Experts skeptical of 'Master Cleanse' detox diet

NEW YORK (AP) -- At 6-foot-4 and a rangy 212 pounds, Scott Campbell doesn't need to lose weight. But there he was, squeezing lemon juice and mixing it with maple syrup, bottled water and cayenne pepper.

It is part of an extreme "detoxifying" diet called the Master Cleanse, whose adherents swallow nothing but the lemon concoction, saltwater and laxative tea.

Also known as the lemonade diet, the Master Cleanse has gained in popularity recently, thanks to celebrities like Beyonce Knowles who swear by the regimen, as bad as it may taste.

"I'm never hungry," said Campbell, a 35-year-old freelance TV producer from New York City who was cleansing not to lose weight, but because he usually eats "a lot of bad stuff" like burgers, fries and Philly cheesesteaks.

Devotees of the diet eat no solid food but drink up to 10 daily glasses of the lemon juice cocktail and round it off with saltwater in the morning and laxative tea at night. They are supposed to stay on the cleanse for at least 10 days, then ease back into normal eating with orange juice and vegetable soup.

The main drawback: You never want to be too far from a toilet. The cleanse produces very liquid and copious bowel movements. As for other side effects, some say they are always hungry.
Medical authorities say they have yet to see any evidence of harm from the Master Cleanse, though experts generally caution against extended fasting and other extreme diets.

They say those who try the Master Cleanse to lose weight will just gain it back. And they dispute the claim that the Master Cleanse or any other diet can "detoxify" the body from the effects of red meat, sugar, fried foods or alcohol -- or that the body needs to be detoxified at all.

"We have organ systems such as the liver, spleen, lungs, skin and digestive system that we have all been given that do that," said David Grotto, a dietitian in Chicago and a spokesman for the American Dietetic Association.

Dr. Ed Zimney, the medical director of HealthTalk, a Seattle, Washington-based Web site where a lively debate about the cleanse has flourished, said: "Your gastrointestinal tract does not need to be cleaned out because it is constantly in motion. This whole idea of cleaning out toxins from the colon is a complete myth and unnecessary."

The Master Cleanse was invented 60 years ago by nutrition guru Stanley Burroughs, who wrote the book "The Master Cleanser" in 1976. The formula is purified water, organic lemon juice, cayenne pepper and organic grade B maple syrup, which is less refined than the more commonly used grade A.

It is impossible to know how many people have tried the cleanse. There are enough devotees in the upscale neighborhood of Brooklyn Heights, New York, that Perelandra, a health food store, sells more copies of "The Master Cleanser" than any other book and does a brisk business in lemons, maple syrup and cayenne pepper, general manager Allison Nichols said.

According to one Web site that promotes the cleanse, the purpose is "to dissolve and eliminate toxins and congestion; to cleanse the kidneys and digestive system; to purify glands; to eliminate waste and hardened materials in the joints and muscles; to build a healthy bloodstream; to maintain optimal blood pressure; and to what you all are waiting to hear ... to lose weight."

Weight loss was Beyonce's motivation; she told Oprah Winfrey that she dropped 20 pounds on the cleanse to prepare for "Dreamgirls."

Howard Stern's sidekick Robin Quivers told People magazine that she went from 218 to 145 pounds on the cleanse. She said the diet also helped ease joint pain and fatigue.

The diet has fans beyond celebrities and the hip neighborhoods of New York City.

Zoe Cochran, a 52-year-old in Navasota, Texas, is a hard-core master cleanser. She does an annual 30-day cleanse plus periodic shorter ones.
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A girl at work gave me the book about this a few years ago. I tried it and thought the drink was the most horrendous thing I had ever tried. When she asked me how I liked it I told her how gross it was. Well evidently I wasn't using enough maple syrup. I made another batch and it was really good. I would even go so far as saying that I would be able to drink it as a regular beverage.

I was on the fast about a week and lost 8 pounds. I was pretty happy with that result. I pretty much hate eating so this was convenient. I wasn't hungry on it. That may be because a normal day for me is usually coffee, a Cherry Coke and No-Doz.

I should probably try this again after I get rid of the stuff I bought at my last grocery shopping trip.