If you’re looking to lose weight quickly, liquid diets may be an option you’ve considered. A liquid diet is a choice people who want to lose weight quickly sometimes make. But are they safe? The most important thing to remember is that not all liquid diets are created equal. There’s no one-size-fits-all solution when it comes to losing weight, so it’s best to speak to your healthcare provider before you start any program.
This article is intended for general informational purposes only and does not serve to address individual circumstances. It is not a substitute for professional advice or help and should not be relied on for making any kind of decision-making. You should always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition or your specific situation. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay seeking it because of content you read online.
What is a Liquid Diet?
While on a meal replacement liquid diet, you’ll be replacing your regular meals with shakes and soups. These diets are available in various forms such as ready-to-drink shakes, powdered mixes that have to be mixed at home, and recipes you can make from scratch at home with fresh ingredients. The reason for this is that meal replacement shakes or soups can drastically lower the number of daily calories consumed by a person, which helps them lose weight rapidly. All these products can help you replace your meals with a lower-calorie substitute, which makes it easier for you to monitor how many calories you’re consuming.
Liquid diets come in many forms, most commonly as commercial products and homemade recipes. Some people may opt for a liquid diet as a way of jumpstarting their weight loss journey or to “reset” their eating habits.
Types of Liquid Diets
Clear Liquid Diet: A clear liquid diet refers to a diet that consists of liquids you can see through. They’re normally used for a very short time before or after certain surgeries or for other medical reasons. You can consume a variety of these, but remember not to eat any solid food while you’re on this diet plan.
Read also: Post-Surgery Liquid Diet
Full Liquid Diet: A full liquid diet gives you more nutrition than a clear liquid diet. You may eat foods that are liquid or turn liquid at room temperature when on a full liquid diet. These typically contain high amounts of carbs and proteins, which makes them more filling and satisfying than regular drinks. They may also contain fiber, which slows down the release of sugars into the bloodstream. These consist of pureed foods such as vegetables, chicken broth, beans, and strained juices. These are made with yogurt or plant-based milk and fruits such as bananas and blueberries.
Full vs. Modified Liquid Diet
A full liquid diet includes milk-based drinks, smooth yogurt, strained soups, protein shakes, and ice cream without chunks. However, you don’t always have to follow the “liquid” name strictly. You can modify it to allow for certain soft foods, like pureed fruits and thin oatmeal, for example. However, the full approach is still advisable, especially when planned carefully with the right amounts of protein and fiber.
Potential Benefits of a Liquid Diet
As with any other diet, the liquid diet has its advantages and disadvantages.
Weight Loss: It can be effective for reducing your weight, mainly because it provides fewer calories than eating solid foods. Although it isn’t a long-term solution, a few days on the liquid diet may help kickstart the weight loss process and pave the way for real behavior change for some people.
Convenience: As soups and shakes are easy to make at home, this diet isn’t too time-consuming. You don’t need to spend hours in the kitchen preparing meals for yourself every day.
Read also: Is a liquid diet right for you?
Easier Digestion and Less Bloating: Getting your nutrients from liquids places minimal stress on your digestive system, allowing your stomach and intestines to rest while you still receive essential nutrients. This break often reduces the bloating and gas you may experience during hormonal fluctuations. The smooth consistency of eating mostly liquids prevents the mechanical stress of breaking down fibrous foods that can irritate sensitive digestive systems.
Improved Hydration and Nutrient Absorption: Naturally, drinking more of your meals adds to your overall fluid intake. This is good for kidney function and cellular hydration. Studies show that your body might absorb blended nutrients faster than whole foods, delivering vitamins and minerals directly to your bloodstream. This rapid absorption helps combat nutrient deficiencies, particularly those of B vitamins and magnesium.
Resetting Food Habits and Appetite Signals: Seven days without solid food can reset your relationship with hunger and fullness cues that stress and hormones may have disrupted. Don’t be surprised if it leaves you rediscovering what true hunger feels like. Most of the time, what you had associated with feeling famished was simply your emotions getting the best of you. Increased awareness of bodily cues supports long-term healthy eating patterns, especially after returning to solid foods.
Risks and Considerations
While there are many benefits of the liquid diet, you must remember that it’s a short-term weight loss plan. It can be difficult and dangerous to sustain over a long period of time.
Nutrient Deficiency: When you’re on a liquid diet, your body doesn’t get enough nutrients or energy from food.
Read also: Explore the pros and cons of liquid diets
Weight Regain: When you resume consuming solid foods, any weight you lost will likely start coming back again.
Protein Deficiency: On a liquid diet, it is difficult to get enough protein even if you make an effort to include it.
Limited Food Choices: In addition, there are a limited number of foods that can be processed into liquids that are compatible with the various liquid diets.
Fatigue: As you’re consuming very few calories and nutrients on a liquid diet, you’ll feel fatigued most of the time.
