You’ve heard about it, everyone seems to be doing it, all the hot celebrities are endorsing it—but what exactly is a “cleanse”?

Technically, a cleanse is any dietary or lifestyle regimen that serves to remove toxins from the body and restore optimal health. Weight loss often is a desired side effect, but is not the primary goal. Cleansing, when done properly and not as an extreme crash diet, can be a healthy part of a routine that, many believe, will leave you feeling good, healthy and energized. Advocates also state that cleansing improves your immune system, fights cancer, treats depression and provides a spiritual experience.

Types of Cleanses

There are several different types of cleanses. The most important aspect of cleansing is choosing the method that will best match your activity levels and personal needs, preferences and goals. It’s also important to enhance your cleanse with activities beyond diet. For example, certain cleanses are lower in calories than others and are best suited for a period when you can work less and rest more. If that isn’t possible, then make sure to cleanse with a plan that incorporates more calories. Adequate sleep and stress reduction through yoga, massage and meditation practices also can augment the benefits of cleansing. Above all, be safe and consult your medical doctor before embarking on any cleanse!

Detoxing by Eliminating Specific Food Groups: This is the most common method and involves a dietary change. Cleansing by eliminating all sugar or wheat, meat, dairy, alcohol or caffeine are all ways people choose to detox while still maintaining normal caloric intake. This method supports higher activity levels that require more energy, and is also cheap, easy and available to anyone.

Juice Cleanse: This popular method involves an extended period (from one to several days) during which only fresh fruit and vegetable juices are taken in, while abstaining from all solid foods. The idea is that it gives the body a break from the work of digesting solid matter, while providing concentrated, complete nutrition through juices. This method recently has gained in popularity and can even be accomplished with pre-made juice cleanse packages.

Colon Cleansing: This method serves, through high-fiber supplements and colonics, to “clear” the digestive system. The validity of this approach is arguable, but many practitioners claim to experience increased energy and improved skin after colon cleansing. Detoxifying massage therapy, lymphatic drainage massage, and heat or cold therapy also may be employed.

Master Cleanse: This more extreme cleanse also is known as the “Lemonade Diet” and involves 10 days of nothing other than a juice composed of water, lemon juice, cayenne and maple syrup. The calories and nutrition this cleanse provides are minimal and thus not well suited to those who plan on remaining active. Many people who cleanse this way report feeling extremely irritable and hungry—no surprise.

Fasting Detox: The most extreme method of detoxing involves taking in nothing other than water (or a very light vegetable broth) to stay hydrated, while providing no calories and no solid food.

Proceed with Caution

It is heavily debated in the medical community whether or not cleansing has any real evidence to support it. Many believe a healthy liver, kidneys, lungs and gastrointestinal tract are excellent detoxifiers and do a more-than-adequate job of cleansing the body. Additionally, any abrupt and radical change in diet can be potentially dangerous with unwanted side effects, such as a limited ability to absorb nutrients, slowing of the metabolism (due to placing the body in starvation mode through extreme calorie depletion), an increase in fat storage once the person resumes a normal diet, dehydration, fatigue, dizziness, nausea and even colon damage. Cleansing also can interfere with drug absorption—something to consider for those on important maintenance medications that cannot be stopped.

Whatever your interest in cleansing or detoxing your body, make sure to do your homework first, find out which one is safe and best suited to your goals and needs—and consult with your physician beforehand.

To find an excellent doctor who is right for you, please call our Physician Referral Service at 866.804.1007.