Crazy Cleanses: Healthy, or a Sign of an Eating Disorder?

     Every day we seem to hear of another new diet fad, detox, or cleanse that is sure to provide us with rapid weight loss, a cleaner digestive system, and increased health or immunity. TV moguls like Dr. Oz have a new cleanse in women's magazines every week and offer many success stories from people who have lost 10+ lbs. a week. But are these cleanses really healthy? Our bodies contain their own cleansing organs to clean out the chemicals and waste leftover from the foods we consume. Our kidneys and our liver are there to flush out our systems naturally. So do we really need to cleanse? Probably not. But when people, especially women, are offered a way to lose weight quickly, the question as to whether or not the cleanse is healthy may not be important.

     Many of the cleanses that exist today seem healthy because they cut out gluten, processed foods, refined sugars, etc. But these are ingredients that should be limited in a healthy diet anyways. A healthy diet is based on a mix of proteins, vegetables, fruit, dairy, natural probiotics, vitamins, and water. Many cleanses, like the  now popular GM Diet, limit these food groups to basically one a day and provide an inconsistent calorie consumption, insulin intake, protein base, and vitamin intake a week. The GM Diet begins Day 1 with the consummation of only fruit. As much fruit as you want to eat, for the entire day, but nothing else, and no bananas (bye bye potassium). Yes fruit is good for you, but it is not filling. For a person to consume maybe 10 servings of fruit in a day, they are probably consuming around 250 grams of sugar. In that day the person will also be unable to receive any protein or iron. Day 2 of the GM Diet means only consuming vegetables for the entire day. This offers a lower sugar intake, but still no protein! The following days look like this:

• Monday:  Eat as much fruit as you want, except bananas.
• Tuesday: Eat all vegetables that you want, plus baked potatoes with butter for dinner.
• Wednesday: You are allowed to eat fruits and vegetables
• Thursday: From 5-8 bananas and 3-5 glasses of skim milk.
• Friday: 4 3oz beef, chicken or fish steaks with fresh vegetables.
• Saturday: 4 3oz beef steaks with fresh vegetables.
• Sunday: 4 3oz beef steaks with fresh vegetables and brown rice. (http://www.gmdietworks.com/)

So no bananas day one, but a whole day of bananas day four? And sure the meat sounds good, but 12 oz. a day, with no other nutritional source besides veggies? Doesn't sound too healthy to me. Now, the GM Diet says you will lose 7-10 lbs if you stick to this plan for the week. But you are not supposed to do it any longer. So once you start eating normally again, that "instant" weight loss will be put almost instantly back on, and you just did all that work for nothing. You will also probably feel tired while doing the cleanse, and would have little energy to exercise or build muscle, which is the number one calorie burner, so you would also probably look loose and flabby even after losing the weight. Not to mention the crankiness that is sure to accompany your lack of nutrients. 

There do seem to be cleanses that are good for you, but these generally seem to be cleanses limited to no more than 3 days, whose goals are to reduce bloating and help with digestion. Anything that promises instant weight loss however, and breaks up the nutrition groups, does not sound healthy. A healthy weight loss is between 1 and 2 lbs. a week. On top of that, if your body consistently receives no more than 1,200 calories a day, it will go into starvation mode and start storing fat and borrowing energy from muscle mass. Eating between 1,200 and 1,500 calories a day with consistent amounts of protein, exercise, and sleep is the healthiest way to lose weight and maintain weight loss. 

However, it seems to me that all the people I know who have done cleanses are people who wanted to lose weight but didn't need to because their bodies were already at the healthy weight they were supposed to be, and they had no weight to lose. If someone who is already at a very healthy weight wants to lose 10 lbs. in a week and turns to cleanses to do so, this seems like an apparent sign of a possible eating disorder. If that person does end up losing the weight, they may turn to even more extreme measures to keep it off. The worst part about cleansing is that they are supposedly "healthy" so someone who participates in one may say they just want to get healthier and clean out their internal system and excess water, when their main goal may really be to lose an unhealthy amount of weight. It's very important to look at these signs and to reach out to someone if you notice this happening. 

Like I said, however, there are healthy cleanses out there, you just have to do your research. Anything that promises rapid weight loss probably isn't healthy, and anything that lasts a week or more probably isn't either. The point of a cleanse is supposed to be to eliminate junk food and processed foods after a massive consumption of them or to reduce water weight and flush the toxins. It is healthier to just cut back on the amount of junk food you consume and not to over indulge than to do a cleanse, however. 

So, if you are thinking of doing a cleanse, I recommend you do your research, trust your instincts, and make sure you always talk to your doctor before you start. They may not know your body like you do, but they know how you should treat it.