Not Suitable for Everyone: A liquid diet is not advisable for people who are suffering from health conditions such as diabetes as some of these diets can cause hyperglycemia or hypoglycemia. It should go without saying that you shouldn’t attempt liquid-only eating plans if you’re pregnant or nursing. It’s also not a good idea to follow the liquid diet if you have a history of eating disorders or you’re taking medications that require consistent food intake.
Low Protein and Muscle Loss: Studies have proven that the female body loses more muscle mass faster with age. This makes it important to add protein to your diet. However, it can be easy to miss this macronutrient in the seven days that you’re mostly drinking your meals. You can prevent this from happening by investing in high-quality protein powders, Greek yogurt, and silken tofu. Without sufficient protein, your body breaks down muscle tissue for energy, slowing metabolism even further.
Blood Sugar Crashes and Fatigue: Fruit-heavy smoothies can lack either protein or healthy fats. Without either or both, you’re looking at a meal that causes your blood sugar to spike, followed by an energy crash. Balance is a must in every meal. You need to add healthy protein and fat sources. Good examples of liquid meal go-to additions are nut butters, protein powder, or full-fat dairy. Include healthy fats from avocado, coconut milk, or olive oil to maintain steady glucose levels throughout the day.
Constipation: According to experts, reduced fiber intake, often caused by eliminating solid foods, can lead to constipation.
Is it Healthy to do a 7-Day Liquid Fast?
How healthy your 7-day fast is dependent on what you consume during that time. Without these nutrients, your body may experience negative side effects such as fatigue, headaches, constipation, and deficiencies in key vitamins and minerals. Furthermore, water fasting for 7 days is dangerous and not advisable unless it is done under strict medical supervision.
Is it Possible to Lose 10 Pounds in a Week?
It’s neither healthy nor sustainable to lose 10 pounds in a week. It theoretically takes a calorie deficit of 3,500 to lose one pound of fat. Furthermore, such rapid weight loss can be dangerous for your health and can result in muscle loss, a slower metabolism, and nutrient deficiencies. A liquid diet is a short-term solution for people who are looking to lose weight quickly. However, it’s not meant to be followed for more than a few days.
If you go on a liquid diet for a week, you may experience rapid weight loss due to the significant decrease in calorie intake. Glycogen is a type of carbohydrate that’s stored in the liver and muscles, and it also retains water. So when your body uses up its glycogen stores, it releases the water along with it, which results in weight loss. When you’re on a liquid diet, you’re limiting your intake of solid foods that provide essential nutrients such as fiber, protein, and healthy fats. In addition, a liquid diet may not provide enough energy for physical activity or exercise. However, as mentioned above, this weight loss is mostly due to water weight and glycogen depletion, not fat loss. Furthermore, rapid weight loss can also result in muscle loss and a decrease in metabolism.
7-Day Liquid Diet Plan for Women
This approach differs from juice cleanses because it includes protein-rich sources, such as Greek yogurt smoothies, creamy soups with pureed vegetables, and fortified shakes, which support metabolic health and weight loss efforts, according to this study.
Here’s a sample 7-day liquid diet plan:
Day 1: Start your day with bone broth for breakfast, and add a protein shake as a snack a few hours later. For lunch, enjoy a creamy tomato soup blended with Greek yogurt for extra protein. Finally, for your afternoon snack, make yourself a green smoothie with spinach, banana, and almond butter. For dinner, enjoy pureed vegetable soup with coconut milk, followed by chamomile tea before bed.
Day 2: Start with a protein-packed smoothie made with berries, protein powder, and full-fat milk, and stave off unhealthy cravings with a vegetable broth with added collagen powder as your mid-day snack. For lunch, enjoy a combination of butternut squash soup and a side of kefir. Later in the afternoon, make another protein shake before ending the day with chicken broth with pureed carrots and ginger tea for dinner.
Day 3: A golden milk turmeric latte made with coconut milk and protein powder is a great way to enjoy your morning. Then, snack on diluted vegetable juice before enjoying a creamy mushroom soup for lunch. In the afternoon, feel free to enjoy a chocolate protein smoothie with banana before closing the day with miso broth with soft silken tofu blended in for dinner, finishing with a cup of herbal tea.
Day 4: Let’s spice things up to help get you through the mid-week hump with a vanilla protein smoothie containing chia seeds soaked overnight. Have a warm bone broth with a pinch of sea salt for your mid-day snack before sipping on pureed lentil soup thinned with vegetable stock for lunch. Coconut water mixed with protein powder makes for a protein-packed afternoon snack, while dinner offers cream of broccoli soup blended until completely smooth, paired with peppermint tea for digestion.
Day 5: Make a tropical smoothie made with mango, coconut milk, and plant-based protein for breakfast, and afterwards, snack on clear vegetable broth. Lunch features a cream of cauliflower soup with added hemp hearts for omega-3 fatty acids. In the afternoon, you can have a green juice diluted with coconut water. Dinner includes pureed white bean soup with rosemary, followed by relaxing lavender tea.
