Cleansing diet?

[zahena]

I know that Jamileh has a cleansing diet that she uses from time to time because we've discussed this before but I can't seem to find it.

Does anyone have a good cleansing program that they can recommend? The goal is that we're having a photo shoot in a week and although I've lost a few pounds, I'd like to loose just a little more residual weight right before the shoot, does anyone have something they can recommend?

And that won't be too hard to follow? I do a great job of starving myself with the assistance of diet pills but it's too late for that! LOL!!!!

[nasila]

try raw-foods-only for a few days and lots and lots of water. all the fiber in raw fruits & veggies will help clean you out. :)

[SummerSahar]

I'm all for cleansing diets, and I looked into them quite a bit when I was almost ready to do one. I was going to do a juice diet for a while, ONLY fresh juices (you'd have to buy a juicer). It seems to be the healthiest and safest (and tastiest!).

I have to say, there is a lot of buzz about the Master Cleanse out there, and I would NOT recommend that. I researched it quite a bit because I thought it might be a good option, but a lot of the science behind it is crap. It's not a healthy choice for the human body, and no one is really sure what happens inside your body as far as cleansing goes on this diet (though Master Cleanse advocates sure have convinced themselves otherwise). It's all just theory, it starves your organs, and sucks a whole lot (why do people think that the detox process HAS to be painful and that means it's working?) for questionable results.

[rakgirl]

be careful with all the fruit juice. that's alot of calories actually. other than that i don't know much about cleansing. i wanted to do one but my doctor suggested i build up my immune system more first. i'm fighting a cold right now.

[SummerSahar]

Smart doctor! Cleansing isn't easy on the system....best to do it when you're healthy and strong to get the most benefits!

[nimah]

I'd never heard about the "Master Cleanse" until last week. I was talking to a friend that I hadn't talked to in a few months, and he said he did the cleanse for 10 days, lost 15 lbs, and has kept 8 of it off. He thought it was the best thing ever; he was raving about long after I was tired of hearing about it, LOL. Interesting concept....but I can't imagine that going that long without protein would be good for a person.

[yeli]

Your body does have a natural cleasning cycle. As long as you are going #1 and #2 on a regular basis, you body is actually cleansing itself.
These are basically starvation diets where you eat and drink so little that your body starts to break down it's own stores and you excrete water and protein that is wasted by the body. It is not a good or safe way to lose fat weight. Your body will only break down fat stores as a last resort because it the most calorically dense calorie source.

I won't post long about why cleansing diets are not healthy unless someone specifically asks. Some people are very touchy about what they hear from a friend or in the media and take it to heart. I can only tell you that as a registered deititan, cleansing diets are not healthy and not a good source for long term weight loss.

Please be safe.
Yeli

[*Shira*]

Originally Posted by yeli

I won't post long about why cleansing diets are not healthy unless someone specifically asks. Some people are very touchy about what they hear from a friend or in the media and take it to heart. I can only tell you that as a registered deititan, cleansing diets are not healthy and not a good source for long term weight loss.

Yeli, if you're willing to share, I really would be very interested in your perspective on why cleansing diets are unhealthy. I hear all this stuff like, "Toxins cling to the insides of your intestines and you need to cleanse to slough them away," or "You need to quit eating your normal foods for a while so your liver/pancreas/gall bladder/whatever can purge itself of the toxins that your normal foods contain," and so on.

I dunno, to me it seems like the best way to cleanse the body is to drink a lot of liquid (so your kidneys can cleanse your bloodstream) and eat a lot of fiber (to scrub out your innards) as it passes through, but that of course is opposite what a fasting cleanse tries to get you to do. And I tend to think that lots of fresh fruits and veggies would be more beneficial than two weeks of laxatives. But this is all just my intuition, so I'd love to hear what a trained professional has to say.

[emijane]

Yes, Yeli, I'd be interested to hear too. I know many people who've done cleansing diets with much success, but it always seemed sketchy to me...

[yeli]

I hope this info will help... I want people to be safe when they diet and all too often magic bullet diets or quick fixes grab people because they are looking for easy answers to weight loss.

These detox diets are not new. As early as 1820, Lord Byron was suggesting that people go on a vinegar and water diet to cleanse the soul and aid in digestion.

