Your patient's juice cleanse may be giving them dementia
MDlinx Mar 27, 2025
Industry Buzz
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"Given that there is concern that alterations in the microbiome may play a role in the risk of developing dementia, it makes sense that removing fiber in the diet can have deleterious effects." — Ozan Toy, MD, MPH, chief medical officer at Telepsychiatry in New Jersey
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“Without fibers, the sugar-loving bacteria multiply, and inflammatory response increases." — Roula Al-Dahhak, MD, board-certified neurosurgeon, founder of the Memory Training Center in St. Louis
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“Inflammation may cause increased permeability of the gut epithelial barrier, which then results in invasion of different bacteria, viruses, and their neuroactive products that lead to further inflammatory reactions in the brain." — Ozan Toy, MD, MPH
Find more of your peers' perspectives and insights below.
A new study from researchers at Northwestern University found that doing a juice cleanse for as little as 3 days may harm your cognitive health.
Sardaro MLS, Grote V, Baik J, et al. Effects of vegetable and fruit juicing on gut and oral microbiome composition. Nutrients. 2025;17(3):458.
About the study
The scientists studied three groups of healthy adults—one that consumed only juice, another that consumed juice plus whole foods, and a third group that ate only whole, plant-based foods. Throughout the experiment, the scientists collected saliva and stool samples along with cheek swabs. They found that the group that consumed only juice experienced changes in their gut and oral bacteria.
And those changes may come with health risks.
Per the report, published in the journal Nutrients, the bacterial changes detected may disrupt the gut microbiome, thereby contributing to inflammation and, potentially, cognitive decline.
Sardaro MLS, Grote V, Baik J, et al. Effects of vegetable and fruit juicing on gut and oral microbiome composition. Nutrients. 2025;17(3):458.
The reason? The researchers posit that juicing limits how much fiber a person consumes. Fiber helps feed and fuel the “good bacteria” in the gut that help fight infections, inflammation, and diseases.And you may already know why…
“Without fibers, the sugar-loving bacteria multiply, and inflammatory response increases,” says Roula Al-Dahhak, MD, a board-certified neurosurgeon and founder of the Memory Training Center in St. Louis.
Ozan Toy, MD, MPH, the chief medical officer at Telepsychiatry in New Jersey, says he’s not particularly surprised by the findings. It’s well-known that fiber is an important prebiotic that nourishes the growth of healthy bacteria in the gut, he says, and growing research supports the hypothesis that the intestinal microbiome plays a role in inflammation, which may set off neurodegenerative processes in the brain.
Stadlbauer V, Engertsberger L, Komarova I. Dysbiosis, gut barrier dysfunction and inflammation in dementia: a pilot study. BMC Geriatr. 2020 Jul 20;20:248.
Potrykus M, Czaja-Stolc S, Stankiewicz M, et al. Intestinal microbiota as a contributor to chronic inflammation and its potential modifications. Nutrients. 2021;13(11):3839.
“Inflammation may cause increased permeability of the gut epithelial barrier, which then results in invasion of different bacteria, viruses, and their neuroactive products that lead to further inflammatory reactions in the brain,” says Dr. Toy.
As such, this hypothesis—that the microbiome may contribute to cognitive decline—has gained more traction in recent years.
“Given that there is concern that alterations in the microbiome may play a role in the risk of developing dementia, it makes sense that removing fiber in the diet can have deleterious effects,” Dr. Toy says.
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