Obesity is one of the major problems people struggle with in the present day. A total of 34 million Americans are believed to be obese and out of every three Americans one is struggling with obesity. Losing obesity comes with a lot of sacrifice and investment such as change of diet and exercise programs. In the present day, liquid diets have considerably been modified thereby leading to its popularity in the nutrition market (Ketchiff, p 1). The dieters have welcome the alternative willingly and its sales has increased overtime in the drug stores. This paper therefore discusses the liquid diet and determine if it is good for the human body.
The liquid diet comes with some advantages to those using them, To begin with, it rests the stomach. People using acid suppressing medication and the older people producing low levels of acid making the stomach spend less time working to extract nutrients are likely to be of big benefit. The Juices need less amount of stomach digestive juices.
Moreover, the liquid diet also helps in providing rest and repairing the gut. People take a lot of foods such as saturated fats, foods with additives and allergenic foods that pose danger to the intestines. Antibiotic medications and stress are also likely to affect the functioning of the intestines. Moreover, there can also be imbalance of the microbiome gut and the breakage of the intestines that allow substances in the bodies (Ketchiff, p 1). Taking the liquid diet helps in effectively in repairing the condition of the intestines. Ingesting a liquid diet rich in phytonutrient and dense rainbow based plant juice allows the food to be easily assimilated in the intestine thereby consuming less energy while nutrient rich and toxin-free food helps with the repair of the gut (Ketchiff, p 1).
The liquid diet helps the liver rest. All types of food ingested pass through the liver for detoxification before they are allowed to move to the rest of the body. The challenge in this case is that there is a high number of toxins that the liver cannot handle at a go. As a result, quite a number pass without being properly checked ending up posing danger to the cells. The liquid diet helps in cleansing the rest of the overload the liver has (Ketchiff, p 1).
Moreover, being on a liquid diet helps in the management of one’s appetite. It helps with the reduction of the habit of eating continuously making one feel satiated even if he or she consumes less quantity of food in comparison to the quantity one usually takes. As a result one ends up having a boost in the psychological ability thereby helping one get over the challenge of changing behavior.
Being on a liquid diet helps in easing decision making. It focuses on consumption of fresh food produce every hour and overtime reduces chances of thinking enslavement on what the next meal would be. In most instances, people do not feel they are sated but they are capable of managing their addictions to harmful foods thus the liquid diet is effective in this case.
The diet also helps in eliminating harmful foods as it cleanses and eliminate the gluten, dairy and fermented foods in the diet. Most elderly patients are insensitive to wheat products. Stopping taking these kinds of foods and later on repeating the same after taking up the liquid diet will show clearly the kind of impact the meals have on the body in comparison to the liquid diet.
The liquid diet also gives the body a lot of nutrition. An all-produce diet helps in the provision of minerals and vitamins as well as the phytonutrients that help with cleaning and healing process. The liquid diet in most cases is made up of the natural raw foods and the retention of nutrients that are likely to be destroyed through cooking including vitamin B and the enzymes.
The liquid diet is also an effective solution for losing weight. The moment an individual feels better and has a lot of energy, they also end up losing weight. In this instance, a number of them are water bloat and some is in form of fat. Cleanse provided by liquid diet helps in starting a diet. It controls the cravings and appetite mostly in lower calories and supplies the body with more energizing and healing nutrients than before.
Liquid diet increases energy. After the adjustment on the first day, a number of people start feeling more energy as well as clarity than was done with the frequent drinking of caffeine. In addition, the liquid diet helps in rehydrating the body since a number of people do not maintain the recommended number of glasses of water and spend a lot of time taking either coffee or tea. The body gets to function efficiently when there is continuous drinking of fluids sufficiently thus making the body function efficiently and helping ensuring elimination of the toxins (Eating Well, p 1).
The liquid diet also helps with the reduction of physical problems. An individual starts feeling better due to the management of chronic illnesses that include rashes, headache, congested chest, bloating and general aches. Most times the body ends up fighting things people do to it, especially food, sleep and stress. Taking a rest and providing the body with the relevant nutrients will help in meeting the need for flooding the body with nutrients.
The liquid diet also aids in complete detoxification whereby there is need for a range of plant-supplied nutrients such as anti-inflammatories and antioxidants. Through the provision of the body with the nutrient dense foods allowing the body resources it needs for supporting various phases of detoxification to help with removal of the accumulated toxins within the body. There is a high number of chemicals running through the veins of people in America courtesy of the medication taken. Some of the chemicals even spread to the newborn children (Eating Well, p 1).
Moreover, the liquid diet taken helps in healing the cells whereby the plant-based diets allows the cells to continue working optimally for the purpose of re-establishing good internal manufacturing and messaging processes. The processes allow the mitochondria to create energy without the need for fighting inflammations and the free radicals as well as inflammation thereby reducing a number of impediments for proper functioning of the DNA (Hopkins, p 1).
In as much as the liquid diets are meant to help in losing body weight and even cleansing the body, there are a number of dangers that the liquid diet exposes people to. To begin with most cleansers do not have protein at all or have very small quantity if there is need for any. In order to maintain a good immune system, there is need for a good protein supply that help in maintaining immune cells after an exercise (Eating Well, p 1).
The vegetables and proteins have little amounts of protein although the prepackaged juices are likely to include milk beverage, almond of cashew as a daily drink providing protein fats. The consumption of vegetable and fruit juices may not harm a healthy person but an individual is likely to end up sick because the liquid diets lack protein (Dewitt, p 4).
