Popular Cleanses

Posted: May 01 2010 12:24PM By Ashley

Oh, VegNews, how I love you, but really wish you would use a little sense and good science. "The cleansing craze is a socially acceptable variant of bulimia.* Crash diets are no longer socially acceptable. These days, even the women's magazines that promote crash diets insist they are offering healthy, sustainable 1200 calorie meal plans. There is so much evidence that starvation diets are ineffective and dangerous that even quacks now claim to reject them. But evidently, people still want permission to subsist on 800 calories a day and use lot of laxatives. Marketers have responded to the demand. Enter, the Master Cleanse. During the lemonade fast portion of the diet, dieters replaces solid food with cayenne spiked lemonade. Once a day, they chug salt water as a purgative. Additional laxative teas are optional. (The creator of the diet was convicted of second-degree felony murder for trying to cure cancer with lemonade and colored lights, but I digress.) The ostensible goal of a cleanse is to rid the body of "toxins," not fat. Therefore, the dieters can tell themselves that they're not really dieting. The expected weight loss associated with drinking nothing but juice and purging for 10 days is just a happy side effect of a noble project of self-purification. Back in October, Double-X assigned reporter Samantha Henig to endure several days of fasting and purging with the Master Cleanse in the name of (pseudo)science. She gave a pretty good description of the process. Henig ultimately abandoned the fast after a real doctor convinced her that the alleged benefits of Master Cleanse were illusory-an object lesson on the importance of doing your research before the interview. *Relax, I'm not diagnosing anyone with anything. It's safe to assume that the vast majority of people who waste their time and money on cleanses do not have eating disorders and won't develop them as a result of their crazy diets. Still, there's no getting around the fact that "cleanse" is a euphemism for modified fasting and purging. Incidentally, bulimia is characterized by binging as well as purging. It should be noted that many cleanse enthusiasts recommend juice and saltwater benders as a form of purification after a period of overindulgence. Again, no diagnoses. Just observations. The cleanse craze is insidious because it provides pseudoscientific cover for behavior that would otherwise strike reasonable people as bizarre and unhealthy." From Majikthise: The Skeptical Gawker: ""Cleanses", "toning shoes", and cookie diets.

Posted: May 04 2010 11:48AM By ani phyo

VegNews...I too LOVE you! but I have to agree with Ashley that starvation is dangerous. Depending on goals other than spiritual or to decrease the size of a tumor, starvation depletes the body of nutrients, slows our metabolism making it easier to gain weight later, and our body eats its own muscle mass to feed instead. To cleanse, just eat a fully vegan and raw diet for a week or more. That in and of itself is cleansing and purifying and detoxing, without starvation or messing up our metabolism. This comes from my personal experience of fasting and detoxing with the seasons for 8+ years. And, in my raw food world, there are people who i consider anorexic, who are using the excuse of being raw to deprive themselves of eating properly. I rather strive for health, vitality, strength, and longevity. My 2 cents, for what it's worth....

Posted: May 06 2010 14:13PM By Sky

I just did the Blue Print Cleanse (http://www.blueprintcleanse.com) and LOVED it. They give you about 1200 calories a day of pure nutrition so it's safe, effective, and delicious. No one should undergo a water fast without professional supervision! I do agree with Ani though - the best way to cleanse the system safely is to go raw for a while.

Posted: May 11 2010 15:05PM By Stephanie

Personally, I love juice fasting. I never feel better than when I'm on a juice fast; so light, clear-headed and at the top of my health. Granted, I do agree with Ani and following a raw diet before and after is really optimal. People have been fasting for thousands of years and animals are known to withdraw from food if they are ill. Sure, there are probably lots of eating disordered people taking "advantage" of this, but a periodic fast is one of the very best, most healing things you can do for yourself.

Posted: May 12 2010 16:03PM By summer

I have personally water only fasted many times for anywhere from a day to 9 days and have never experienced any ill effects. During the 9 day, I monitored my blood pressure twice a day and it steadily decreased from an alarmingly high rate (which was my reason for fasting) back down to normal and stayed there. I fast for my health but weight loss is an added benefit. I highly recommend it, but most people think it will kill them and are afraid to really try it. I am now 46, take no medications, work a very physical job, and feel great.

