Cleanse

RenCara

Hello, Everyone!
A few of my friends have decided to start the new year by doing an 11 day cleanse. I am not sure if our bodies really need this and what advantage there is to doing it, so I have not decided if I will join them or not. Can anyone give me information, positive or negative, on doing a cleanse?
Thank you!

dad106

I personally wouldn't as you're body cleanses it's self naturally each day just by eating food and drinking plenty of water.

Any weight that you lose on this cleanse will be water weight and will come back on as soon as you resume eating normal amounts.

MissWhittle

What does the cleanse involve?

3dogsrunning

Here are two articles on cleanses you should read before deciding

http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/index.php/colon-cleanses-a-load-of-you-know-what/
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/colon-cleansing/AN00065

What type of cleanse is it?

RenCara

Thank you for the information. I will read it over before doing anything. I, too, have thought that our bodies cleanse naturally, especially if your eating whole grains, fruits and vegetables, but it's an interesting way to jump start your year.

One cleanse that some have chosen is a 7 day cleanse from Arbonne which is a drinks and then they will also take some vitamin suppliments. The other cleanse is an 11 day one, which consists of 'shakes" and vitamins. This one is recommended by Stacy Lei Krause (She does Will Power and Grace workouts.) but I cannot remember the specific name.

Thanks again!

moejo3

I think a cleanse is good a couple of times a year to just help aid in ridding any impurities that may have built up. However, if your are eating a lot of fruits and veggies you may not notice a difference. I prefer just a 5 or 7 day cleanse after the holidays if I have over indulged during the holidays or while on vacation. I don't like the purely liquid ones. I just take the phsyllium (sp?) capsules and eat no meat just fruits and veggies no carbs, seafood seems fine. Good luck

CaptainGordo

The body does an excellent job of "cleansing" itself. Just treat it right and it will treat you right. There is no "cleanse" as effective as simply eating well.

"The best way to 'detox' the body is simply to let your body do its job. Unless you have a medical problem, your body takes care of itself quite nicely, experts say."

"The liver and kidneys are nature's best-kept secret, because they are the weapons to eliminate toxins from your body," says Gerbstadt. "If you are concerned about certain substances in your diet, it is easier and safer to simply eliminate [those substances] rather than engage in unhealthy detox plans."

http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=64306
http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/detox-diets-purging-myths

According to Chau Che MD, with New York University:

"Despite evidence to the contrary, the idea that colon cleansing is therapeutic by removing impurities, lives on. However, these claims largely fail to consider normal physiology. The digestive tract has inherent properties that work to clean our colon. After food ingestion, the small intestine absorbs nutrients and contracts to move indigestible residue into the colon. The colon continues the digestive process by absorbing and secreting electrolytes and fluids while its resident bacteria ferments the undigested food products. These are just some of the many mechanisms in which the digestive tract works in order to ensure that the colon does not become encrusted with fecal matter as some products claim. The black, rubbery material passed on a colon cleanse is actually a byproduct from the supplements and fiber in the colon cleansing product as opposed to old fecal material, in which consumers are led to believe."

http://www.clinicalcorrelations.org/?p=1605
Reviewed by Michael Poles MD and Fritz Francois MD, NYU Division of Gastroenterology

Isrn2

I'm always suspicious of "cures" that require you to purchase something from the people or person promoting them.

LeanMeanFitnessMachine

Somehow it doesn't seem healthy to live off of shakes and vitamin supplements, even if it is only for 11 days. What about one of those 10-15 day veggie & fruit cleanses? That way you're still getting substinance? I've personally never done a cleanse, so I don't know much about them.

LeanMeanFitnessMachine

Somehow it doesn't seem healthy to live off of shakes and vitamin supplements, even if it is only for 11 days. What about one of those 10-15 day veggie & fruit cleanses? That way you're still getting substinance? I've personally never done a cleanse, so I don't know much about them.

