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Hollywood's New Hot Diet
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From Oprah to Gwyneth, “cleansing” one’s body is the latest way to lose weight and stay healthy. Alexandra Polier tests the Coconut Cleanse—and reports on the joys (and cramps) of detoxing.
America has developed a fascination with body “cleanses” almost as obsessive as our fascination with the celebrities that make them famous. Thanks to stars like Angelina Jolie and Beyoncé, the Master Cleanse (cayenne pepper, maple syrup, and lemon for a week) is one of the hottest diet fads in Hollywood.
Gwyneth is a fan of juicing, Oprah is blogging about her vegan cleanse, and rumor has it that Ben Affleck, Cindy Crawford, Alicia Silverstone, and Liv Tyler are all regulars at their local colonic-irrigation clinic. Cleansing has driven millions of Americans to starve, detox, and irrigate their bodies, all with the promise of a lighter healthier you. But is it really good for you?
“I can smell baked goods wafting in from the apartment down the hall. I leave my building and immediately notice a cab with a Snickers ad on it. I want to chase it down Fifth Avenue.”
Alex Polier investigates with five days on the Coconut Cleanse, the latest craze in full-body flushing.
DAY 1. SATURDAY.
Why am I doing this to myself? Right, because everyone else is. Yes I am a lemming, and I have taken the plunge. Everyone I know is Master Cleansing or Blueprinting these days, anything to rid themselves of a few pounds and possibly a few small toys they may have swallowed as a child. If you ask these dedicated cleansers, they all speak with such glorious recollection. Listening to my friend Bonnie speak about her Master Cleanse experience—the boundless energy, the instant weight loss, the clarity—you’d think she’d dipped her lower intestine in the Fountain of Youth. I wanted to know that feeling.
But three hours in and I am still waiting for the burst of energy to hit. The glass of water with half a fresh-squeezed lemon for breakfast was almost refreshing, but the energizing colon-cleansing elixir I just whipped up was disgusting, and a lot of effort. Fresh-squeezed carrot, apple and ginger juice blended with heaping tablespoons of forest-green Enerfood powder, coconut milk powder and Meta Cleanse colon declogger (Metamucil for the soul). I gag through the experience.
I have ordered the EnerHealth Coconut Milk Meta Cleanse for $99.99 off the Internet. In four days, it promises to detox my liver, kidneys/bladder, skin, and lungs. It seems like a steal! The co-creator of EnerHealth Botanicals is Darren Craddock, who said his goal was to create a detox that people could incorporate into their normal lives. “We wanted to maximize cleansing with the least psychological and emotional effects.”
Well, it’s 11:07 a.m. and I am not optimistic. I am starving. I have never looked forward to lettuce so much in my life (I can have a little lunch on Day 1). I am already imagining the ritualistic preparation of it; slowly slicing the avocado, mixing up the dark, ripe spinach leaves with the crisp romaine. It is my only meal until Wednesday, so it has to count.
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Lloyd Grove is editor at large for The Daily Beast. He is also a frequent contributor to New York magazine and was a contributing editor for Condé Nast Portfolio. He wrote a gossip column for the New York Daily News from 2003 to 2006. Prior to that, he wrote the Reliable Source column for the Washington Post, where he spent 23 years covering politics, the media, and other subjects.
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An old fashioned enema would have cleaned you out without going through days of starvation and pain. Sometimes there is some validity to the old ways.
Yes, you lost weight, because you didn't eat much! Amazing!
LOL I agree Picachu..I was going to post the same thing but you beat me to it.
So many have to have some "thing" that they use as entrance to a world they think exist without them..LOL Poor things. Take and exlax and find new friends that are healthy in mind and body without extreme needs to please and belong.
There's so many different kinds of cleanses. It's confusing. Wasn't there an article recently about the whole detox craze? We take it for granted that it is what it says it is, BUT THERE IS NO PROOF that toxins (whatever they really are) are expelled.
