Extreme diets come and go like Baby Bullet trains at rush hour, but when Oprah decides to endorse one, it stays around for a while.
That’s been the case with the “21 Day Cleanse,” a diet advocated in the book “Quantum Wellness.” As part of a larger program of “conscious living,” author Kathy Freston recommends going three weeks without eating anything containing caffeine, alcohol, refined sugar, gluten or animal products.
While this new diet may require some creativity when it comes to food choices, there’s nothing dangerous about it, nutritionists say. But they caution that it’s probably not going to do you much good, either.
The blogosphere has been awash with rants and raves about the good and bad of the diet. Oprah’s blog detailed her travails in sticking to the plan. One popular blogging mom (www.dooce.com) claimed it gave her a sinus infection.
Mostly it just seems like a lot of work for not much reward, according to nutritionists like Ruth Spirakis, a registered dietician at the Palo Alto Medical Foundation.
“From a strictly nutritional standpoint, there is no need to eliminate specific foods or cleanse the body using a specific diet two or three times a year as [Freston] suggests,” Spirakis said.
Kim Bandelier, chief clinical dietitian at El Camino Hospital, agrees. “Do you really need a 21-day cleansing? There’s not evidence to support it,” she said.
But it probably won’t hurt anyone, they said, because there are enough foods the diet doesn’t eliminate to meet nutritional requirements.
The cleanse certainly has its believers. Kelli Suchy of Redwood City followed the plan for the recommended three weeks and said it made her feel great — so great that she’s planning to start it again within the week, just a couple months after her first run.
Eliminating all the foods on the plan — including most breads, which contain gluten — was not too hard for Suchy. With the exception of sugar, she didn’t miss any of the foods, and by the third or fourth day wasn’t having any cravings, she said.
This wasn’t the first diet Suchy has tried, by any stretch. And this one was actually easier because of its rigid restrictions, she said.
“It was very clear: These are the things I cannot have,” she said. Point systems like Weight Watchers are too complicated, and the Atkins diet’s meat-centered plan made her feel “terrible.”
But on the cleanse, she felt “light” and energetic. And while Suchy wasn’t looking to lose weight with the diet, she shed eight pounds during the three weeks.
Different people will likely have different experiences if they try the cleanse, Bandelier said. While some may feel energized, others may feel sluggish because of the lack of bread. Many might find it hard to cook using the limited ingredients called for by the elimination of gluten and animal products, which are often replaced with soy products like tofu.
“They have different flavor and different properties when they’re cooked,” Bandelier said.
The consensus among nutritionists seems to be that the cleanse isn’t a great idea for everyone, but that just about everyone could stand to implement some ideas from the program. Most Americans could benefit, for example, from eating less high-fat animal products, less sugar and more vegetables.
“Avoiding excessive intake of sugar, caffeine and alcohol makes sense, but moderation, as opposed to elimination, is the key for most people,” Spirakis said.
Suchy has continued many of the habits she learned while adhering to the cleanse for three weeks. She is over her sugar addiction and eats a lot less packaged and processed food, she said. She plans to do the three-week program every few months, with help from the gluten-free breads and sugar replacements, such as agave nectar, which she finds at Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s.
She’s convinced of the diet’s benefits because of how she felt — after the initial shock of not eating sugary snacks or meat in her entrees.
“The longer I was into the cleanse,” Suchy said, “the more it felt right, and I was able to stick with it without feeling deprived or that I was missing anything.”