Ashalena

drink coffee. that's all the cleanse you'll need :drinker:

Hambone23

You may not have this problem, but besides the health issues, I'm pretty sure after something like that, it'd trigger a binge for me. I'm not willing to risk that, especially after the holidays. I think a healthier way to cleanse is to drink a lot of water and to make sure you're getting enough fiber, then be really conscious of the choices you're making when you eat. That'll move things through your system just fine. :}

ElizabethRoad

Why don't you skip the cleanse and eat healthy, then compare notes with your friends after they're done, to see who had better results?

simone207

I don't know, but I'm giving Dr. OZ Detox a try it is only 48 hours- I figured it would help jump start my new year's resolutions. It involves alot of veggies, Quinoa, berry smoothies, and an epsion salt bath each day. Calories would be about where I need them to be. I'm hoping it will get rid of this nasty feeling from gorging myself on junk this holiday season.

MariFitBody

Im doing the Jillian Michaels 7 day Detox/Cleanse... I started yesterday lets see how that goes. FIRST TIME DOING ONE BTW.

Jeff92se

:grumble:
Taco Bell usually works for me

MariFitBody

I don't know, but I'm giving Dr. OZ Detox a try it is only 48 hours- I figured it would help jump start my new year's resolutions. It involves alot of veggies, Quinoa, berry smoothies, and an epsion salt bath each day. Calories would be about where I need them to be. I'm hoping it will get rid of this nasty feeling from gorging myself on junk this holiday season.

My thoughts exactly.

CaptainGordo

I don't know, but I'm giving Dr. OZ Detox a try it is only 48 hours- I figured it would help jump start my new year's resolutions.

Some examples of poor advice that Dr. Oz has provided in the past...

http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/index.php/when-oz-met-novella/

http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/index.php/dr-oz-youre-not-helping-diabetics/

http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/index.php/dr-oz-and-john-edward-just-when-i-thought-dr-oz-couldnt-go-any-lower-he-proves-me-wrong/

http://www.randi.org/site/jref-news/1260-pigasus-2011

The Media Pigasus Award goes to Dr. Mehmet Oz, who has done such a disservice to his TV viewers by promoting quack medical practices that he is now the first person to win a Pigasus two years in a row. Dr. Oz is a Harvard-educated cardiac physician who, through his syndicated TV show, has promoted faith healing, "energy medicine," and other quack theories that have no scientific basis. Oz has appeared on ABC News to give legitimacy to the claims of Brazilian faith healer “John of God,” who uses old carnival tricks to take money from the seriously ill. He's hosted Ayurvedic guru Yogi Cameron on his show to promote nonsense "tongue examination" as a way of diagnosing health problems. This year, he really went off the deep end. In March 2011, Dr. Oz endorsed "psychic" huckster and past Pigasus winner John Edward, who pretends to talk to dead people. Oz even suggested that bereaved families should visit psychic mediums to receive (faked) messages from their dead relatives as a form of grief counseling.

http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2011/02/dr_ozs_journey_to_the_dark_side_is_now_complete.php

http://theness.com/neurologicablog/index.php/dr-oz-promotes-homeopathy/

http://www.upi.com/Entertainment_News/2005/02/11/Top-US-doc-respectful-of-John-of-God/UPI-29081108131069/

It's best to take any advice he has given with a grain of salt. Do your due diligence and investigate other sources for validation of anything that he has said.

belinda_73

Its very difficult to restrict yourself to a cleansing diet, whether its 3 or 10 days. Google healthiest vegetables, it'll list out the 10 best things you can put into your body and why its healthy. Sweet potatoes, broccoli, beans, etc. All these are high in fiber so take a digestive enzyme with each meal, you'll feel cleaner, leaner if you give your body these healthy items, where with any restrictive diet you'll feel weak, get headaches, and not be able to work out.
Good luck.

CaptainGordo

I'm hoping it will get rid of this nasty feeling from gorging myself on junk this holiday season.

Eating properly, keeping your fluid intake in check and working out will accomplish this quite well.

CaptainGordo

It involves ... an epsion salt bath each day.

As far as sweating out or using a soak to "detox", that would only be true if you had a "true toxic exposure".

LUBBOCK, TX (KCBD) – A typical sauna uses steam to heat the body, but a new kind of sauna works by infrared light, in which radiant heat is absorbed by the body. Some claim it's better than steam because infrared saunas will make you sweat more. There have been many claims that any sauna can get rid of deadly toxins, but one expert at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital says here's what you need to know about sweat.