Posted: May 19 2010 07:21AM By Sarah

While juice fasting can be helpful for some people (I recommend supervision by a doctore, naturopath or dietitian) I've seen too many people harm thameselves using the Master Cleanse. It doesn't provide the nutrients the body needs and while people do get "fasting euphoria" for a few days it's not worth the crash or the health issues it can bring on later. If you want to do a liquid cleanse, stick to fresh vegetable and fruit juices and put the salt in your bath.

Posted: May 22 2010 08:20AM By Jen

I am currently on day 6 of the 10 day Master Cleanse. This is the second time I have done this cleanse and love it. It feels amazingly good to clean out the digestive track, and to rethink the fuel you want to reintroduce to your body. thte "ease in" and "ease out" are very important aspects of this cleanse.

Posted: Jun 17 2010 07:30AM By Megan

It's been very interesting to read the commentary for this article. I am a medical professional: nurse-midwife and nurse-practitioner with advanced training in nutrition. While I am admittedly not in the raw food camp, I completely agree that a raw food cleanse that provides adequate nutrition and calories is much preferable. I did the Master Cleanse back in the day when I was young and ignorant. I would not recommend it to any of my patients. The real question is, why are we doing one week fasts/cleanses to clear out the crap in our systems instead of eating whole, nutritious foods 365 days a year? If you don't put junk in your body in the first place, you shouldn't need to drink cayenne-laced lemonade to clear the crud from your colon, liver, and gallbladder. As far as any weight loss, my experience in caring for patients who do cleanses to drop pounds is that they gain it back immediately, just like any fad diet. How discouraging is that? Scientific research has been conducted to determine the effectiveness of cleanses and fasts, including physical exams and blood tests. There's no data to support their use.

Posted: Jul 03 2010 06:16AM By Rose Smith

Ok, So I almost just walked away from these comments with nothing to add because of the introduction of the defuncked medical "good sense" and "research to back that up" vibe. However, I return. I turn and radiate my truth. My name is Rose, I am healed from PTSD From the Gulf War by the power of my mind , I am healed of financial enslavedment to commerce by the power of my mind. I am a healer and offer You this healing to all who would read trust and know the God within them. My credentials: I am an electrical and computer engineer, I have studied Chinese Medicine, Osteopathic Medicine and many hands on healing techniques I have also lived as an ascetic in Thailand, Nepal and India comments: First, the inventor of the Master Cleanse was a master faster Dr Ehret from Germany author of many research based books such as the "mucous free diet" and "rational fasting" NOT Stan Bouroughs who pupularized the Master Cleanse.?! 2nd it is easy for representative of a pharmaceutical based non- natural healing community to direct your focus and intention from sustainable ancient remedies for god health and longetivity fasting, cleansing and colon irrigation including the use of purgatives such as the Salt Water Flush have been used by high level masters including Yashew Ben Yoseph essence tribe aka Jesus the Christ It is a way of cleansing the bodies blood and biochemistry it definetly assists in preparing the body to be in alignment with the soul (temple of the soul) Your Body is Your temple many people live in chaos, disharmony and debris It is up to each of us to determine how purified and clear we want to keep our temple If yogic masters and royalty of Asia can do these types if processes and renew life I.n. The body Who are we to try to view the miraculous thru the eyes of our fear and little self imposed or learned limitations 3rdly Eating whole for in America is dificult, anything manufactured has natural flavors, colors and more chemicals to fool the body into believing it's being feed but the cells never lie. Vitality speaks the truth Imagine for a moment what your life would be Beyond Medicine? Doctors or Nurse or anyone else in the medical field would never reccomend that it would cost jobs and loss of income for them the qcient practice of medicine was a school of mystery related to the awakening of the Kundalini raiding it to the brain openning the heart center fully and activating your own ability to heal.... Schools if medicine have taken our focus and even beliefs away from the real truth of medicine You are your own Doctor, your own healer and no one else can Know your body or yourself as you do having said that feel free to contact me with any comments or questions www.lifebeyondmedicine.com and lifebeyondmedicine@gmail.com

Posted: Jul 31 2010 06:58AM By Alex

I've done the Master Cleanse several times. Afterwards, I smelled better, my skin was clearer and I had more energy. It was strange because I didn't think I smelled before. :) Also, whatever weight I lost, stayed off. I'm about to do it again. I would love to do the Izocleanze or Blueprint but they are way too expensive for me.