Carrot Juice

[tracyb519]

If I drank 6-8, 8oz. glasses of fresh carrot juice a day, along with eating other raw foods....will that that slow the process down of losing weight? I heard that too much carrots or juice is not good if wanting to lose some pounds.

[maraw]

First let me say that juicing organic fruits and vegetables is great for cleansing (if weight loss is your goal it will help with that too when combine with a wonderful raw food diet).

With carrot juice specifically, you will be getting good concentrated amounts of various vitamins (especially vitamin A, as bete carotene) to be sure, but will lack the benefits of the fiber that comes in the carrot pulp. In addition, one 8 oz. glass of fresh carrot juice contains 5 times the amount of RDA for vitamin A.

I would caution you to be careful not to over-do it. You can throw your body's balance of vitamins and minerals off by drinking too much carrot juice for a long period of time. A short cleansing cycle should be fine though.

Have you already consulted with a nutritionist? If you are fighting illness or trying to prevent it, I would find a local holistic nutritionist for advise and guidance.

Why not drink more water instead!

Best wishes,
Anna

[tracyb519]

Anna, I didn't think you could over do it on vitamin A with carrot juice. I've heard people heal themselves with drinking quarts of carrot juice a day. I really want to lose weight and make my body as healthy as it can be.

Thanks for the input,
Tracy

[cactus]

Hi there

I haven't been posting for a few months as life has been overly hectic but I try to read the board as often as I can and when I read this I was a really interested ( and concerned) reading about "overdosing" on vitamin A from drinking carrot juice, I have for quite some time (about eight months now) had juice every morning that I make from organic carrots, celery and and apple, I use 3 carrots, two sticks of celery and 1 apple and I thought I was really doing something good for my body, it certainly feels like it, Ive been raw for quite a while and in that time Ive lost two stone, and cured myself of all kinds of ailments, not to mention I feel fantastic, but after reading your post maraw, I'm wondering if I'm doing some kind of damage by over doing the juice having it everyday, although the way I feel I find it hard to believe I could be, so how much is to much?

[tglasco4]

I was drinking the juice of 5lbs of carrots a day for about 20 days. I felt great! I don't think it will hurt weight loss goals at all. I also have heard of people being healed from various diseases like cancer by just drinking water and carrot juice. The best thing to do is try it for yourself and see where you are in a month. The thing about this whole raw experience is that we should try different things for ourselves and see how we react. Experience is the best teacher.

Peace.

Todd

[levamssg]

Drink the carrot juice if that is what your body is craving. I went through a carrot/celery/apple juice time myself-- had 24oz every day. That lasted for several weeks, until one day I simply didn't want it. The only side effect I experienced was the palms of my hands started to look a tiny bit orange ... that was about the same time I no longer wanted to drink it. So -listen to your body!

[English Tracy]

There was a news story in England a few years ago where a woman was on a cranky diet (made up by herself) and she was eating loads of carrots every day and not much else. Her skin started to turn orange as she had over-dosed on the beta-carotine which was present in the carrots. I don't think she was ill, just very orange. She probably glowed in the dark as well!!!

Tracy

[maraw]

Sorry everyone, I didn't mean to cause concern or to offend. My statement was not one of "over dose" per se, but over-use. I have heard and read the same statements on healing and detoxification as everyone else - and I agree with them. My only caution was one of long-term over use.

Since vitamin A is stored in our bodies and not readily excreted, toxicity is possible over a long period of time. Not usually from short term consumption. Also, since it is not an animal source of A, the concern of over use is not as threatening. Tracy is talking about up to 64 oz. (1/2 gallon) of carrot juice a day. That's a lot of carrot juice. Two medium-sized carrots is the average amount for the RDA of A, as beta carotene. More is certainly fine, but over a long period of time, it can cause orange-yellow discoloration of the skin, pressure headaches, nausea, dizziness, irritability, and more - including weight loss. Of course, these symptoms will go away when normal amounts of A are regained.

One of the beautiful things about consuming raw foods is that you don't have to calculate vitamin and mineral intake to be sure you are getting what you need to be healthy and vital. Weight loss, improved energy, blood sugar balance, lowering cholesterol - it all happens naturally when the body gets what it needs and wants.

My suggestion to you, Tracy, is if you want to lose weight, have your carrot juice and enjoy it. But losing weight and maintaining that loss requires somewhat of a lifestyle change. I know this from personal experience. A nice variety of fresh, perferably organic, raw foods is the best way to go if you want to get the extra weight off and keep it off.

One of my favorite juicing combinations is 4-5 carrots, 1 apple, 1 cup parsley, and 1 lime. Oh, it's SO good!

FYI - While I was typing this, I ate half a bag of baby carrots for lunch. :D

[cactus]

I have been reading recently about the benefits of parsley and I have been trying to think of new ways to use it, I never thought of adding it to my juice what a great idea, I might even try the lime as well, they say variety is the spice of life and I have been geting a bit bored with my juice of late,thanks maraw. :)