I am wondering whether anyone on this forum has stopped using jimmyjoy for e.g. several weeks after a prolonged (~5 years) and intense jj consumption (80% of meals). I’d be curious to hear your insights - didn’t find any topic like this on here. To be sure, I am a satisfied jj customer, but I always like to know the true (health) cost of stopping.
A concrete example: it has been ~3 years that I rely on jj for ~90% of my meals (i.e. only 2 normal meals per week in a 3-meal/day rhythm). For 1 year before that, I was at 80% and for almost 2 years before that I was at 67% of meals. What if I have to go to my in-laws for several months in a row, up to a year (remote work …) and explaining jj is not an option? Or what if one just wants to stop jj because e.g. of fear that long-term lack of mastication weakens jaw muscles, salivary glands, etc. that would lead to vertebral problems, decreased important immune barrier, intestine weakening,… w/e the longer- term effects of liquid food might do to you (not the topic right now, but in the back of my mind).
Some fears:
-Gut flora has self-selected for processing jj ingredients, leading to massive digestion problems. I have already experienced that when e.g. going a week on vacations where I feel I am basically not digesting any food as well as I used to (even fruits). I hope this would re-adapt itself after a few weeks - but would love the thoughts of people who know how gut flora works.
-Enzymes no longer produced properly so that you don’t process other ingredients as efficiently. For this I worry that for a long time, I just would not get the (already scarce) nutrients from normal food. Anyone has evidence/reasons supporting or disconfirming this fear?
-Withdrawals ;p
-Any other?
What this really is, is an argument of taking everything in moderation.
Most, if not all, scientifically based advice on macro nutrition dictates a varied diet.
Going 80% JJ, delicious, cheap and sustainable as it may be, would hardly classify as such,
Hi @Nick210! Welcome to the forum
Your concerns are completely valid! I will try to answer each of your worries as much as I can.
The weakening of the jaw muscles is a reality. Like any muscle and joint, it must be exercised. I imagine you are consuming only the shakes. How about adding some bars to your diet? An alternative could be chewing gum or doing extra exercises, but if we can eat and exercise at the same time, why not doing both at the same time, right?
As for the salivary glands, there shouldn’t be any problems (diet-related). They are active all the time and there is more saliva production when there is something in the mouth, including the shakes.
As for the gut microbiota, many factors can affect your unique composition. Your microbiome will metabolize nutrients from food and even from some medications. The food we consume will affect our microbiome because our microorganisms also need certain nutrients or prebiotics. The ones we use in our product come from inulin, oats, soy, and flaxseeds. A high fiber diet increases microbial diversity, which is harder to disrupt
So our diet will definitely affect the diversity of our microbiome but remember that it is very flexible and resilient, it will smoothly adapt to a new diet (it might take a couple of days) IF it needs to adapt. Usually, the factors that might affect negatively your microbiota are the use of antibiotics, traveling, infections, and the lack of fiber. Consider that if your diet is very monotonous, any change will provoke a strange sensation in your body. Always listen to your stomach and eat what you feel is good for you. Transitioning from a liquid diet back to solid food must be done slowly, so your body has time to adapt.
About the enzymes, these are released according to the type of food you are consuming (carbohydrates, fats, proteins). There is no need to worry about this since you are consuming all the macro and micronutrients, there shouldn’t be a problem
I’ve been living on liquid calories only for more than ten years now. My gut flora may be destroyed or changed anyway, I just decided to stop worrying. Other people have crap diets and don’t worry about that because it is “normal food”. Maybe an interest for complete foods like JJ is associated with a selection bias…worrying too much about nutrition seems to predispose to the use of it. Maybe you have to keep that in mind when thinking about your nutrition next time.
Thank you Cheeserider for the reminder, I think it’s important for everyone to remain aware of that piece of advice! In particular here, the advice is not only for striking a balance of nutrients “on label”, but more for “hedging” in the (low-likelihood) cases where the label of your food or if authorities’ nutritional guidelines that label is based on are dangerously skewed one way or another. Marba, that’s an interesting thought, I agree that my worries about nutrition have driven both my use of JJ and my original post Good catch that helps me take some more zen perspective.
@Laura.A really appreciate your reply there. Thanks for the welcoming words and addressing the concerns mentioned! I am indeed consuming only the shakes. It’s good to know I should probably work on jaw muscles and might not need to worry about salivary glands nor enzyme. I definitely should try the bars over a long period of time to observe what happens to my jaw muscles!
I also didn’t know high-fiber diets increases microbiome diversity - that’s a reassuring piece of info. More importantly, I understand from your points on transition (or any diet change) you have no concern about a jj-fed body’s ability to adapt to non-jj food, beyond some potential discomfort/strange sensation for a couple of days
You answered my question ! Everyone else, feel free to share your experience/insights on such transition of course.
Maybe strange to say but the only thing I noticed when I quit eating 3 meals/day of shakes was that I farted less. I think it has to do with the protein content but other than that, no problems and had no issues digesting my steaks, burgers, salads, and fruits. I must say I did miss eating my shakes as I just love the convenience of shaking up a meal instead of having to fire up the Uber Eats app and wait for 30 minutes before my food arrives.
Good catch 
that helps me take some more zen perspective.
More importantly, I understand from your points on transition (or any diet change) you have no concern about a jj-fed body’s ability to adapt to non-jj food, beyond some potential discomfort/strange sensation for a couple of days 
! Everyone else, feel free to share your experience/insights on such transition of course.