"When we sweat a lot, we are releasing some toxins, but that's only if one has a true toxic exposure," said Dr. Daniel Monti, an Integrative Medicine Expert. "For example they have high levels of mercury or lead in their blood, that needs to be assessed in a medical way and addressed in a medical way."

Dr. Monti says there are many claims linked to infrared saunas like burning calories, speeding anti-cellulite programs, relieving arthritis, and even boosting white blood cell counts, but there is no proof of any of that.

Source: http://www.kcbd.com/story/12260474/facts-and-myths-on-using-saunas-to-cleanse-the-body-of-toxins

belinda_73

Here is the website i mentioned earlier.
http://commonsensehealth.com/Diet-and-Nutrition/Top_10_Healthiest_Vegetables_List.shtml

Azdak

Hello, Everyone!
A few of my friends have decided to start the new year by doing an 11 day cleanse. I am not sure if our bodies really need this and what advantage there is to doing it, so I have not decided if I will join them or not. Can anyone give me information, positive or negative, on doing a cleanse?
Thank you!

There are no physical advantages. Your body "cleanses" itself continuously, therefore one should eat a healthy diet to allow the body to do its job. Everything else is just a scam.

There really isn't anything else to say.

Azdak

The support for "cleanses" is just another example of human beings' infinite capacity for self-BS. We can, and will, talk ourselves into ANYTHING.

But go ahead if you want--I"m sure Jillian MIchaels appreciates you paying for her next bikini wax.

Jeff92se

Speaking of. You always hear "your gut has 5-10lbs of crap in it", hence the need for a cleanse. How is that possible?

TourThePast

I cleanse every day.

Then again, I do have a liver and two kidneys.

Who knows what some of the people on here have left by the time they've gone through every "diet cheat" in the book, with pills and fads, before figuring out that all you need to do is eat reasonable quantities of good wholesome food!

Incidentally, one of the best ways of improving digestion is to exercise... Just saying. :bigsmile:

Speaking of. You always hear "your gut has 5-10lbs of crap in it", hence the need for a cleanse. How is that possible?

It's nowhere near that amount, so if you "always hear" it, start listening to different people. Preferably ones who are formally educated in the subject you're interested in.

3dogsrunning

But go ahead if you want--I"m sure Jillian MIchaels appreciates you paying for her next bikini wax.

OMG, made. my. day.

CaptainGordo

Speaking of. You always hear "your gut has 5-10lbs of crap in it", hence the need for a cleanse. How is that possible?

it's not.

According to Chau Che MD, with New York University:

"Despite evidence to the contrary, the idea that colon cleansing is therapeutic by removing impurities, lives on. However, these claims largely fail to consider normal physiology. The digestive tract has inherent properties that work to clean our colon. After food ingestion, the small intestine absorbs nutrients and contracts to move indigestible residue into the colon. The colon continues the digestive process by absorbing and secreting electrolytes and fluids while its resident bacteria ferments the undigested food products. These are just some of the many mechanisms in which the digestive tract works in order to ensure that the colon does not become encrusted with fecal matter as some products claim. The black, rubbery material passed on a colon cleanse is actually a byproduct from the supplements and fiber in the colon cleansing product as opposed to old fecal material, in which consumers are led to believe."

http://www.clinicalcorrelations.org/?p=1605
Reviewed by Michael Poles MD and Fritz Francois MD, NYU Division of Gastroenterology

RenCara

Great thoughts and ideas... Thanks so much!:happy:

tecallahan

drink coffee. that's all the cleanse you'll need :drinker:

Do that!! :drinker:

rh009

I did the master cleanse (lemonade diet) last summer for 12 days and had amazing results. As long as you follow the cleanse instructions and do the cleanse exactly the way it says you should feel good and feel the effects. Not only did I shed pounds, but my digestive system felt great afterwards and I could feel the effects it had on cleaning out my body. The only downside is that it does slow down your metabolism tenfold, so you have to make sure that afterwards you ease out of it properly and start with small meals so that you;re body doesn't gain the weight back immediately. With that being said, you need to continue on with a healthy diet afterwards.