Juice cleanse
Controlled research is limited to one 84-woman trial and one 14-person study. A 7-day lemon syrup detox lowered weight, body fat and insulin resistance about as much as a calorie-matched placebo juice. No study measured toxin removal. Case reports describe acute kidney injury from oxalate after juice cleanses, some ending in dialysis.
- Status
- A dietary pattern, not a regulated product. Some cleanses are sold as commercial programs.
- Also called
- juice cleanse, juice fast, juice fasting, juicing, juice diet, detox diet, detox cleanse, green smoothie cleanse, lemon detox, Master Cleanse, juice-based diet
- Followed for
- detox, toxin removal, weight loss, gut health, inflammation, insulin resistance
Strong several reviews agree · Moderate one review or consistent trials · Limited one or a few small studies · Untested no study in people, listed with what it rests on
Shown to help2
- LimitedOne trial found a 7-day lemon syrup detox lowered weight and body fat against no diet change, about as much as a calorie-matched placebo juice, in overweight Korean women.
- LimitedOne trial found the inflammation marker hs-CRP fell on a 7-day lemon detox but not on a calorie-matched placebo juice, in overweight Korean women.
Reported risks2
- LimitedCase reports: oxalate-rich juice cleanses and juicing were followed by acute kidney injury from oxalate crystals, with several people left on dialysis.
- LimitedLimited evidence: an observational study of two Hungarian juice cleanse camps described deliberate laxative use and eating behaviors matching purging disorder and orthorexia.
What people follow it for, and what was found
Shown to help2
Weight and body fat
One trial found a 7-day lemon syrup detox lowered weight and body fat against no diet change, about as much as a calorie-matched placebo juice, in overweight Korean women.
Compared with no diet restriction, and a calorie-matched placebo juice, in overweight Korean women [1]
The numbers and sources
- Effect
- Body weight, BMI, body fat percentage and waist-hip ratio fell more on the lemon detox and on a pair-fed placebo juice than in a control group with no diet restriction [1].
- Population
- 84 premenopausal overweight Korean women randomized to lemon detox, placebo juice or no restriction, for 7 days of juice and 4 days of transition food [1].
- Sources
- [1]
- Caveats
- The abstract gives no effect sizes. The authors attribute the changes to calorie restriction [1]. A 2015 review found no randomized trials of commercial detox diets in humans [2].
Inflammation
One trial found the inflammation marker hs-CRP fell on a 7-day lemon detox but not on a calorie-matched placebo juice, in overweight Korean women.
Compared with before the diet, in the same people (overweight Korean women), with a calorie-matched placebo juice group measured the same way [1]
The numbers and sources
- Effect
- Serum hs-CRP fell only in the lemon detox group. Hemoglobin and hematocrit stayed stable on the lemon detox and fell in the other two groups [1].
- Population
- 84 premenopausal overweight Korean women [1].
- Sources
- [1]
- Caveats
- One short trial, with a blood marker rather than a disease outcome. Each group was measured against its own starting level, and no test between the groups is reported for hs-CRP [1].
Mixed results2
Insulin resistance
One trial found insulin and insulin resistance fell on a 7-day lemon detox and on a calorie-matched placebo juice.
Compared with before the diet, in the same people (overweight Korean women), with a calorie-matched placebo juice group measured the same way [1]
Toxin removal
Limited evidence: a review found a handful of small, flawed studies of commercial detox diets and no randomized trial. None measured toxin removal on a juice cleanse.
Compared with no randomized comparison exists, per the review [2]
The numbers and sources
- Effect
- A 2015 critical review found that a handful of clinical studies reported that commercial detox diets enhanced liver detoxification and removed persistent organic pollutants, but described them as hampered by flawed methods and small samples. It found no randomized controlled trial of a commercial detox diet in people, and noted that evidence for detoxifying foods such as coriander and nori came mostly from animals [2].
- Population
- A review of clinical and animal studies of detox diets [2].
- Sources
- [2]
- Caveats
- The studies reviewed were of detox programs in general, not juice-only cleanses [2]. No study measuring toxins in the blood or urine before and after a juice cleanse was located.
Not shown to help1
Gut health
One 14-person study found no overall shift in gut bacteria after 3 days of juice, while some bacteria linked to inflammation became more common.
