You Might Want To Rethink That Juice Cleanse, Because Science

Spoiler alert: Juice cleanses are kind of bullshit. Thanks, SCIENCE.

Before you spend a lot of energy (and probably money) doing a fancy juice cleanse to keep your New Year's resolution, watch SciShow's Hank Green break down three common misconceptions about juicing.

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Misconception #1: You need to flush out your ~TOXINS~ and juice is the best way to do that.

SciShow / Via youtube.com

Hank explains, "It's rare to find a juice fast program that explains what they mean by "toxins," or specifies what any of them are." Merriam-Webster defines "toxin" as "A poisonous substance and especially one that is produced by a living thing."

Drinking a lot of juice isn't going to help your vital organs flush out those toxins.

SciShow / Via youtube.com

Yes, your body already has a way of shutting that mess down, and it's called your liver and kidneys. If they are not filtering out the harmful stuff like ammonia (which comes out in your urine), Hank explains, "that's what we call liver or kidney failure."

Misconception #2: There's a bunch of "extra gunk" just hanging on to your intestines and you need to get rid of it by giving yourself diarrhea.

SciShow / Via youtube.com

While it's not the goal of many cleanses, diarrhea is a fairly common side-effect.

Gross. Also, NOPE.

SciShow / Via youtube.com

Hank gets right to it: "There's nothing that's still hanging out in your intestines from that time you ate a handful of watermelon seeds when you were five, or even that double cheeseburger you had last month."

Misconception #3: Juice cleanses really do make you lose weight, right?

SciShow / Via youtube.com

SORT OF.

The weight you lose is water weight, which comes from glycogen in your muscles.

SciShow / Via youtube.com

Your body uses glycogen when it's running low on energy, like when you are not eating enough calories and drinking nothing but juice (and water). So yes, you will lose some weight, but as soon as you start eating food again, you'll just go back your regular pre-juice weight. Thanks, science.

Basically, a juice fast or cleanse isn't going to hurt you, but it's not the cure-all you might be hoping for.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvgyyNRmzLQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvgyyNRmzLQ

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