Thryve Inside recently conducted an internal study about the difference in health benefits of a Juice Cleanse diet vs. a regular diet of whole foods. Results found that after a three-day juice cleanse can improve intestinal health and the immune system. Let’s take a closer look at the results of our juice cleansing studies, and other juice cleanse benefits.

Juice Cleanse Diet Study Methodology

Our Thryve Inside juice cleansing study was conducted in three phases over an eight-day period. Phase A saw our volunteer follow a regular Western diet of pre-made and fresh foods in the whole form. They followed this protocol for two days.

In Phase B, the participant performed a three-day juice cleanse. Every meal plan consisted of organic fruits and vegetable juices. Day six through eight was Phase C. During Phase C, our volunteer went back to the diet they followed in Phase A.

Every day of this juice cleanse study, we sampled the gut biome of our participant. Let’s take a look at the differences a juice diet has on the GI tract, as compared to regular eating habits.

Juice Cleanse Diet Study Results

Our results to the juice cleansing study found that a three-day juice diet can improve your immune system, boost beneficial stomach bacteria, and fight against obesity. While there are many health benefits to consuming solid foods, a supplemental juice cleanse diet brings more balanced nutrition to the system.

This study found that proper nutrition can lead to better changes in your health in a short period of time. Balancing solid foods with green juices and whole fruit juices can help reverse some of the damage caused by the overconsumption of solid foods. Let’ stake a look at some of the health benefits of our juice cleanse plan.

Digestive System Improvement

One of the unique insights we discovered during our juice cleansing study is that our subject had elevated levels of Bacteroides plebeius in the system during the three-day juice diet. The levels of this bacteria strain plummeted in the three days that followed the juice cleanse. Here are some of the health benefits our subject experienced during the three-day juice cleanse.

Special Enzyme Production

This stomach bacteria strain is responsible for producing a powerful enzyme that breaks down porphyran.

Poryphan is a carbohydrate responsible for building cell walls in red algae. People who follow a Western diet know red algae as nori seaweed, the dressing around sushi.

What’s interesting about this finding is that this enzyme was first detected when research was conducted on the marine bacteria, Zobellia galactanivorans. Initial reports were that this enzyme was only in the body of people who regularly consumed sushi, namely Japanese people.

A write-up in Wired explained,

“At some unknown points and in some unknown stomachs in the Japanese past, the enzyme-coding gene passed from Z. galactanivorans and into B. plebeius. That lucky microbe would have benefited from a new-found ability to process red algae, spreading through its stomach environment and eventually through the human population, which in turn derived more nutrients from an algae-rich diet [1].”

– Wired Magazine

Therefore, upping your serving of vegetables and organic fruits through a three-day juice cleanse gives your digestive system the proper nutrition to break down more foods. In turn, our subject experienced fewer bouts of bloating and constipation.

Lower Levels of Harmful Stomach Bacteria

One of the most promising insights into the juice cleansing study was the decrease in levels of Prevotella copri. While there are positives to having this stomach bacteria in your gut biome, most studies point to its negative aspects.

In fact, a recent study found that an abundance of Prevotella copri is usually present in people who suffer from rheumatoid arthritis [2]. So, it’s best to keep these levels in check.

Our subject showed around 10% of their gut biome consisted of these pathogenic bacteria. Levels of this bacteria plummeted during the three-day juice cleanse. Incredibly, on the third-day, amounts were barely traceable.

Once Phase C started, levels jumped back up to where they were before. In fact, they were slightly higher.

Weight Loss Benefits

Wondering, “can a juice cleanse help you lose weight?” Just ask our test subject. They had deficient levels of the stomach bacteria, Bacteroides vulgatus in their system.

In fact, the first day of the juice diet saw almost no levels of this stomach bacteria present. By the last day of the juice cleanse, their Bacteroides vulgatus levels increased by almost 600%! These numbers are significant because this bacteria strain has been linked with fighting obesity.

An analysis of stomach bacteria and childhood obesity noted,

“Low relative proportions of Bacteroides vulgatus and high concentrations of Lactobacillus spp. were found in the obese children and were positively correlated with plasma high-sensitivity C-reactive protein [3].”

– World J Gastrointest Pathophysiol.

C-reactive protein is a potent inflammatory biomarker. In turn, studies have shown that this protein is predominant in people who have obesity [4].