Many detox or cleansing diets have an alarmist message that our bodies and food supply are “toxic.” This is simply not true and not backed by legitimate science. In fact, if you are urinating and have a bowel movement on a regular basis, you body is already cleansing itself the way it was designed to.

What the diets often say / and the real science behind it:
* Food is better for you in liquid form - Not true. There is no science to prove this. In fact, your body needs whole foods in order to chew, digest and absorb the nutrients in the food. Some vitamins and minerals are not abosrbed without the help of other nutrients like fat and fiber. If you remove those "carriers" the vitamins and minerals are simply not absorbed and flushed out of the body.

* Your body is filled with toxins and you must cleanse to get rid of them - Not True. The suggestion that we are filled with toxins creates fear that drives book and product sales. But in truth, our bodies naturally rid themselves of undesirable substances without any human intervention whatsoever. Real science proves that.

* People Lose weight because they flush out excess food sitting in their digestive tract - Not true. There may be significant weight loss but this is a result of severe caloric restriction, rather than detoxification. If you just ate the same amount of calories in celery, you would lose weight too. It's the lack of calories that you are taking in that effects your weight loss.

However, most of the lost weight will be fluids and muscle. In the absence of adequate protein intake, your body has to get protein from some source, so it burns up its own muscle mass. And at the end of the fast, the dieter will weigh less -- but their body composition will be higher in fat and lower in muscle.

That's one of the problems with all of the cleansing diets is that they are lacking in essential protein, fat, and fiber, which could be dangerous. Diet plans deficient in protein can lead to muscle wasting, and when you don't ingest enough essential fatty acids from fat, you also risk compromising your immune function.


Continued below......

[yeli]

Cleansing con't:

The recommendation of colonic therapy (a procedure in which a long tube of water in flushed through the intestinal tract, a kidney flush and a coffee enema) also has not been scientifically proven to promote weight loss. Sure, people that have it done see a lot of "stuff" come out through the tube and in the toilet. However, I see that everyday when I visit the restroom.
Your body is not storing 10 pounds of excess poop in your digestive tract - otherwise you would be very distended and sore! Your intestine is flexible, but not that much so!

Prolonged detox diets can be quite dangerous, potentially leading to dehydration, kidney stress, muscle loss, heart arrhythmia and plummeting levels of essential electrolytes, minerals and vitamins. Misuse of some enemas and purgatives can perforate or damage the intestinal walls, and in the most severe cases, an electrolyte imbalance could cause your heart to stop. There are documented cases of each of these effects.

I have heard people say while on a "detox diet" that they have a moment of euphoria or feel "light" while they are cleansing. This is the result of your brain not getting enough carbohydrate energy to function on. Your brain goes into a slow starvation mode as your body begins to break down other sources of energy including protein, which the brain cannot metabolize properly for energy. This euphoric state can be can be chalked up to hypoglycemia and the start of ketoacidosis - the same thing a diabetic would go through when their blood sugar is not regulated properly. It means your brain is short on energy reserves and hungry. You're loopy cause you are hungry - eat something!!

What people should do is try to eat more unrefined, non-processed foods, and eat foods like fruits, vegetables, whole grains and plant-based proteins and to take a closer look at emotional links people have with food.
People need to reduce stress and have a positive mental attitude and try home-cooked, mindful meals and eat everything in moderation.

If anyone has a specific question about an aspect of the cleansing diets, I would be happy to try to answer it or research the topic further.

Yeli

[yeli]

If you are interested in losing weight start by looking at what you are eating - your portions sizes, types of foods, when you eat, why you eat.

There are so many factors involved in "dieting" or even eating healthy.

However, if I can be permitted to give you tips to dieting healthy-

1. Monitor your portion sizes - all too often poeple think they are eating far less than they actually are. Snacks and eating large meals can reall add up.

2. Watch for sources of hidden calories - soft drinks, juice drinks, alcohol, condiments, etc. These are all sources of calories that can add up in your day to day eating habits. take stock of the calories in the beverages you drink, the condiments you put on your food and the snacks you eat

3. Increase your intake of fruits and vegetables - Raw or lightly steamed, no butter no sauce. Boring, maybe....healthy, YES!

4. Increase your intake of whole grains. It's so easy these days! Whole grains will keep your digestive tract healthy and these foods are so easily accessible now - Whole grain pastas, breads, oatmeal, etc.

