does not build the body.  In fact, if you were to juice fast for several weeks your body would start eating away at itself and you would eventually waste away.  This is because raw juices do not contain the necessary materials needed to build and maintain the body.

It’s for this reason that we do not recommend juice fasting or excess consumption of raw juices.  Raw juices lack in several vitamins and fatty acids that are essential for survival and can only be found in animal foods.  Below is a small list of vitamins and essential fatty acids that raw juices do not contain.

• DHEA and EPA
• Vitamin B12
• Vitamin D
• Cholesterol
• Vitamin K2
• Vitamin A (preformed)

These vitamins and fatty acids are essential for the human body and deficiencies in any of these nutrients can lead to serious health consequences.  The fact that no vegetable or fruit contains B12 should be enough to cause you to follow a balanced whole foods diet.  B12 deficiencies are serious and can lead to extreme nervous system dysfunction and dysregulation (1).  It’s been that individuals will enter a state of psychosis when long term B12 deficiency occurs.

Raw Juices Do Not Build The Body

Many are under the misconception that juicing regularly can help build muscle and maintain the body.  This is completely false.  Raw juices are cleansers and do not build or maintain the body in any way.  They essentially clear waste and debris from the body so that the body can operate more efficiently.

With that said, a balanced whole foods diet must be followed while juicing.  This means consuming a balance between both animal and plant foods.  Those who attempt to live off primarily raw juices, raw fruits, and raw vegetables will eventually run into serious health problems.

The human body is omnivorous.  It does not do well under any type of extreme diet.  It’s for this reason that juicing needs to be used as a tool and not looked upon as the answer to all health problems.

Also, raw juices are severely deficient in adequate amounts of protein that are needed for regeneration and repair of the body.  Numerous studies show immense health benefits from consuming adequate amounts of protein daily (2).  Both plant protein and animal protein should be consumed since both are required by the body for optimal health. 

Vegan Diet for Perfect Health?

Since juicing is heavily tied to veganism, many are under the impression that they should be following a vegan diet while juicing.  However, this is not true.  In fact, we believe a Weston A. Price type of eating plan is best for overall health.

Many vegans claim that every nutrient that is required for the human body can be obtained on a vegan diet.  Unfortunately, as mentioned before, there are several fatty acids and vitamins that do not occur in the plant kingdom; Vitamin B12 being the most obvious.

With that said, many vegans will claim that the body can convert plant versions of vitamins and EFA into usable forms by the body.  The most common claim is that ALA can be converted into the two essential fatty acids EPA and DHA in the body.  Also, many will claim that beta-carotene can be converted into Vitamin A.

Unfortunately, studies show that most adults cannot make this conversion and less than 5% actually gets converted into the usable form by the body (3).

This is why most vegans feel amazing in the beginning but start to slowly decline.  They essentially run off the stored vitamins in their body while the body cleanses itself.  However, overtime, they begin to run out of these stored vitamins and health problems begin to arise.  A good analogy is to think of a bank account; if you continue to withdraw from a bank account without putting money back in, you will eventually run into problems!

To put it simply, vegan diets cleanse the body, they do not build.  Short term they may work out for some, but overtime health problems can arise.

Juicing and Digestion

As mentioned before, juicing is excellent for anyone coming from a standard American Diet.  This is because raw juices will quickly unload waste and build up in the body and cleanse the digestive tract extremely well.  This is extremely beneficial as it will quickly boost the overall health of the individual once this toxic waste is removed.

However, for those already healthy and who follow a natural whole foods diet, juicing may be counterproductive.  This is because raw juices can negatively alter digestion if the body is already healthy.  When an individual is already healthy and consumes excessive amounts of raw juices, digestive fire can be dampened.  Raw juices naturally dampen the digestive system and induce cleansing. 

Unfortunately, this can have negative side effects on digestion and can lead to loss of appetite and weakened digestive fire.

Don’t take this the wrong way, raw juices are great, but if you’re already healthy one raw juice a day plenty. 

Juicing too Many Fruits

Another issue with juicing is the practice of juicing too many sweet fruits.  Not only will this cause unwanted blood sugar spikes in the body, but it can also feed pathogenic yeast, fungi, and bacteria in the gut.  Juicing removes fiber from fruits and vegetables.  As a result, this can cause huge spikes in glucose levels if too many fruits are juiced.

70% of all juices need to contain dark leafy greens.  The other 30% should contain herbs and fruits.  This will help stop unwanted blood sugar spikes in the body.  If you juice daily, don’t fall into the trap of juicing too many fruits.  This can lead to poor health in the long run.

Luckily, our Juice Me Better Juicing Recipe Book contains the perfect ratio of greens, herbs, and fruits in each recipe!

So is Juicing Good?

Yes, juicing is good.  However, depending where you’re at health wise, you may need more or less raw juice.  If you’re already healthy and notice that your digestion is suffering from juicing then you need to cut down on the amount of raw juices you consume.

However, the cleansing effect that raw juices have on the digestive system can be extremely beneficial for those coming from a standard American diet.  It helps remove years of toxic debris and waste that can contribute to health problems.

Once your body is healthy, the amount of raw juices your body needs will likely lower.  With that being said, if you like raw juices and don’t suffer from any negative digestive problems then by all means consume them.

To wrap this up, moderation is good and listening to your body is essential.  Juicing is an amazing tool that can do wonders for overall health.  But, there is such thing as too much of a good thing.  Just be sure to use raw juices wisely and remember that there are essential nutrients missing in fruits and vegetables.  As a result, juicing should always be done in tandem with balanced whole foods diet.