Produce Short-Chain Fatty Acids

Perhaps the most significant health benefits of a juice diet for gut health is that it can help produce short-chain fatty acids, including butyrate. Butyrate is energetic currency for your cells that line your gut.

When you consume a diet of solid foods served from fast food joints or have other poor eating habits, it does a number on your gut lining. An overabundance of solid food particles becomes too much for your digestive system to break down. So, these particles will build up and cause inflammation. In turn, healthy stomach cells and immune system cells die.

Incorporating a juice cleanse in between regular meal plan helps you get the balanced nutrition necessary to produce short-chain fatty acids. During our juice cleanse study, our subject saw a spike in the stomach bacteria, Clostridia.

Research shows that these stomach bacteria play a significant role in butyrate production [5]. So, consuming whole fruits and vegetables in a juice diet can boost those levels. Furthermore, our results found that the benefits of butyrate continued when our subject went back to their regular meal plan in Phase C.

Fight Irritable Bowel Syndrome and Irritable Bowel Disease

Millions of people suffer from conditions within the GI tract, including Irritable Bowel Disease (IBD) and Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS). Many of these GI problems are a result of poor gut health. One of the best stomach bacteria to help keep these conditions at bay is Akkermansia mucinphila.

“A. muciniphila was confirmed to exert a major role in maintaining gut barrier function, host metabolism and other biological functions through interactions between intestinal microbes and host in metabolic disorders…The abundance of A. muciniphila was markedly reduced in patients with IBD compared with the abundance in controls, indicating that A. muciniphila may be related to the health of the intestinal mucosa [6].”

– Front Microbiol. 

What’s so fascinating about this analysis is that Akkermansia mucinphila improves the mucosa. Therefore, having these stomach bacteria in the system will make bowel movements feel smoother. Consequently, someone following a juice diet will be less likely to spark inflammation or cause hemorrhoids.

Lastly, this juice cleanse study saw our subject almost double their
Akkermansia mucinphila levels during their three-day juice diet. These levels tapered a little when the subject returned a normal diet of solid foods. However, they still remained higher than the levels were before the juice cleanse.

Is a 3-Day Juice Cleanse Healthy?

From our internal studies, a three-day juice cleanse sandwiched between a regular diet of solid foods can lead to the proper nutrition necessary to improve the digestive system, weight loss, and bacteria diversity.

With that said, always speak to your physician before making changes to your regular meal plan.

For one, whole fruits are rich in sugars. While these are healthy sugars, they may still complicate cases of type-2 diabetes.

On the flip side, switching refined sugars out for fructose is an excellent way to keep obesity and diabetes at bay. As we noted, green juices and fruit juices are excellent for promoting stomach bacteria that help you with weight loss.

Want to give a three-day juice cleanse a try? Join the Thryve Gut Health Program. Our dashboard can help you tailor a meal plan that will give you the proper nutrition to feel great all year round!

Resources

[1] Keim, Brandon. “Gut Bacteria Give Super Seaweed-Digestion Power to Japanese.” Wired, Conde Nast, 4 June 2017, www.wired.com/2010/04/sushi-guts/.

[2] Alpizar-Rodriguez, Deshire, et al. “Prevotella Copri in Individuals at Risk for Rheumatoid Arthritis.” Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, BMJ Publishing Group Ltd, 1 May 2019, ard.bmj.com/content/78/5/590.

[3] Chakraborti C. K. (2015). New-found link between microbiota and obesity. World journal of gastrointestinal pathophysiology, 6(4), 110–119. https://doi.org/10.4291/wjgp.v6.i4.110.

[4] Aronson, D, et al. “Obesity Is the Major Determinant of Elevated C-Reactive Protein in Subjects with the Metabolic Syndrome.” International Journal of Obesity and Related Metabolic Disorders : Journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity, U.S. National Library of Medicine, May 2004, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14993913.

[5] Chai, Li-Juan, et al. “Zooming in on Butyrate-Producing Clostridial Consortia in the Fermented Grains of Baijiu via Gene Sequence-Guided Microbial Isolation.” Frontiers, Frontiers, 4 June 2019, www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2019.01397/full.

[6] Bian, X., Wu, W., Yang, L., Lv, L., Wang, Q., Li, Y., Ye, J., Fang, D., Wu, J., Jiang, X., Shi, D., & Li, L. (2019). Administration of Akkermansia muciniphila Ameliorates Dextran Sulfate Sodium-Induced Ulcerative Colitis in Mice. Frontiers in microbiology, 10, 2259. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2019.02259

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