Detox. Cleanse. Reset. Reboot. Majority of people all over the world are increasingly sliding into unhealthy lifestyles and everyone wants a quick-fix.
So perhaps it doesn’t come as a surprise how readily we take to health fads. And the popular kids on the block are currently cold-pressed juices. They cost a bomb, and let’s be honest, they don’t really taste like ice cream.
Then why are these such a rage? The scientific benefits these juices claim to provide may have a hand in that – ‘flushes out toxins’, ‘reboots your system’, ‘cleanses your body’. And well, maybe because the cool kids have it.
Unfortunately, our bodies aren’t computers which can be switched on and off at will, rebooted and voila, problem fixed.
ASCI Says Such Claims Are Misleading
Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) has recently asked a leading cold-pressed juice brand, Raw Pressery, to modify some such claims on their website.
Rustam Singh, editor at Secular World, an Atheist Alliance International magazine, had independently filed a complaint with ASCI regarding the unsubstantiated claims. He told The Quint that even though many products exaggerate while advertising, he thought Raw Pressery was pushing the claims a little too far.
While I agree that it’s a free market and people should be allowed to choose what they want to buy, the false claims they make is misleading people into thinking they’re leading a healthy life. It gives you a false illusion of health and you’re staying away from genuine help. That’s why I decided to take charge and complain.Rustam Singh, Complainant
In reply to the complaint, Raw Pressery merely said that terms like “cleanse” and “reset your body clock” have not been used by them in scientific or medical parlance but as common phrases.
After reviewing the data, the council concluded that the claims should not use scientific words unless there is evidence to show the product to be able to provide those benefits. And further asked the company to modify claims like “flushes out toxins”, “rid your body of toxins” and “alkalizes your system” on their website.
Nothing Better Than What Water and Fruits Can Do
Raw Pressery added that with words like “flushed out toxins”, it does not wish to say that only these juices, and not water, can achieve this.
Speaking to The Quint, Dr Pooja Sharma, accredited Nutritionist and Lifestyle Expert, Powai, Mumbai, explained that water is the best cleanser. Cold-pressed juices, while better than normal mixer-ground juices, are any day less beneficial than eating fresh fruits in their natural form, which have the maximum anti-oxidants and fibres, she added.
Less expensive alternatives like fresh fruits, coconut water, wheatgrass juice, leafy vegetables and plain old water, of course, top these juices. Naturally available foods are better in terms of nutrition than any kind of machine made juices any time.Dr Pooja Sharma, Nutritionist and Lifestyle Expert, Mumbai
Cold-pressed juices may help if they’re taken on a regular basis and not once in a while.
Rustam feels companies like Raw Pressery are clearly just making money off this wave of liberal natural products that lure in millennials.
People today sleep less, hydrate less, and with little or no exercise look towards products like detox teas and juices to fix it all. We do wish there was a magic pill for it, but guess what, there isn’t. The next time you’re ready to empty your wallet for these products, first try and have some good old water and fruits first, what say?
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