Day 6: Start with a coffee blend that includes coconut oil and protein powder for sustained energy. Mid-morning offers bone broth with turmeric. Lunch combines pureed sweet potato soup with a protein-rich smoothie as a chaser. Afternoon features diluted pomegranate juice. Dinner features a cream of asparagus soup blended with silken tofu for added protein and a smooth texture.
Day 7: End the seven-day liquid diet plan with a protein-rich berry smoothie using frozen raspberries and Greek yogurt. Have a warm vegetable broth with ginger as your morning snack and a cream of zucchini soup with added protein powder for lunch. In the afternoon, have coconut water for electrolytes before celebrating the completion of the cycle with pureed roasted vegetables with bone broth base, ending with calming chamomile tea.
Tips for a Safe and Nourishing Liquid Diet
Ensure Adequate Protein Intake: Smoothies aren’t just drinks. To succeed, you should treat them as full meals. Because of this, you should make sure that they’re composed of essential macro nutrients, meaning they should contain the protein, carbohydrate, and fat equivalent to what you’d eat in a regular meal.
Vary Your Ingredients: Rotate ingredients to prevent nutrient deficiencies and boredom.
Prepare in Advance: Prepare ingredients in advance by freezing fruit portions and pre-measuring protein powders to maintain consistency during busy mornings.
Address Constipation: Remedy constipation by adding ground flaxseed or chia seeds to smoothies for soluble fiber that blends smoothly. Increase your water intake beyond the liquid in your meals and consider gentle movement, such as walking, to stimulate digestive function. Herbal teas with senna or ginger can provide natural relief.
How to Transition Back to Solid Foods
You should give yourself a pat on the back. Completing seven days of eating liquids isn’t easy. Now that you’ve done it, though, what’s next? We recommend taking what you just learned from the 7-day liquid diet plan and integrating it into your daily life.
Transition gradually back to solid foods. You shouldn’t return to your previous eating patterns immediately. Just as it took time for your body to adjust to the liquid diet, you should also give your body a chance to transition back into your regular eating routine, albeit with certain adjustments.
Turning your breakfasts into smoothies and soups should feel the most natural and easiest, especially since you might have already gotten used to how easy it is to prepare liquid meals. Never forget that your body needs protein, fat, and fiber. You can get plenty of all three from seasonal fruits and vegetables.
Consistently monitor how you’re feeling after every meal. Does a particular combination of fruits and vegetables leave you hungry? What did you eat that made you feel most full and satisfied? How have your energy levels been lately? Focus on eating the food that lets you live the lifestyle that you want and supports the health goals you’ve set for yourself.
Liquid Diet Recipes
While drinking juice can be an effective way to squeeze more fruits and vegetables into your diet, not all juices are created equal, nor do they deliver all the results some manufacturers promise. Additionally, subsisting on liquid alone for any extended period isn’t a great idea for a variety of reasons. However, fresh juice can be a great complement to your meal plan.
All you need to get started is a juicer (on in some cases, a blender), an arsenal of your favorite produce, and some recipe inspiration. For each of these seven easy recipes, simply juice all ingredients and enjoy.
Beet Juice
Beets are believed to have anti-cancer benefits, thanks to their unique combination of antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.
- 1 large beet, peeled
- 1 1-inch piece of ginger, peeled
- 1 cup of tightly packed fresh spinach/green of choice
- 1 medium apple, cored
- 1 medium carrot, peeled
Kale Juice
Leafy greens like kale are full of vitamins, minerals, and cholesterol-lowering fiber.
- 5 - 6 large leaves of lacinato (dino) kale
- 2 - 3 stalks of celery
- 1/2 medium cucumber
- 1 Meyer lemon, peeled
- 1 small pear
Carrot Ginger Juice
Ginger has been used throughout history as an effective treatment for gastrointestinal issues, and can help quell nausea and motion sickness. “This bright orange juice is sweet and spicy, and especially warming during the winter months,” says One Life editor Nikki Jong.
- 5 large carrots
- 2 apples
- 1 knob of ginger, about four inches long
- Add more ginger to taste
Parsley Mint Juice
The volatile oils in parsley have been shown to counteract certain types of carcinogens and inhibit tumor growth in animal studies.
- 1 large bunch of parsley
- 1 large bunch of mint
- 1 whole cucumber
- 1/2 medium apple, cored
Red Cabbage Juice
Cruciferous vegetables like cabbage have been hailed as cancer-preventive foods thanks to their high concentrations of antioxidants.
- 1/4 - 1/2 medium red cabbage
- 1/2 small beet, peeled
- 1 medium-large cucumber
- 1/2 - 1 medium apple, cored
Fennel Juice
Fennel is an excellent source of vitamin C, an antioxidant that helps prevent cell damage. “This recipe makes about two to four servings.