# "Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead" Juice Diet **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 15, 2011, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fat-sick-and-nearly-dead-juice-diet/592793 "2011-08-15T17:03:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![kevinlyfellow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4491bb/32.png) [@kevinlyfellow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kevinlyfellow)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2012, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fat-sick-and-nearly-dead-juice-diet/592793/41 "2012-08-21T08:07:56Z")
Most of the replies to this post have been made off of assumptions and I hope that this post can clarify things. The movie did seem to push an agenda, but it wasn’t as strong as many people claim. The idea behind the video was that this well off australian was obese and to solve his health issue he was going to fast for 60 days with the exclusion of fruits and vegetables. Because the individual felt that eating an amount of fruits and vegetables he deamed acceptable would be difficult, he was going to juice everything. Naturally, because of his significantly reduced caloric intake, he lost weight. It also mentioned that an appropriate diet after the fast was necessary. The diet was touted as a way to quickly loose weight and train your tastebuds to vegetables. I can’t see why anyone could argue that drinking vegetable juice is a bad thing. I’m sure that increased vegetable intake is healthy. And if you are going to fast in order to lose weight, at least the juice provides some nutrition to stave off things like scurvy and ricketts. Rapid weight loss can be a dangerous thing for some folks, especially those who work with fat soluable (harmful) chemicals. It can also mean loose skin for some individuals. It also is not meant to be a lifestyle choice. I would recommend other options for most people but if this helps some people then I don’t see anything inherrently dangerous about it. ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2012, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fat-sick-and-nearly-dead-juice-diet/592793/42 "2012-08-21T11:04:09Z")
My daughter just finished her 1 year diet and met her goal of a 71# weight loss. Her husband lost 40# but came up 30# short. They were both wanting to loose 70#. She just used a moderate excersize everyday, smaller portions and almost eliminated processed sugars and breads. Too much fruit will make you fat! ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2012, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fat-sick-and-nearly-dead-juice-diet/592793/43 "2012-08-21T11:31:00Z")
My wife lost 90 pounds through a combination of portion control and exercise. Finding the discipline for the daily exercise was the most difficult part. (I, however, still cut a prosperous figure.) ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2012, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fat-sick-and-nearly-dead-juice-diet/592793/44 "2012-08-21T11:54:47Z")
> [@kevinlyfellow](#): > > I can’t see why anyone could argue that drinking vegetable juice is a bad thing. I’m sure that increased vegetable intake is healthy. And if you are going to fast in order to lose weight, at least the juice provides some nutrition to stave off things like scurvy and ricketts. Eating the vegetables themselves would be a hell of a lot healthier due to the fiber, not to mention a lot more filling. ---
**Author:** ![freakydisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@freakydisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freakydisco)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2015, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fat-sick-and-nearly-dead-juice-diet/592793/45 "2015-03-10T05:10:27Z")
> [@Speak\_to\_me\_Maddie](#): > > I started watching that “documentary” on Netflix a few weeks ago and I turned it off about 15 minutes in after I realized it was just an infomercial for juicers. It wasn’t very well made either. > > I think it is obvious that one would lose weight eating nothing but raw and juiced vegetables for long periods of time. The problem is whether or not one has the willpower to actually do it long term. That’s the catch with extreme diets isn’t it? The filmmaker had some serious motivation behind him in that: > > a) he was making a film and abandoning the diet would ruin his production > b) if he stuck to the diet and lost weight he could sell juicers for profit > c) he traveled to the other side of the globe while on the diet, separating him from the daily demands and routines that make diets troublesome for the majority of humanity > > Adopting a diet that you can reasonably follow for the rest of your life would be a better choice imho. I went from 240 lbs to 185 lbs over the course of about two and a half years by making incremental changes to my diet, six weeks at a time. Still I’m not claiming to be an expert. I just know when I was obese I couldn’t have stuck to a change that drastic without failing. Since you didn’t finish the documentary, you can’t claim to have an accurate opinion of what it’s about. Not everyone in the movie succeeds, including Joe. Having Breville sponsor the movie likely allowed him to make the movie. And guess what? Every TV show and movie uses product placement to help fund their efforts. In this case, it may seem biased to allow a sponsor in a documentary, but he makes no claim that Breville is the only juicer capable of producing an effective solution, it may simply be his juicer of choice. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2015, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fat-sick-and-nearly-dead-juice-diet/592793/46 "2015-03-10T12:30:55Z")
> [@freakydisco](#): > > Every TV show and movie uses product placement to help fund their efforts. In this case, it may seem biased to allow a sponsor in a documentary, but he makes no claim that Breville is the only juicer capable of producing an effective solution, it may simply be his juicer of choice. Your claim that this applies to “every” TV show and movie sounds dubious to me, but even if true, they’re entertainment, while this “documentary” is about a supposed health intervention. Somehow I doubt you’d accept a “documentary” on treating/preventing a medical condition that prominently featured promos for a prescription drug. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2015, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fat-sick-and-nearly-dead-juice-diet/592793/47 "2015-03-10T13:22:33Z")
> [@Ferret\_Herder](#): > > Eating the vegetables themselves would be a hell of a lot healthier due to the fiber, not to mention a lot more filling. Zombie thread part 2: In the video, he mentions that the quantity of vegetables he was eating per meal (16 ounces of juice) would fill a shopping bag. That’s too filling. Since we’re still in GQ, I’m wondering about his main reason for trying this: the standard diet includes a lot of fat, protein & carbohydrates which aren’t needed for the body to fight off disease & infection, which was his main reason for doing this. If all he wanted to do was lose weight, any gym in the country could have helped him with that. His idea was that giving himself megadoses of vitamins & nutrients would help his body fight off the (whatever he had that was making his life hell). Is there any truth to this? ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2015, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fat-sick-and-nearly-dead-juice-diet/592793/48 "2015-03-10T13:27:35Z")
This is 2015 now. Juicing is so passé. So last last last last year. Not that the infomercials have let up much. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fat-sick-and-nearly-dead-juice-diet/592793.md?page=2)