DescriptionPractitioners of alternative medicine generally
recommend the warmer months as the best time of
year for a detox diet, although some dieters prefer
January in order to counteract the effects of overin-
dulgence in food and drink during the holidays. Many
people suggest beginning a detox diet on the weekend
or scheduling time off from work in order to allow
time for extra rest if needed. Detox diets are usually
used only once or twice a year.
Many detoxification diet books include a ques-
tionnaire or symptom checklist to help readers evalu-
ate whether they need detoxification. The following
list is typical; more than four ‘‘yes’’ answers indicates
the individual could benefit from a detox diet:
Do you have only one bowel movement per day, or
only one every other day?
Do you take prescription, recreational, or over-the-
counter drugs?
Do you eat meat more than twice a week?
Do you eat fast foods or processed foods?
Do you smoke, or are you exposed to secondhand
smoke?
Do you have any skin problems or digestive gas and
bloating?
Do you drink alcohol?
Do you live in a major city?
Do you drink tap water, coffee, or soda?
Do you feel tired, sleep poorly, or have low energy?
Individuals considering a detox diet should pre-
pare by cutting down gradually on caffeinated bever-
ages a week to 10 days before the diet, as sudden
elimination of these drinks often causes headaches.
Dieters should also reduce their intake of sugary
foods, chocolate, alcohol, dairy products, foods high
in fat, foods containing wheat or yeast, and grains
containing gluten (an elastic protein found in barley
and rye). Recommended foods for detox diets (except
the mono diets) include fresh organic fruits and vege-
tables; rice (both brown and basmati rice), rice cakes,
and rice pasta; other grains such as millet, quinoa, and
buckwheat; beans, lentils, and dried green or yellow
peas; unsalted nuts; seeds; olive oil; and herbal teas.
The dieter should plan to drink at least eight glasses of
filtered or other non-tap water per day on a detox diet.
At the end of a detox diet, the dieter should return
gradually to a full diet, perhaps vegetable soup or
steamed vegetables the first day. They should not
add fruits or vegetables until the second or third day.
Raw food diets
Raw food detox diets consist of foods that have
not been heated above 92to 118F (33to 48C).
These diets are based on the belief that raw foods
have higher nutrient value and contain enzymes that
assist digestion, allowing the other enzymes in the
body to regulate other biological processes. Raw food-
ists also believe raw foods preventobesityby lowering
excessive food consumption, and their highfibercon-
tent helps detoxify the body by speeding up digestion
and elimination.Juice fasting
In a juice fast, the dieter is instructed to drink
between 32 and 64 oz of fruit or vegetable juice per
day, in addition to six glasses of warm filtered water.
Although some modifiedjuice fasts allow a small
quantity of steamed vegetables, most are short-term
liquid diets. Some therapists recommend one or more
cups of herbal tea each day in addition to the juice and
water. The juice must be fresh, obtained from organic
fruits and vegetables processed through a juicer or
juice extractor. Prepackaged juices cannot be used
for a juice fast because they have been pasteurized.
In addition, fresh juice must be consumed within a half
hour of extraction; it cannot be refrigerated.Mono diets
Mono diets are detox diets in which the dieter
consumes only one food, usually apples, grapes, or
some other fruit or vegetable, or one liquid, for a
period of 10 to 14 days. The oldest mono diet is the
so-called Miracle Grape Cure, attributed to Johanna
Brandt, a woman from South Africa who claimed that
eating grapes cured her of stomachcancer. In a book
she published in 1928, Brandt stated that she alter-
nated 12 hours of drinking only natural (unchlori-
nated) water with 12 hours of eating only purple
grapes or drinking grape juice made from purple
grapes. Recent modifications of this diet recommend
following Brandt’s plan to the letter for five weeks,
followed by one week of a raw-food vegetarian diet.
The best-known mono diet is variously known as
the Master Cleanser, lemonade diet, or maple syrup
diet. Stanley Burroughs is generally credited with
inventing this diet in 1941, although he did not publish
it in book form until 1976. His book, which is only
about fifty pages long, is still in print even though
Burroughs died in 1991. The Master Cleanser involves
drinking a mixture of lemon juice, cayenne pepper,
and grade B maple syrup for a period of 10 to 14
days. The lemon/maple syrup drink is then followedDetoxification diets