In today’s society, being considered “skinny” is a huge issue; size 0 is the new size 2.  The average girl strives for an unrealistic supermodel body and will take any chance to obtain the figure she envisions.  Some of the hottest trends on the market today are juice cleanses.  This new craze is a system in which an individual consumes only fruit or vegetable juices for an allotted period of time in the hopes of detoxifying the body of harmful elements.  However, this new fad does more harm than good.  There is no need for a juice cleanse because the body has built-in systems to rid the body of unwanted substances.  Additionally, these cleanses are depleting the body of important nutrients that are provided by other foods.  Furthermore, “cleansing” has little nutritional value, and the high price to pay of products also makes the process very impractical.

The body is built in a specific way to rid itself of any harmful or unnecessary substances.  Unless an organ is malfunctioning, the body can sustain itself through the processes of the kidneys and other vital organs.  According to www.mainenephrology.com, the kidney’s main function is to clean waste material from the blood.  Juice cleanses promote a detox process, but this is extremely unnecessary when, in the grand scheme of things, the body will do the job sufficiently without help from foreign and waste substances.

“From all I have seen, people who do juice cleanses do not have good results,” said senior Monica Fuster.  “I think that there are more effective ways for people to be healthy.”

Restricting one’s diet to solely fruit and vegetable juices gets rid of vital nutrients that other foods supply.  Fiber is an important part of one’s diet and is not included in the juices.  When the juices are being extracted from the fruits, all the pulp is separated from the liquid.  The pulp is the part of the fruit that has fiber in it, and, without a sufficient supply of fiber, one can develop serious digestive issues.  In addition to detoxifying the body of any harmful substances, juice cleanses are also used for rapid weight loss.  While drinking only fruits and vegetables seems like a sure way to drop sizes, the amount of calories in the juices is not helpful in achieving that goal.  Fruits contain a fairly significant amount of calories and the juices do not aid in weight loss.  The only way to really receive the benefit of low calories from the juices would be to have solely vegetable juice, but often times the juices are only fruit or mostly fruit-based because the vegetable taste is unappealing to most.

The idea of joining the juice cleanse phenomenon is attractive to those looking to lose weight, but starting the process is an expensive feat.  Generally juices for the cleanse cost between $65 and $80 per day.  If one opts to make the juices him or herself, an effective juicer costs between $50 and $400, plus the costs of the fresh fruits and vegetables.  Most people do not have that kind of money for necessities, let alone for juice.

The juice cleanse craze gives hope to those who are searching for an easy way to lose weight.  Cleansing seems promising, but in reality the process is detrimental to one’s health.  While the process appears simple, the results are not spectacular.  If a person eats a balanced diet and exercises regularly, they can maintain a healthy lifestyle.