The elderly people are likely to be in danger due to susceptibility to infections in the event of attempting to use the liquid diet because their protein stores considerably decline with age: The older one gets, the lower the protein stores. Moreover, juice and vegetables lack the required number of fiber. Eating low fiber food is likely to make one hungry. Fiber is perfect for making one feel satisfied and full (Dewitt, p 4).
In as much as the fruits and vegetable juices are likely to provide similar vitamin as well as the vegetables and fruits, there is likelihood of losing a lot of fiber that provides a number of important functions. The water-soluble fiber is likely to any low-density lipoprotein that can be effective in the prevention of high levels of cholesterol. Fiber also helps in digestion through pushing wastes from the intestines to prevent chances of constipation (Hopkins, p 1). The reduction of fiber intake leads to digestion problems that are continuously increasing the high levels of risks.
The liquid diets also lacks calories, a good component for energy production in the body. The daily calories an individual can take ranges between 800 to 1200 calories. In the event the calorie intake is low as a result of the use of cleanse or different regimen, the body could end up getting starved. It will try to conserve calories through slow metabolism since it is not sure of when it will get fed (Merrel, p 1).
Having a juice cleanse reduces calories in an individual’s diet and is likely to aid in weight loss. On the other hand, if people avoid favorite foods for some time, they are likely to reward themselves later and even consume more. The pounds lost during the cleanse process are mainly water weight and they are likely to be gained when the usual eating habit is repeated thus liquid diet is ineffective.
The use of liquid diet comes with a lot of side effects that include fatigue, headache, moodiness, hunger and even difficulty in thinking. There are also frequent visits to the toilet. One of the ingredients, cayenne powder is likely to irritate the colon area making the liquid diet completely uncomfortable for consumption. Other side effects include diarrhea, dizziness and even white tongue.
The liquid diet is not safe for the people ailing from diabetes since the intake of the fluids will interfere with the regulation of insulin activity due to sugar imbalance. The increase or decline in the level of sugar is likely to deprive the body of the amount of energy for its operation. The breastfeeding or pregnant women, as well as those with weak immune systems are also supposed to avoid the use of juice cleanses (Merrel, p 1).
Liquid diet also poses a lot of danger since the juice is unpasteurized or do not have another treatment for removing bacteria thereby putting them at a high risk of illness. It is true for the young and elder people and those with weak systems. If the liquid diet contains laxatives or other methods used for bowel stimulation, a person is likely to lose a lot of nutrients through their stool thus leading to dehydration (Jeffrey & Cresci, p 3). Taking high amount of calories is likely to make a person develop symptoms similar to the low blood sugar levels because the body lacks enough energy. Some of the symptoms include weakness, dehydration, hunger and headaches.
The liquid diets miss the mark when it is claimed that the carbohydrates are bad. Carbohydrates such as the wholegrain and the whole-wheat bread, bran and oats are very important in people’s diet. The carbohydrates are important in the provision of energy for the body and maintain a steady flow of the blood sugar levels that help in the prevention of conditions such as diabetes 2. The liquid diets are likely to deny the body energy it requires for maintaining the physical activities that may be dangerous to the heart (Jeffrey & Cresci, p 3). Complete elimination of the carbohydrates leads to the cause of fatigue, low blood sugar levels and even dizziness.
Malnutrition is also a likely result of over-reliance on the liquid diet as it is likely to reduce the chances the intake of calories and various nutrients the body needs for maintain proper function of the immune system. The cases of malnutrition can result in gallbladder infections and result in abnormal heart rhythms. There are a number of side effects that people can expect when undergoing fasting thereby leaving an individual completely malnourished, a situation visible through being sensitive to a cold, weak nails, fatigue and even digestive problems including constipation and diarrhea (Jeffrey & Cresci, p 3).
The liquid diet also reduce the amount of protein required the body requires. A low intake of protein is likely to lead to muscle loss thereby weakening the heart as well as other respiratory systems and weaken the immune system thus exposure to diseases.
In conclusion, the liquid diet issue needs to be approached with a lot of caution. It is not meant for everyone due to differences in all that a physician may recommend. The physicians recommend the diet could be taken for a certain period of time and it is meant to help heal a particular condition and they do not encourage them to completely forego eating food. The craze with which some people have adopted the liquid diet and used them to completely replace the normal meals is a worrying trend that affects the amount of calorie intake within the body. If anyone needs to take the liquid diet, then they should do so in moderation to avoid the chances of depriving the body of the various resources it requires to function effectively.
Works Cited
Dewitt, Tara Marie. "An Exploratory Study: Clinical Dietitians Do Not View the Full Liquid Diet as Best Practice for the Post-operative Patient." Journal of Nutrition & Food Sciences (2015): 5.
Hopkins, Melissa. Livestrong corporation. 10 March 2017. 12 December 2019.
Ketchiff, Mirel. 50lbs in 61 Days: New No-Exercise ‘Skinny Pill’ Melts Belly Fat. Why Every Judge On Shark Tank Backed This Product! New York: SHAPE MAGAZINE, 2019.
KM Jeffrey, Gail Cresci. "The clear liquid diet is no longer a necessity in the routine postoperative management of surgical patients." Research Gate (2002): 5.
Merrel, Woodson. Huffpost Corporation. 14 February 2016. 12 December 2019.
Well, Eating. What Is a Liquid Diet and Is It Healthy? New York: Eating Well, 2019.
