The Riot Act™

I was on Facebook and reading some comments made about juicing. Now, I don't think it's for everyone and I think some fans of juicing make it out to be more than it is (some people need to learn that the plural of "anecdote" is not "data"). But that having been said, I am actually shocked at not just the logical fallacy of common arguments made against juicing, but the anger and near-hatred with which they're made.

I wrote this in response to something that was posted on a friend's wall. It took several edits to make it civil and clear, but I think I nailed what I was going for.

I'm going to interject a few thoughts here, and I'm going to start by saying that there's a lot of pop culture mythology around "juicing," and it perpetrates a lot of silly myths. Anyone who thinks a juice fast is going to cure all ills - especially in isolation (i.e. without exercise, proper sleep, etc) are mistaken. Additionally, if someone thinks one person's juicing experience will be the same as the next, they're mistaken again. But that's how zealots and evangelists approach trends: They gloss over the facts and fill in the blanks.

So let's put aside the superstition and nonsense that we're plagued by and take a more unbiased look. Here's what we know is true and scientifically verifiable: 

Nutrition is important for health, and nutrient intake in typical North American diet is far below the minimum point necessary to maintain it. This means that many people are technically malnourished. Other issues, such as obesity, are additional factors which further complicate health issues. We also know that fruits and vegetables are extremely high in the nutritional content we require for good health and lack the things we eat too much of (like fat, sodium, high fructose corn syrup, caffeine, among others). Even Snopes won't refute these facts

So if you're not getting the nutrition you need to be healthy, you need to ingest nutrients and cut back on the things which make you sick when taken in excess. We also know that if you're suffering from a serious lack of certain nutrients, eating a single leaf of kale every day is going to have low impact. You have to get a lot of nutrition for your body to recover from the damage that's done to it by going without. Again, I'm stating the things that everyone knows and that are easily supported with data.

Intaking juice made from healthy materials (fruits and vegetables) will not only give you a concentrated and pure dose of nutrition, but those nutrients will go right into the bloodstream because of the juice form (whereas the pulp can make that a slower process). With the nutrient building blocks, your body and its cells can repair and restore themselves. And how does it glass of juice constitute a "huge dose"? Well, when I make a glass of juice I'm usually drinking something like five carrots and two apples. Or an entire bunch of broccoli and an entire head of romaine lettuce. Or four beets and four pears. Point being: If I drink four glasses per day, I'm consuming a massive amount of essential nutrition. So long as you're minding the sugar content, I can't think of a rational argument against that.

And here's the thing that any responsible advocate of juicing will tell you: First you see your doctor and chat about it, and he or she will probably ask you to get a blood test before you begin. Then, if your doctor says "don't do it" then you don't do it. Anyone who advocates you shouldn't see a doctor first is asking you to fly blind. It's not responsible.

The best (and most inarguable) thing about juicing is this: It's not just the start of something good, but it's the end of something bad. Coffee, high-fat dairy, preservatives, nitrates, and vegetables/fruits that have had their nutritional value obliterated by processing, boiling, or a ridiculous amount of chemical additives. And then there's sugar (which occurs in everything from bread to toothpaste) and is making us into a race of obese, diabetic weaklings. Even if you're a casual drinker of soft drinks, you're pounding down a lethal amount of sugar: http://www.sugarstacks.com/img/colas.jpg. Even if juicing were overrated as a nutritional option, how can anyone argue that it's not an improvement over what we normally do?

Personally, I'm not so sure you're going to be cured of cancer/lose 150 pounds/regain hair lost to male pattern baldness/whatever by going on a juice diet. It could happen, but I haven't seen any evidence to support this (other than anecdotes). But... it's a hell of a lot of high-nutrient intake that's absorbed almost immediately. Anyone who tells me it's a bad idea to consume that many fruits and vegetables every day has no data to support the claim. So long as your doctor gives you a thumbs up to do a set-length juice fast, there's no way it can do anything but help you.