Dieting and fasting are two words that have wildly different meanings, but they are too often interchanged in day to day use and advertising. Sadly, this means that a lot of people get the wrong idea in their head about what a juice diet is and they end up on a juice fast, which is a very unsafe dietary practice.

There are lots of different fasts being sold as a perfect diet solution guaranteed to shed pounds and improve health. I see them branded and masked as cleanses or diets, but it’s all the same medicine show whether you buy it in a nutrition store or sign up for one of the many monthly diet food delivery programs.

Fasting is a flawed way to try and lose weight because it puts your body in survival mode and will actually shut down your metabolism. Your body thinks that you are starving and tries to conserve your energy reserves. Your body has good reason for reacting in this way because you are indeed staring yourself while on a fast and that comes with some potentially serious consequences.

The most obvious consequence is nutritional. Unlike with a properly balanced juice diet, juice fasts are just designed to almost completely eliminate your caloric intake and that usually means that the juices they send you have no nutritional value. Such low calorie intake and poor nutrition can eventually lead to serious medical issues if it is maintained for a long period of time. This is why juice fasts and cleanses all have a time limit. It wouldn’t do these companies any good to kill their clients. They want you to starve yourself, binge when you come off the fast, regain any weight you lose and then go back on their fasting program and order your next 3 month subscription to their diet food delivery program.

Another consequence that many people don’t realize can come with a fast is emotional turmoil and trauma. It goes hand in hand with starvation. Your mind gets confused and goes into a defensive state. This causes mood swings, depression and a generally volatile nature. Extreme cases can even end in suicide.

The long and short of all of this is simple. Don’t get reeled in to these scams that could be very harmful to your health. I’m sure that you’ve seen the bright, flashy banners linking to a “special onetime offer on this amazing dieting secret” but they are really just linked to an overpriced online food delivery service. The promise of never having to worry about a meal plan, diet or exercise routine while still getting healthier and losing weight is very tempting, but it’s snake oil. All you have to do is pay money and wait for your first food delivery? Health is never that simple. Please take care of yourself.