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15th July 2008

Cleansing: Good Idea or Unnecessary Restriction?

posted by Jennifer Maiser | posted in health and nutrition |

soap-cleanse.jpgAll of a sudden, it seems that everyone around me is doing a cleanse. I went to a work meeting a couple weeks back, and one of the women ordered a salad with no dressing, lemon on the side, and had an at-length conversation with the server about sugar in the dressing. "I'm on a cleanse," she explained.

Dooce did it. Bay Area blogger extraordinaire Jennifer Jeffrey did it.

And in the greatest tipping point of them all, Oprah got into the cleanse craze after reading Kathy Freston's book Quantum Wellness. Oprah ate a vegan diet and gave up alcohol and caffeine for 21 days. Of course in typical Oprah style, she had a private chef cooking for her most days who even overnighted vegan food to her in Las Vegas when she was desperate.

Generally, a cleanse is a strict elimination diet which usually requires eating lots of fruits and vegetables and eliminating items such as meat, animal products, alcohol, caffeine and processed foods. Some extreme versions of cleanses go even further. The Master Cleanse eliminates all solid food, has the cleansers drink a fresh lemon juice and use laxatives for up to 45 days.

People who are cleansing do so in order to re-set their system, remove toxins, and lose weight.

But not everyone is a proponent of a cleanse. Many people in the medical community say that cleanses are unnecessary and dangerous, stating that the science is "deeply flawed" and ineffective long term.

I am in the midst of a five-day detox of my own -- cutting out alcohol, meat, cheese, fried and processed foods, sugar, and most dairy. I am basically doing it because I have been over-indulging a ton lately and had a few days open in my social calendar where I could just focus on eating good food at home. But I can't imagine doing a master cleanse -- good, satisfying food is too much a part of my daily life.

Have you cleansed? Are you a proponent of giving your digestive system a break every once in a while, or do you agree with much of the medical community that we already have systems in place to do this on a regular basis without cleansing?

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This entry was posted by Jennifer Maiser on Tuesday, July 15th, 2008 at 12:32 pm and is filed under health and nutrition. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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There are currently 8 responses to “Cleansing: Good Idea or Unnecessary Restriction?”

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  1. 1 On July 15th, 2008, Mrs. L said:

    Years ago I followed one where you drank hot water with lemon juice, gave up meat and just ate come veggies and fruits…but it was only for a weekend. I keep hearing about these "cleanses" and also wonder if they really do anything? (except maybe make you lose a pound or two).

  2. 2 On July 15th, 2008, charlotte said:

    Every January, I do a Daniel Fast, which translates into what you describe as a cleanse. While I usually don't lose weight, I've seen dramatic health effects happen in my cholesterol level. I even blogged about it here: http://theatricalmilestones.blogspot.com/2008/01/foodie-friday-daniel-fast-psa-and-tofu.html

  3. 3 On July 15th, 2008, Jennifer Jeffrey said:

    Thanks for linking to me - I'm such a big fan of the cleanse.

    In fact: I did that last one in January, and it's been over 6 months now. Perhaps it's time for another round.

    The cleanse isn't about weight loss for me (I think I lost 3 pounds - not exactly life-changing), but rather the sense of being renewed and refreshed and "de-toxed".

    I hope yours is going well - hang in there! You'll feel great in the end.

  4. 4 On July 15th, 2008, Christine Tham said:

    Not necessary to go through this suffering. Just watch what you eat, no junk food, plenty of fruits, vegetables and soup. I am 50 years old and weight only 50 kgs having given birth to 4 children.

  5. 5 On July 16th, 2008, sara no h. said:

    *shrug* It sounds an awful lot like yo-yo dieting to me. What, you eat superhealthy for five days or a month, and then go back to whatever you were doing before that necessitated the cleanse in the first place? Why not just take the time to learn healthy eating habits, so that you can phase all that bad stuff (er, the overprocessed, sugary junk food stuff - not necessarily all solid foods!) out permanently?

    Also, taking laxatives for longer than medically necessary just sounds like a bad idea. :p

  6. 6 On July 17th, 2008, MrsBug said:

    Actually, dooce cut her's short (see her post here http://www.dooce.com/2008/06/25/revelations.

  7. 7 On July 22nd, 2008, Jon Manuel said:

    I'm just wrapping up day 6 of a 7 day "juice fast." I usually do it once a year in the summer. It's a week worth of nothing but 100% fruit juice and caffeine-free herbal tea that allows your system to flush out. By giving your digestive system a break from having to process much, you give it a chance to build up all of the junk that naturally builds up. I feel great after I do it, and though weight loss isn't the goal in doing it, I always lose upwards of ten pounds. Feel free to contact me through my blog if you have any questions!

  8. 8 On January 12th, 2009, Jan Smith said:

    Jennifer,
    I am glad you posted this. I was looking for a follow up to your 7 day cleanse.

    What we often forget is that not everyone is right for a cleanse. But most will benefit greatly if they will expand their thinking beyond what "science" says.

    I cleanse every year and feel so much stronger because of it.

    Best wishes,
    Jan Smith

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