Meet The Juicing Guru, the man who lost more than 7 stone in 60 days

Waking up on his 41st birthday Joe Cross knew something had to change.

At 21 stone his daily consumption of pizza, chips and doughnuts had turned his body into a car crash.

Coupled with an autoimmune disease, which required high doses of steroids, Joe knew he was heading for an early grave.

He set himself a goal; he would only drink juice derived from the water of plants for the next 60 days. In that time he lost 100 pounds.

Filming his progress for extra motivation, Joe mesomorphed from an overweight man on the brink of self-destruction to a worldwide sensation earning the unofficial dubbing of “The Juicing Guru”.

Seven years on Joe is now fit healthy and medication free. 20 million people have also seen his self-transformation across the globe after his story was made into a film titled “Fat Sick and Nearly Dead”.

Joe now aims to alert the planet about the benefits his juicing lifestyle can have, which is not simply restricted to those wanting to shift a few extra pounds.

Working with marathon runners such as Rich Roll and Lauren Grant, who are big advocators of the juicing lifestyle, Joe tells Men’s Running how his approach can benefit athletes.

Q. So Joe talks us through how you became the “Juice Guru”?

A. Ha, the “Juicing Guru” is never a title I gave myself, but putting a camera on myself and highlighting my struggle was what got me noticed worldwide. I never thought a documentary about a fat bloke drinking plants would become so popular.

Q. Can you break down just how a juicing lifestyle would benefit a runner?

A. First of all you need to go back to basics, nutrition 101 if you like. Every runner will be concerned of the macronutrients they are consuming to give them the energy to compete, but this can lead to abandoning the micronutrients.

Micronutrients are essential in order for your information cells to function. However, one misconception people have is that I recommend juicing as the sole activity in your diet, which is wrong. Juicing is a component of a healthy diet, which will supercharge your progress and give you that added edge.

Q. One misconception by the public is that following a juicing diet is an expensive outlay, could you give our readers any advice on how to juice on a budget?

A. There is no doubt with programmes such as ‘‘rebooting with Joe’’ a high amount of plants needs to be consumed. This will of course not be cheap and I sympathise with that, but the individual needs to make lifestyle changes and put their health first.

How many people are willing to spend eight or nine pound on a takeaway or a couple of pints in the UK, yet not prepared to spend eight or nine pounds on putting extra years on their life?

Q. Runners have always been willing to experiment with diets; one diet, which is highly touted, is the paleo diet (sometimes known as the caveman diet), what are your thoughts on this type of eating habit?

A. My juicing diet is a lot more moderate than something like the paleo diet; being less restricting I think it guarantees more success.

The problem with diets like the paleo is although they can provide short-term success, the likelihood that an individual will be able to fully restrain from nutrients like grains fully is not high.

This can cause a number of psychological problems if someone slips up on such a diet, they can feel bad about themselves resorting back to comfort eating producing a vicious circle.

Juicing is for everyone and can be a compliment to a well balanced diet and does not require going without treats forever.

Q. You are also a vegan; do you think Veganism has any advantages for runners?

A. Without doubt and studies support this, however, much like the paleo diet, Veganism requires intense discipline that not everyone possesses in their arsenal.

Q. How would you like to see the human race progress in regards to nutrition and exercise?

A. A scary fact out there is that the average human only uses one calorie out of every twenty consumed. I’d like to see that slowly increase to five then six and so on.

My main goal however is too see the human race consuming more water from plants and learning about the advantages of juicing and the benefits it brings.