Love juicing? This is a reminder too much of a good thing can be unhealthy or even cause injury in very rare cases.
A liver specialist is sounding the alarm about fad diets that are being promoted online and call for a “detox juice” of lots of fruits and raw vegetables mixed in a blender.
Dr. Abby Philips says he’s seen at least two patients who seemed to have developed kidney injury after daily consumption of homemade juice that included ingredients such as gooseberries, beets, spinach, green leafy vegetables and citrus fruits.
“Please don’t do it. It can cause OXALATE KIDNEY INJURY and the kidneys take a LONG time to recover,” Philips tweeted last month.
Philips says there is no harm in having an occasional fruit or vegetable juice, but he wants to warn people — healthy ones and those with chronic liver disease, kidney disease or diabetes — about juicing vegetables and fruits together “in an irrational manner.”
“For example, juicing oranges and avocados along with beets and spinach leads to very high levels of oxalates in the final product, which can harm kidneys,” Philips, a specialist in hepatology and liver transplant medicine at Rajagiri Hospital in Kerala, India, tells TODAY.com.
“The only detox that really works in humans is their own liver and kidneys. As I always say, ‘We don’t detox the liver, the liver detoxes us.’ There is no need to detox at all, as the only aspect of getting detoxed is the person’s bank savings.”
Kidney specialist Dr. Ray Bignall says oxalate kidney injury is not something that’s likely to affect the average person who is juicing as part of their breakfast, but agrees it’s important not to overdo it.
“I think the main message is: Just like your mama told you, everything in moderation,” Bignall, a pediatric nephrologist at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, tells TODAY.com.
“The author of the tweet was correct in raising alarm about the danger of fad diets and fad nutrition…
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