Juice Cleanses In Offices: Do They Work?

When The Daily Meal's Nina Fomoud bravely took on her Cooler Cleanse, she wasn't the only one in the office sticking it out — she had the support of a fellow coworker doing the same cleanse. And The Daily Meal isn't the only office jumping aboard the juice cleanse train. Many offices now think that getting the whole office on a juice cleanse might be more effective — not only to drop a few pounds, but for team building. 

The New York Times reports on the juicing trend that's swept cubicles everywhere, as more and more officemates decide to partake in a juice cleanse together. Take Oprah's production staff, who did a three-day cleanse together, or the film crew from Salma Hayek's newest movie, Here Comes the Boom. Even employees from Merrill Lynch and the Carlyle Group are getting in on the action. Is this really becoming a thing? 

What's even more interesting is that these "corporate cleanses" aren't filled with female dieters — they're usually dudes. Said Jina Wye, director of sales and marketing for BluePrintCleanse to The New York Times, the cleanses "commonly skew toward men, especially traders, investment bankers and lawyers." Eric Helms, the founder of Cooler Cleanse agreed, saying his bulk cleanses tend to head toward brokerage firms on Wall Street. We can't imagine that an all-liquid diet is making these dudes happy, much less any closer. (Could this be the real reason why Wall Street is tanking??) Then again, some businesses do it together so everyone can be motivated to stick to it. 

We asked Fomoud to share whether she thinks her own "corporate cleanse" really worked; her response: "I'm not sure I would have survived without Jackie [Stone]. Juicing with a co-worker is a non-negotiable — you have someone to compare flavors and cravings with. And you can high-five each other after you chug green juice."

Fomoud went on to say, "An entire office cleansing will certainly keep everyone accountable. That said, it would make for awkward meetings with cranky co-workers — no fun." We might just stick to our office happy hours instead for team bonding.