Detox diets and the master cleanse

“The first couple of days was not pleasant. Your body goes through withdrawals and after that it was a very euphoric feeling,” admits Royal Kay.

He is talking about the first time he did the master cleanse. It is a detox diet where for ten days he drank a mixture of water, maple syrup, lemon juice and cayenne pepper and lost 16 pounds.

He explains, “Originally it was a jump-start method to lose weight, but after I experienced the cleanse for the first time I realized it was more than just losing weight. It was something of a spiritual experience.”

Royal is not alone. A lot of people do intense detox diets to drop extra weight quickly.

Registered Dietitian Michelle Dudash tells 3TV, “The premise behind detox diets is to detoxify the body by removing most foods from the diet, therefore removing a lot of calories and then replacing that with some kind of fluid.”

Dudash also explains, “One of the big mistakes people make in using these detox diets for weight loss and of course you'll lose weight because most of these detox diets are only 500 maybe 800 calories per day so yes, you’re starving yourself.” She says the diet may work in the short term, but beware. “The detox diets can be beneficial because they kind of reset your way of thinking and you might break some of those habits like eating chocolate or drinking beer something like that. The problem is once you go off the diet and if you haven't changed those habits you revert back to those habits, your weight is going to come back.”

Dr. Walter Crinnion agrees that detox diets are not long term. He approaches the subject from the other end. “If you’re doing weight loss you want to add something in there to get the toxins out like a colonic irrigation, the green tea, the broccoli. So if you make it more of a lifestyle shift and ‘I love my body lifestyle shift’ then you’re going to lose weight safe, weight loss that's good for your body is no more than a couple pounds a week.”

Dudash adds, “Detox diets appeal to people who want the magic bullet.”

If you want to lose weight the healthy way she says it is all in what you eat.

“We’re looking at fruits and veggies…organic if you can afford those. Also nuts and seeds, beans, legumes and other lean protein like organic chicken and eggs.”

Royal has lost a total of 40 pounds in the last year and he has been eating right and exercising too.

Dudash says, “If you do like that approach doing one of those detox diets, one of the really strict ones for a few days is a good way to reset yourself and get rid of those old habits and then you can start with a more moderate detox diet like the one I recommended.”

If you'd like to find out more information you can log on to the Southwest Naturopathic Medical Center or visit Registered Dietitian Michelle Dudash’s website.