5. Look for lean meat and protein sources. No need to go vegan if can appreciate a nice steak, but seek out the leaner versions of your favorite meats. Filet is better than rib eye, grilled chicken is better than fried. One misconseption is that turkey and chicken are always better than beef. Not always true! Read labels and porition sizes. A lean cut of beef or 97% fat free ground sirloin could be better than regular fat ground turkey.

6. Increase your work outs - Bellydance is a great, low impact exercise. However, you are not going to drop the weight unless you do more to burn calories than you are today. Increase your drills or add running/walking to your routines. Class for 1 hour, 2 times a week is not going to help burn extra calories unless you were completely sedentary before.

Hope that helps!

[*Shira*]

Yeli, I really appreciate your taking the time to explain all of this. I think that whole "flushing out the toxins" thing is what motivates a lot of people to try these "cleansing" diets. I have to admit that there's something scary about the notion advocated by proponents of "cleansing" who say that our bodies are harboring lots of scary toxins that can give us cancer, cause allergies, and otherwise harm us. And there's something enticing about the idea that doing a special weird diet can cleanse us of these toxins and prevent/cure these illnesses.

It's really good to understand what the potential negative effects of those special diets can be. Sometimes the "cure" is just as bad as whatever condition you're trying to cure...

[BabsGrrrl]

Thank you Yeli for sharing all that information. I really appreciate it. There are times when I think that I "should" do a juice fast or a cleansing diet to "kick start" my weight loss because it seems like a quick way to get thinner. It's good to hear from a professional in the nutrition field that the slow way is the best way.

[SummerSahar]

I'm so glad to hear from a nutritionist on this! It seems there are so many holistic people that swear this is such a good thing for their bodies, so I read into it (unlike many people that swear by cleanses like the Master Cleanse. Don't people get second opinions anymore? People will believe anything they read if it's along their same beliefs), and I suspected it wasn't such a great thing. But I really balked when people began to equate pain (headaches, stomach aches, dizziness, things associated with starvation) with the body cleansing itself. This is when I totally went skeptic. This seems to be a repeating theme in the holistic community. Pain = truimph and health. That's a very dangerous association since our bodies are set up to notify us of something being wrong through pain.

[loloup]

Thank you for that extremely informative, and very timely information. It seems like everyone I know is talking about fasting right now. There was something on NPR a few days ago in which it was recommended that people not eat for a day once in a while (not sure how frequently?) and it was the talk of the Thanksgiving table.

Of course I felt like never eating again after my second peice of pumpkin pie! until this morning anyway-

thanks again for taking the time to write it all out-

~Lolo

[nasila]

I find this fascinating, so I must pipe in about my fasting experience. I did some research and combined the parts of different fasts I liked, and it was a two week process. For the first week I ate raw foods only, and I was already feeling pretty good. For four days after that, I ate only raw garlic in the morning, then a mixture of 2oz. fresh sqeezed veggie/lemon juice and psyllium about every four hours. I *could not believe* how much started coming out of me in spite of the fact that not much was going in (sorry if that is TMI). I lost 4 inches around my abs, my ongoing head-fog completely cleared up, I had tons of energy, and I felt marvelous!! Everywhere I went people commented on how clear my eyes and skin were, and told me I was glowing. The last three days I slowly re-introduced raw foods and went back to a normal (non-veggie) diet. Over the next month, I lost an additional 14 pounds without intentionally changing anything diet-wise (though I must admit my craving for sweets/carbs was pretty much gone).

I did this because I suspected yeast/candida overgrowth...I know most doctors and a lot of nutritionists think this is bogus, but as a child I had over 32 doses of antibiotics due to ear infections and I've had chronic yeast-related problems all my life. The weight stayed off for over a year (until I got pregnant again started packing it back on).

Now, I've had similar but not nearly as drastic results from doing a low-glycemic diet recommended by a doctor (basically a diabetic diet ~ fiber grams > sugar grams at every meal; no more than 20 grams of carbs per meal; small snacks every 2 hours, etc). But I have NEVER felt as good as I did after that juice fast. I don't know how the science works out, but I'm pretty sure that our ancestors had to starve for a bit here and there when food was scarce, and I don't believe that much has changed in our hard-wiring in the last few thousands of years; I believe our bodies can handle it and just might even benefit from it. What else would explain how that worked out so favorably??

