Liquid Diets
Liquid diets can be used for a couple of different things; including detox, weight loss, and fasting for blood or cholesterol tests. When it comes to weight loss though, liquid diets typically help people lose fluid from their body and not fat but fluid, if there is a lot in the body, will cause people to put on some weight because of bloating. When a person goes on a liquid diet he or she will be replacing every single meal of the day with a drink. From a nutrition standpoint this provides the body almost no protein, fat, and very few calories. Vegetable and fruit juices do provide the body with vitamins, minerals, and cancer fighting phytochemicals.
Doctors and other medical experts recommend that liquid diets should not be used solely for a way to lose weight. Doctors feel that it is better for the patient to eat the entire fruit or vegetable whole in order to gain the fiber from these items. The person’s body will also gain increased metabolism because he or she digested the entire piece of food. There are liquid diets that patients can go on for weight loss but they are medically supervised and are highly expensive. They are called Medifast and OPTIFAST. These types of liquid diets will cause quick weight loss but cannot be sustained as a lifestyle over a lengthy period of time.
In an ideal world liquid diets should contain all of the nutrients that the body needs on a daily basis but this isn’t always the case. Liquid diets, which are very low calories diets, typically have anywhere from 400-800 calories per day. When the body doesn’t get enough calories per day the patient can suffer from fatigue, dizziness, hair loss, gallstones, cold intolerance, electrolyte imbalance and possibly heart damage. Not eating whole fruits in a diet can lead to severe constipation and other digestive complications.
One of the most popular liquid diets being used today is called the Master Cleanse Liquid Diet. This diet calls for the intake of 600-1,300 calories per day by the person using the diet and it consists of a strict 14-day consumption of lemon juice, water, maple syrup can cayenne pepper concocted together. If people do go on liquid diets they will more than likely be able to lose around two pounds per day, the majority of which will be in fluids. One of the most extreme liquid diets is to drink only water for a period of one week. This has to be plain water, with no flavoring. This will help the dieter lose a quick 15 pounds but will prevent the body from acquiring the necessary vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients needed to sustain a healthy lifestyle.
Doctors and other medical professionals recommend to only use liquid diets when supervised by a physician and for no longer than one or two weeks at a time. These diets are considered remedies and are only effective for short-term weight loss plans. They cannot be used as substitutes for proper diet and nutrition.
