Tomato Juice Diet

While tomato juice certainly makes a healthy addition to your diet, it won't give you everything your body needs if it's the only thing you're eating -- or rather, drinking. The Tomato Juice Diet may help you lose weight fast, but this fad diet won't help you keep it off. Consult your doctor before trying any weight-loss diet.

Diet Specifics
The Tomato Juice Diet is a type of cleansing diet that uses the juice as a replacement for all your meals. On the diet, you're instructed to make your own juice using vine-ripened red tomatoes. According to the Love to Know website, bottled juice is not allowed due to the added ingredients such as sugar.

In addition to the juice, you are also allowed unlimited amounts of water and herbal tea, as well as caffeinated tea in moderation. Solid food is not allowed. You're instructed to follow the diet for up to 10 days.

Diet Concerns
If you're following the Tomato Juice Diet to jump-start your weight loss, it may not be the best way to go. While you'll probably lose weight due to the severe calorie restriction, you're more than likely losing muscle and water, not fat. These types of low-calorie diets may also lower your metabolic rate, according to the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, making it harder for you to lose. Plus, you may feel very tired or even dizzy following the diet, the medical center continues.

If you're following the diet as a cleanse to remove toxins, there's no scientific evidence that drinking a special juice, like tomato juice, is going to help, according to KidsHealth. If you're trying to detox, a healthy, balanced diet that is low in fat and high in fiber is the way to go.

Benefits of Tomato Juice
It's not all bad. When it comes to selecting a juice, tomato juice is a good choice. It's low in calories and high in a number of essential nutrients, including vitamins A and C, folate and potassium. One cup of tomato juice without salt has 41 calories, 9 grams of carbs, 1 gram of fiber and 2 grams of protein. It also meets more than 200 percent of the daily value for vitamin C and 22 percent of the daily value for vitamin A. Just watch the sodium on salted varieties -- if you're drinking a few glasses daily, you can easily exceed the recommended intake limit of 1,500 to 2,300 milligrams.

Juicing your own tomatoes allows you to control the ingredients. If you're unable to make your own juice, however, you can still get the benefits with a bottled or canned juice. Look for low-sodium versions and read the ingredients list to find one made with 100 percent juice. Avoid tomato juice cocktails, which can contain added sugar.

Tomato Juice and Weight Loss
As a low-calorie drink, tomato juice as part of a balanced diet can help you reach your weight-loss goals. You lose weight by eating fewer calories than your body needs. If you usually drink orange juice and make the switch to tomato juice, you save about 80 calories per cup. To lose 1/2 pound of fat a week, you need to reduce your daily calorie intake by 250 calories. A simple change in juice is an easy way to limit calorie intake without having much of an impact on your intake, which may help push you toward your weight-loss goals.