[Adishakti]

Originally Posted by nasila

I find this fascinating, so I must pipe in about my fasting experience. I did some research and combined the parts of different fasts I liked, and it was a two week process. For the first week I ate raw foods only, and I was already feeling pretty good. For four days after that, I ate only raw garlic in the morning, then a mixture of 2oz. fresh sqeezed veggie/lemon juice and psyllium about every four hours.

Could you elaborate on the following, please? "For four days after that, I ate only raw garlic in the morning, then a mixture of 2oz. fresh sqeezed veggie/lemon juice and psyllium about every four hours."

How long? How did you eat the garlic? What kind of veggies in the juice?

I've been having problems with acne, and am looking into a serious overhaul of my diet (ruling out a whackload of things for the time being, including gluten, dairy and sugar) to help improve my skin. I'd like to try a cleanse to kick it off.

Oh, and when you were eating raw foods, did you drink juice?

Yeli, thank you for the information you've provided us. I agree that fasting is not a healthy way to lose weight. At least not long term. And starving yourself not only does the things you mention, but also lowers your metabolism. When you return to eating food, your body hoards it (storing it as fat in preparation for future starvation). At least, this is what I was taught when I was studying the nutrition portion of my personal trainer course.

Still, I've never done a fast, and would like to give it a try at least once to see how my body responds. My doctor says she does them a couple times/year, and I have an aunt who was able to rid herself of gallstones without having an operation via fasting. I don't know many details on the latter, but it certainly impressed me!

[yeli]

Originally Posted by nasila

For four days after that, I ate only raw garlic in the morning, then a mixture of 2oz. fresh sqeezed veggie/lemon juice and psyllium about every four hours. I *could not believe* how much started coming out of me in spite of the fact that not much was going in (sorry if that is TMI). I lost 4 inches around my abs, my ongoing head-fog completely cleared up, I had tons of energy, and I felt marvelous!!

You were eating next to no calories at all. Your body was breaking down protein for energy use because it had no incoming carbohydrate energy to utilize for it's everyday function. It wouldn't have mattered the type of food that you were taking in because the amount of or lack of calories is what was actually causing this.
The by-product of breaking down protein is water and waste products like nitrogen. These waste products must be excreted from your body through the uninary tract. Even if you have not been taking in enough water to flush these wastes out, your body knows that it must get rid of it or your kidneys will be damaged. The body will pull water from tissues and muscle in order to have enough to excrete the waste.
You were essentially losing water weight and protein weight during this time.
If you took a measurement of your body components after your fast you would have found that you weighed less but had a higher precetage of body fat now because some lean protein mass was "digested" for energy for your body to operate.

Originally Posted by nasila

Over the next month, I lost an additional 14 pounds without intentionally changing anything diet-wise (though I must admit my craving for sweets/carbs was pretty much gone).

Because you were watching what you were eating, you were probably taking in less calories than before. Without actually tracking what you took in your body it's hard to know just how little you were actually eating. However, in my practice, I have found that clients generaly lose weight with any placebo effect a diet gives because they are no consciously watching what they eat instead of snacking and overeating regularly.

[nasila]

Originally Posted by Adishakti

Could you elaborate on the following, please? "For four days after that, I ate only raw garlic in the morning, then a mixture of 2oz. fresh sqeezed veggie/lemon juice and psyllium about every four hours."

How long? How did you eat the garlic? What kind of veggies in the juice?

I ate 2-3 whole cloves of garlic per day, chewed them as long as possible before swallowing (to release anti-bacterial/anti-fungal properties). And drank lots of water right after. Be aware though, that you will REEK of garlic for many days if you do this. :)

I most often juiced tomato/chard/celery/carrots, sometimes other green and orange veggies and some lemon and/or ginger for flavor. And probably drank about 2 gallons of water a day. The psyllium fills you up so you're not really hungry (though I craved sugary things for the first day and a half).

My...um...excrement changed drastically over the few days of the fast. I seriously couldn't believe what was coming out of me; pounds and pounds of who-knows-what. I won't go into detail, but it was easy to see how I lost 4 inches around my waist. It was amazing.

I did a full raw week and broke the fast with raw foods too, and it's also worth noting that I took a mulit-vitamin, EFAs and acidophillus b