Cleanse

Since 2014 started, and I guess for a few months leading up to it, it seems that an abundance of my friends and acquaintances have been doing various kinds of diet cleanses and/or juicing.

I am no medical expert, and you can tell by looking at me that eating healthy has not always been a priority in my life. That being said, I try to eat "whole" foods the majority of the time. I definitely still buy processed foods because frankly I don't have the time to make everything from scratch, and even if I did, I am not entirely sure I would. So no, I don't make my own bread. I do buy bread from a local bakery that uses the most basic of ingredients, though. And if I do end up purchasing bread in a grocery store, you had better believe I'm going to check the ingredients in said bread. I don't make my own pasta sauce, but the stuff I buy is (a) organic because tomatoes are on the dirty dozen list and (b) I can pronounce every single ingredient. It's pretty much tomatoes, spices, and maybe some sugar.

This isn't to say that I don't sometimes get a hankering for something incredibly unhealthy that has all sorts of weird ingredients, half of which I cannot pronounce. This is also known as I don't have the self-control to turn down a carton of Moose Tracks ice cream. It is my ultimate weakness. My breakfast almost always consists of some sort of granola or nutrition-esque bar. Those are super processed! The thing is, though, when I look at the (kind of lengthy) ingredient list, I know what every single one of those ingredients is.

I don't say any of this to toot my own horn because clearly I could be eating healthier than I am currently. I also know that I am now eating healthier than I ever have in the past. Of course, there is always room for improvement.

Back to the cleanses and juicing, though. I think juicing is fine for a short period of time. Want to have a fresh juice in the morning with/for breakfast a few days a week? Great! Doing this for days at a time without consuming solids is not healthy. Please excuse the nasty mental picture, but you do realize that when all you consume is juice that all that's going to come out is juice, right? It isn't sustainable. Sure, fruits and vegetables are a great source of nutrients, but they shouldn't be your only nutrients. Plus, by juicing, you are going to be missing out on part of the healthy portion of the fruits and vegetables anyway.

If a gun was to my head and I had to pick juicing or a diet cleanse, I would pick juicing in a heart beat. Here is the thing with diet cleanses.

First of all, most of them are MLM schemes. Almost always. If the product actually worked, why the need for an MLM? Shouldn't the product speak for itself? Oh, that's right! The product doesn't have anything to say. I have issues with most MLMs in general, although I take particular issue with ones parading around as healthy when there is no scientific evidence to back up those claims.

1. I have never seen a single MLM diet cleanse that has been FDA approved. I don't love the FDA. I think that some of the things they allow in food (and don't allow in food) are completely asinine and often have little or no scientific basis. There are many, many foods the FDA allows in our foods that are banned in other countries. Of course, politically, I don't love the idea of the FDA anyway, but that is currently beside the point. I would say that MOST people that purchase this type of product trust the FDA on some basic level. The FDA does not have to approve diet supplements, though. This means that there are not really any rules or guidelines about what can and cannot be put into those supplements.

2. Some of these sites list the ingredients in their products, which is great. I am glad they do that. Many of them don't. What do you think they put in those? Because truthfully, it could be pretty much anything. See number 1. They have no requirements or guidelines. The ones that do provide ingredient lists are usually full of weird things that may or may not be safe for prolonged human consumption.

3. Let's make an assumption here. Lets assume that any and all of these products are safe for human consumption. Safe for adults 18-65 who are not pregnant, nursing, trying to become pregnant, who are free of disease, and are not on any regular prescription medication. Do you actually NEED a diet cleanse or supplement? And if you do need to lose weight or need to be on some sort of supplement, have you talked with your doctor or your regular health care provider? I would say chances are good that they would tell you, "no way." If you do need to lose weight, there is this thing called "exercise" that is pretty fantastic. There is also another thing called "portion control" that seems to help with that.

4. What do you think is going to happen when you stop taking these supplements? Truly, what do you think is going to happen? Many of them contain caffeine. Lots of caffeine. Caffeine is a drug. Caffeine can cause withdrawals. I'm not saying caffeine is bad in and of itself. Heck, I just finished a cup of coffee. Caffeine is fine in moderation (unless your doctor/health care provider says otherwise, of course). There is a difference between consuming 2-5 cups of coffee each week and consuming the equivalent of four or more cups of coffee each DAY, though. That is really just the tip of the iceberg though. You may or may not know what else is in those supplements that are going to cause issues if you stop taking them.

5. If you start to feel better while taking these supplements, one of two things is probably happening. Many of these supplements are part of an overall diet plan. One that requires you to keep to 1500 or fewer calories each day, all of which consist of lean meats, complex carbs, fruits and vegetables. You cut out refined sugars as well as processed and fried foods. Well of course you are going to feel better! You cut out refined sugars and processed and fried foods. And the weight you are losing? Probably as a result of keeping at or under 1500 calories. It has little or nothing to do with the supplements you are taking and everything to do with the food you are and are not putting into your body. The other possibility: this little thing you may have heard about in your psychology class called the placebo effect. I'm just saying. Your mind is a powerful thing.

I will say it again, I am not a medical health professional. I do generally have a healthy dose of common sense, though, and common sense tells me that even if it isn't a bad idea, it probably isn't a good one.