Compared with before the diet, in the same people, in groups on exclusive juice, juice plus food or plant-based food [3]
The numbers and sources
- Effect
- Overall gut microbiota composition did not shift significantly on exclusive juice, juice plus food or plant-based food for 3 days. Taxa associated with gut permeability, inflammation and cognitive decline rose in relative abundance, and saliva and cheek microbiota changed [3].
- Population
- 14 participants assigned to one of three 3-day diets after an elimination diet [3].
- Sources
- [3]
- Caveats
- Very small, and the abstract does not say whether diets were randomized [3].
How trials defined it
The lemon detox was a mixture of organic maple and palm syrups with lemon juice, taken as the only intake for 7 days, followed by 4 days of transition food [1]. The microbiome study used exclusive juice, juice plus food, or plant-based food for 3 days [3]. In the kidney injury case reports, intake included a daily spinach-heavy juice with about 1,500 mg of oxalate a day for 6 months [6], a green smoothie cleanse of leafy greens and fruit [5], and a one-week juice diet [7].
Risks
Reported risks2
Oxalate kidney injury
Case reports: oxalate-rich juice cleanses and juicing were followed by acute kidney injury from oxalate crystals, with several people left on dialysis.
The numbers and sources
- Effect
- A patient with chronic kidney disease developed oxalate-induced acute renal failure after oxalate-rich juices, one of 3 presumed diet-induced cases among 65 Mayo Clinic patients with biopsy-proven renal oxalate crystals [4]. A 65-year-old woman with normal kidney function developed acute oxalate nephropathy after a green smoothie cleanse and progressed to end-stage kidney disease [5]. A 68-year-old man on a daily spinach-heavy juice, about 10 times typical oxalate intake, developed end-stage kidney disease and remained on dialysis a year later [6]. A man with diabetes and normal kidney function needed dialysis after a one-week juice diet [7].
- Population
- Case reports and a single-center case review [4][5][6][7].
- Sources
- [4], [5], [6], [7]
- Caveats
- Case reports cannot give a rate. Several patients had predisposing factors: chronic kidney disease [4], past gastric bypass and recent prolonged antibiotics [5], volume depletion [6], or age and diabetes [7]. The one-week juice diet in [7] followed a gastrointestinal bleed, not a cleanse.
Laxative use and disordered eating
Limited evidence: an observational study of two Hungarian juice cleanse camps described deliberate laxative use and eating behaviors matching purging disorder and orthorexia.
The numbers and sources
- Effect
- Participants used laxatives as part of their daily routine and lost weight rapidly through diuresis. The authors identified patterns of purging disorder and orthorexia nervosa, and report that camp organizers described two deaths from refeeding complications [8].
- Population
- Ethnographic observation and interviews at two juice cleanse camps [8].
- Sources
- [8]
- Caveats
- Qualitative, with one observer. The deaths were reported by organizers and not documented in the study [8].
Sources
- Kim MJ, Hwang JH, Ko HJ, et al. Lemon detox diet reduced body fat, insulin resistance, and serum hs-CRP level without hematological changes in overweight Korean women. Nutrition Research. 2015. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nutres.2015.04.001
- Klein AV, Kiat H. Detox diets for toxin elimination and weight management: a critical review of the evidence. Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics. 2015. https://doi.org/10.1111/jhn.12286
- Sardaro MLS, Grote V, Baik J, et al. Effects of Vegetable and Fruit Juicing on Gut and Oral Microbiome Composition. Nutrients. 2025. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu17030458
- Getting JE, Gregoire JR, Phul A, et al. Oxalate nephropathy due to 'juicing': case report and review. The American Journal of Medicine. 2013. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amjmed.2013.03.019
- Makkapati S, D'Agati VD, Balsam L. "Green Smoothie Cleanse" Causing Acute Oxalate Nephropathy. American Journal of Kidney Diseases. 2018. https://doi.org/10.1053/j.ajkd.2017.08.002
- Chaudhari H, Michaud J, Srialluri N, et al. Acute Oxalate Nephropathy Caused by Excessive Vegetable Juicing and Concomitant Volume Depletion. Case Reports in Nephrology. 2022. https://doi.org/10.1155/2022/4349673
- Raja N, Radhakrishnan H, Masilamani S. Oxalate Nephropathy: A Case Report of Acute Kidney Injury Due to Juice Diet. Cureus. 2023. https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.51226
- Bóna E, Forgács A, Túry F. Potential relationship between juice cleanse diets and eating disorders. A qualitative pilot study. Orvosi Hetilap. 2018. https://doi.org/10.1556/650.2018.31090