At Chef V, we’re all about proven results when it comes to promoting health. With some hard work and patience, (and great Chef V green drinks!) anyone can achieve their personal health goals. However, in a world of instant gratification, everyone is looking for shortcuts. This isn’t something to be ashamed of, but it does mean that there is going to be a lot of misinformation out there about various health fads and fakes. We’ve heard some of the worst, and today, we’ll share some that we’ve heard, from the plausible-sounding to the plain wacky.
#1 Celery Juice Cures Everything
Now, we’re not trying to knock celery here. The crunchy veggie is a great part of many meals and makes a healthy low-calorie snack. However, we’ve seen plenty of people treating celery juice as equal to or even as a replacement for green drinks. People say that just drinking this veggie liquidated on its own is a magical potion for everything that ails you.
However, there doesn’t seem to be any real hard proof of any of that. Celery is low in calories, sure, but being low in calories doesn’t add up to being high in minerals and nutrients. Just drinking celery juice on its own is never going to be a replacement for an actually specially prepared green drink recipe as it lacks many vitamins, minerals and nutrients.
If you try and do a juice cleansed based entirely around blended celery stalks you’re going to run into some problems right away. The side effects of celery juice generally revolve around it playing havoc with your digestive system, leading to intense hunger (ruining a cleanse) and diarrhea (which can lead to dehydration and other problems.) While low in carbs, celery juice is actually pretty high in sodium – too much of it could lead to a variety of health issues.
#2 Green Powders are a Cleansing Shortcut
We’ve actually tackled this one before but it’s worthwhile to provide another reminder. Green powders are often touted as a convenient replacement to green drinks, one that you can store and use at your leisure.
Nonetheless, that convenience comes with a cost. Fresh veggies are always going to be easier to digest for your body than powders. However, the real problem lies with many of the powders themselves. They often include an excess of other additives used to modify the taste – and adding too much sugar to the blend sort of defeats the purpose of a blended juice cleanse.
Worst of all, many brands of powder actually contain ingredients that are actively harmful to you. So when it comes to green juice vs. green powder, it’s always best to reach for the green drink.
#3 Inserting… Things
Warning, but this one is gonna get pretty gross.
At Chef V we’re all about putting good stuff into your body. However, an alarming health trend intended to flush out ones body starting from the inside out is not the way to go. Some of these are older fads, such as the ever Hollywood popular colonics.
We get it. People want good digestive health and they want a clean colon. But is a strong stream of water down south the way to do it? It might sound like a quick but painful shortcut – why not get the cleansing started from the inside out (literally)? But if there’s a theme to this piece, it’s that shortcuts aren’t always what they’re cracked up to be.
The problem is, the cleansing process simply doesn’t work backward like that. Developing a healthy digestive system involves eating the right foods for your liver, kidneys, stomach, and guts.
We’d like to say colonics are the weirdest option that people opting for in the name of health… but that wouldn’t be true. Just remember – no shortcuts! You want good health results, you should adopt a healthy diet or a cleanse. It just doesn’t work in reverse.
#4 Eating Charcoal (No, Really)
A lot of bad wellness fads can be traced back to someone taking a single fact or idea, and then extrapolating it out to its craziest level. It is true that charcoal is often used as a filter. And it is also true that activated charcoal is used in certain medical applications.
That does not mean that you should be chowing down on charcoal. It is true that charcoal tends to bind things to it. But this doesn’t mean it’s a good idea to drink or eat it. The charcoal will bind to absolutely everything. That means that it can interfere with the operation of healthy bacteria in your gut. Worst case scenario? It creates a blockage (ouch!).
We get the desire to take any sort of supplement that will help reduce toxins and flush out the bad stuff. But putting things that aren’t food into your body is rarely a good idea (which we just covered above). The best detox aids are natural ones, that let your body flush toxins on its own terms, without ruining your gut flora or blocking your intestines.
#5 Mainlining Vitamins
Want to try to get the vitamins from stuff like green drink, but without getting to enjoy that green drink? Some people who think this way have taken to not drinking their vitamins, but injecting them directly into their bloodstream with an IV drip.
We suppose to those worried about time and efficiency, this could make sense. You’re skipping out on the digestion part and getting right to the vitamin intake. The problem is, there’s no real basis for assuming that this works. This may come as a shock to many, but human beings were designed to ingest their nutrients… by eating and drinking. Crazy, we know! But there are actually establishments you can go to and receive a vitamin IV drip.
Beyond being a silly way to try and get your vitamins, this can be potentially dangerous, leading to bloodstream infections or clogged capillaries. Trust us – just get your vitamins the old-fashioned way. Thankfully, with Chef V’s green drink, getting your fruits and veggies doesn’t have to be a pain in your butt… or your arm. So check out our Green Drink plan today!