Fasting has a long history. Why not just call it that?
as someone who lost 100 lbs in the last year (the healthy way, by eating better and exercising), reading stuff like this is almost infuriating. starving yourself so you lose five pounds in four days is not healthy. it should be pretty obvious that if you're in that much pain and discomfort you're doing your body harm.
i still can't figure out why people think that just because someone has a recognizable name and got paid a lot of money to be in a movie or on tv, suddenly they're a reliable source for health tips. get real.
As a scientist I am amazed how readily people allow themselves to be fooled. "Cleansing", "detoxing" - all a bunch of centuries old lies.
Who says that my organs are damaged? What science is the need for cleansing based on?
Using less salt and applying sun screen also makes your skin radiant.
No thanks, I'd rather chew three meals a day.
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If you don't eat junk in the first place there's nothing to "cleanse". Just eat plenty of organic vegetables and lay off the junk.
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Two words: Italian sausage!
I use MetaCleanse all the time and have never had the bloating problem, but I don't fast or take the other things the author took. It sounds like if she got that constipated that she wasn't drinking enough water. The "Metamucil for the Soul" is actually a good description - MetaCleanse is ground flaxseed, fiber and bentonite clay. Native Americans and other cultures around the world have used bentonite for centuries as a natural medicine. http://www.metacleanse.com
My God.... 7 of the "Best of the Beast" are fluff entertainment pieces. I can't believe this site anymore.
Oh, for the love of reason: it's called 'the liver,' doofuses.
Try eating good, healthy, raw food as the bulk of your diet. Plenty of fiber to "cleanse" you and you get to EAT.
I rather go with a balanced diet than detoxing, which is more logical and safe than denying your stomach from solid food.
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http://alexius-locker.blogspot.com/
Such misinformation. All this organic, exotic crap is only enriching those who peddle it. Do a clinical trial and get it FDA approved if you think it's so awesome. Show me some real data on its effectiveness and then we'll talk.
At the end of the day, eating balanced and healthy is what wins. It's cool if you eat pad thai once a week, just not seven times a week. Balance!
blah-de-fucking-blah...what is this BS doing on the beast? here's the simplest, cheapest, healthiest, and most effective way to lose weight and stay in shape - eat good foods in small amounts throughout the day and exercise. enjoy your life and don't give a damn about what gwynneth and oprah are doing (because oprah is OBVIOUSLY the person one should look to for diet info...ahem...).
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This comment has been removed by The Daily Beast's editors.
As a 10-year veteran of the natural foods industry, it disturbs me how readily otherwise intelligent individuals will purchase and consume cleanses and supplements off the internet. Would you be just as willing to purchase the same products out of the trunk of a car from a stranger in an abandoned parking lot? Supplement manufacturing in the US receive very little oversight and you would be surprised how few companies can provide content analysis (proving what they claim is in their product, is ACTUALLY in the product) let alone microbial assays and other measures which demonstrate the safety of the product. When you buy a product off the internet, like the cleanse you reference, you are essentially doing one of these technologically advanced shady back alley purchases. It takes very little to put up a website and get credit card processing service.
After navigating to the website you linked to, the first big red flag that went up was the absence of a Supplement Facts box. Any reputable supplement manufacturer has to submit a Supplement Facts box to the FDA for approval for every product they produce. They offer to give you instructions/ingredients, but they do not actually give you the ingredients and instead give you long convoluted instructions to distract you. This is classic misdirection in marketing.
Products available for retail usually undergo much more scrutiny before they even hit the shelves at your local supplements store. Take yourself to one of these stores and talk to one of the buyers. Ask them what they require from the companies they vend for assurance in purity, potency and quality.
Most importantly, for you own safety, don't buy any supplements off the internet until you have better educated yourself about where the product is coming from, what it actually contains, and what measures has the manufacturer taken to assure it's safety.
I have done a few colon detox's in the past and they really do work, check out "Blessed herbs.com".
You will not believe it but its 100% true what they say about Colon Mucous!! Once the thick rubbery lining came out of my colon I felt clean, was regular and about 5kg lighter.
For me it worked!
Thank you.
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