Another new year. Another vow to lose the weight, eat better, get healthy. Good for you. But are you going to do it the right way? We thought we’d take a look at cleanses, which many use as a quick way to drop the pounds, and give you a little food for thought.
Cleanses come in many forms. They target the liver, the gallbladder, the colon (large intestine). They can be hypoallergenic, Paleo, juice-based or laxative-based. Basic cleanses have been around for millennia, the theory being that toxins and undigested food build up like Spackle in your large intestine, causing fatigue, headaches and/or stomach and intestinal issues. A cleanse can flush all that crud out of you, resetting your body to optimal levels.
Cleanses can last a day or weeks. Our resident nutritionist, Dr. Alex Rinehart, doesn’t like cleanses that have you fasting for more than a day or have you counting and reducing calories. These may make you lose weight, but are much less likely to be maintained for any period of time following the cleanse. Biologically, it’s more likely that you will gain all the weight back and more!
Longer isn’t necessarily better
Some of the 7-10 day cleanses can have you feeling better since you’ll lose some initial weight. After all, you aren’t eating. But 95% of the time, says Dr. Alex, you’ll gain the weight right back because you’ve reduced calories to practically nothing. Then, you go back to eating the same way but you haven’t improved your diet. When you reduce calories, you will lose weight but you also reduce your metabolism, meaning that your body doesn’t burn the calories as fast. In fact, your body assumes you are in starvation mode and hangs on to those calories. So the moment you go back to normal calorie intake, the weight will come back full force. In fact, any weight loss faster than a half-pound to a pound a week is associated with a drop in metabolism. This drop leads to eventual weight loss plateaus (we’ve all experienced why that last 5 pounds just won’t come off) and frustration (we eat less to get those last pounds off). Then what happens? We’re happy as a size 6 but we just can’t maintain it because our body is so thrilled to have all those added calories that it hangs on to every last one for the next time a starvation period arrives. Imagine your body as a squirrel gathering all those nuts, eventually packing away on your hips and stomach even more than what you started with.
Doing a cleanse the wrong way can also make you sick. If you fast for too long, you can do more harm because you promote the release of cortisol (a stress hormone), which can aggravate blood sugar/adrenal issues like diabetes, which are ubiquitous in our society. Also, as you release toxins (heavy metals, pesticides, etc) that are stored in fatty tissue, you’re not eating enough protein and vitamin/mineral “co-factors” needed to help filter them out of your system. Instead, they can actually damage your cells and genetic material.
There are thousands of cleanse programs out there, and all have their supporters. People may feel great on these programs, but that’s not enough of an endorsement when you follow the practitioners for any length of time and see the weight fluctuations or poor nutrition. Of course, those folks who do cleanse, but also eat a balanced diet and get a moderate amount of exercise are going to see better results and maintenance.
A better way to go
Dr. Alex prefers programs that have you eating as much as you want of the right foods while still being strict on fruits and starchier veggies like potatoes, plus forgoing caffeine, alcohol and any sweeteners (no matter if it’s sugar alcohols or “organic sugar”/”dehydrated sugar cane solids” or sucralose). He says the 30-day Paleo challenge is probably the best “named” cleanse he knows of, but it still takes education and personalization on some of the details. In other words, folks, see a doctor or nutritionist before you decide to do this. Don’t Google “cleanse” and go off and running.
So what are Dr. Alex’s recommendations? He prefers a hypo-allergenic and low-glycemic index diet for at least 14 days, but more optimally 21-30 days. When you go through a 21-day program, you’ll focus on at least a 2:1 ratio of vegetables to fruit, moderate protein intake throughout the day (especially at breakfast), only 1/2 cup per day of brown rice or lentils, only 1/2 banana, plus green tea and water with lemon/lime juice for further “cleanse” support. Supplements can bolster this diet. He recommends hypoallergenic protein shakes to help make up for meals on the run, plus supplements with nutraceuticals that promote liver detox and blood sugar control like cinnamon, alpha-lipoic acid, green tea extract, milk thistle, turmeric and ginger.
People on this type of diet tend to lose 8-10 pounds. More importantly, when doing it for 21 days, they’re more likely to carry on some of the good habits and recipes they learned during those three weeks. That is a great basis for a lifetime of better nutrition.
Special thanks to Dr. Alexander Rinehart, MS, DC, CCN, for sharing his expertise with us. A Doctor of Chiropractic and Certified Clinical Nutritionist, his commitment to mind/body/spirit integration is emphasized by working in partnership with his patients. Contact him at Coactive Health and follow him at @ARinehartDC.
