Chewing food properly has the same benefits as a pricey juice cleanse

Getty Images/Aaron Davidson

Amid the craze of several $100 juice cleanses, it's becoming increasingly clear there are more problems with the so-called "detoxes" than the price tag. Experts have said juice cleanses like the popular "Master Cleanse" leave people feeling hungry and therefore moody, and those who make it to the end of multiple-day cleanses can end up ravenously craving the foods they deprived themselves of. 

All of the perks, and none of the drawbacks, of a juice cleanse are now — and forever will be — available for the low, low price of free. 

According to Dr. Woodson Merrell, the author of The Detox Prescription, there's a simple solution to your detoxing woes — one your parents probably nagged you about as a child: chew your food. "I'm a fanatic about chewing," Merrell told the New York Times.

"The whole thing about juice is it makes [nutrients] easier to get. And it's easily digestible and absorbable." Well-chewed food, he believes, can achieve the same end.

Merrell's point about chewing speaks to a larger argument against juice cleanses. As experts have said before, the human body is more than equipped to "detox" itself. Liz Applegate, director of sports nutrition at the University of California, Davis, told LiveScience that the liver and kidneys' primary function is to break down and rid our bodies of toxins. 

"The body does not need any help in getting rid of toxins," she said.

Your bank account, and your growling stomach, will thank you.

h/t New York Times

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