The master cleanse

[SpringBee]

What's so special about this magic drink? I'm not thinking of trying it.. I hate lemons! I'm not actually completely anti-cleanse. My friend did a green juice cleanse. Lost 17lbs, gained 6 back in water weight but continued with healthy eating and cal counting and lost another 10.

But what is it about the drink that causes weight loss? Surely you could just drink 800 cals of anything lose weight? Obviously that would defeat the purpose of it being a cleanse for to lose weight, why drink it? 800 cals a day of beer for 2 weeks would surely make you lose weight!

[ChocolateTwist]

Cayenne pepper is supposed to speed up the metabolism (and to be fair I think it does by about half a calorie). Water and lemon are supposed to have detoxing properties but nothing really magically detoxes you apart from your lover and kidneys. The sugar bit is for a tiny amount of calories and to assuage sweet cravings. It is quack science :)

[SpringBee]

Ahh ok. I still think there are other "quick fix" ways of dropping a few pounds! If you're doing it just for the detox fair enough but if I wanted to shed some weight before an event or something id rather drink 800 cals of at least vegetable juice or something. The drink does not sound appealing to me!

[ChocolateTwist]

Yes, the weightless is because a) it is a starvation amount of calories, and b) not too fine a point on it, but bulk is leavjng and not being put back in again. Why not 4:2 or 4:3? Fantastic, supportive and informative conversation abounds on the main thread.

[BigChocFrenzy]

That "magic cleanse" is potentially dangerous

It's a (STUPID) form of fasting.
You can lose a lot of weight on an 800 cal fast for a week or two, BUT quite a bit of that loss would be muscle.
If you fast for longer with so few nutrients (and that magic cleanse is crap) your body starts to significantly catabolise muscle for fuel, definitely NOT healthy and some people may become ill.
The metabolism would slow down, so you would be prone to rapid regain, much of which would be fat.

Your body can "detox" perfectly well on its own:
cut out all junk & alcohol for a week and eat nutrient-dense food, with lots of veg, staying under TDEE.

Green juices can be a very healthy addition to a diet but should not be the only source of nutrients for longer than 1-2 days max.
Also, it is better to eat your calories than drink them, more satiating and lower GI. Even with "green" juices, the process of juicing mimics the first stage of digestion. Worse if the pulp is thrown out

[IceNaslicee]

Bigchocfrenzy I agree that they can be dangerous if not executed properly. Yes a lot of people gain the weight back but this is usually due to not coming off the cleanse properly and reverting back to their old habits of over eating. I know someone who did a 4 week juice cleanse. She did gain a few lbs back but that was just through having solids in her. She adopted healthier eating habits and regular exercise and continued to lose weight. Weight gain only happens if you don't change your lifestyle.

[BigChocFrenzy]

If your chum did a 4 weeks juice cleanse without adequate protein intake, then a lot of that lost weight will probably be muscle, which would be bad both for health and for longterm weight management
When muscle is lost rapidly, weight regain tends to replace it with fat (and water).
In addition, 4 weeks is too long without essential fatty acids and a host of other nutrients NOT in juice.

After juice diets of more than a week, people usually end up heavier longterm.
This is not just because they are weak-willed bingers, but because they have buggered their metabolism and reduced their daily calorie requirements to unsustainable levels.

We've seen folk with sub-20 BMI from crash diets, but surprisingly high body fat.
They are TOFIs (Thin Outside Fat Inside). Very unhealthy and not even an attractive shape.

btw, the master cleanse has a nasty addition: daily laxatives, Jeez !
These can cause dehydration, deplete electrolytes and damage normal bowel function.

As a scientist, I’m exasperated that people are gullible enough to believe detox mumbo jumbo and damage their body..
There are no scientific studies whatsoever to justify master cleanse or any juice cleanse, just many doctors warning of the dangers to health.

Detox diets are a dangerous SCAM

[ChocolateTwist]

Sorry if I've offended you BigChoc, I wasn't intended to advocate for this type of cleanse at all and I think I implied they were highly inadvisable, I just wanted to address the initial question instead of just dismissing the curiosity in favour of "too dangerous! Don't go there!"

[BigChocFrenzy]

Not offended in the least ChocTwist
Better to bring such things in the open.
It is just alarming the risks some women blindly take to lose weight.
We can only try to warn them.