5/2 Diet, No Sugar Diet and Juicing Daily Diet + the Juicer & recipe book

Several of my Clients have sought my advice and asked me to do a blog post on the latest trends of the 5/2 Diet, No Sugar Diet and Juicing Daily Diet + the Juicer & recipe book. Many have tried one or more of these and some have not had very good results. They have been left with stomach and bowel upsets, fatigue, bad tempers (which is often caused by upset livers) etc..

First of all, there is no diet that is any good for you unless it provides all the main needs of the body. In other words it should contain protein, fresh healthy vegetables, salads, fruit, and a few of the healthier carbohydrates.

I have to say that the 5/2 Diet appears to be ok as long as people do not go overboard with the days when they are allowed to eat plenty and then starve themselves on the other days. When you are eating plenty then it should be the best quality food you can buy and balanced between protein, carbohydrate and vegetables, salads and fruit.

Our stomach and bowels like to have a steady and regular supply of food and drink and it throws out the balance of stomach acids, bile and the central nervous system if the amounts change greatly on a regular scale.

The No Sugar Diet can be taken too far and some of the people I know look anorexic but find themselves unable to stop. It seems to take over the brain – but I have also seen some successes with it too. I think most people eat far too much sugars and carbohydrates and cutting out a lot of the excess should be beneficial. Of course, some people take things too far and become fanatical about it, but done with a balanced mind and attitude I feel that this could be very beneficial.

The Juicing Diet which is given with a recipe book supplied with one of the Juicing machines has caused a few problems. The illustrations look very mouth-watering and a lot of the people who have bought these juicers start to make the illustrated juices daily and some make them 2 – 3 times a day. The illustrations show raw spinach at the bottom of the juicer.

A word of caution to everyone who does juicing…….

Did you know that raw spinach contains oxalic acid, an organic substance that can interfere with the absorption of essential nutrients like calcium and iron? Oxalic acid binds with calcium, making it unavailable for use by our bodies. It also attaches to quite a few other vital nutrients, and long-term consumption of foods high in oxalic acid can lead to nutrient deficiencies. The good news is that oxalic acid is broken down upon heating, so there is no loss of nutrients if we eat steamed or sautéed spinach.

Too much juicing of fruits can also be dangerous because of the high sugar content. The Chinese use a lot of watermelon which is made up mainly of water and a little natural sugar. If you include watermelon in your juices it will give you a nice amount of juice with much less sugar so you will need less of the other fruits to make a full glass of juice. This will help to balance out the excess sugar which is in most fruit juices.

If you are interested in more information on safe dieting, book a consultation with Freda Dunn qualified nutritionist on +61 7 5449 1811.