BEAT THE BLOAT WITH ANN LOUISE GITTLEMAN’S DETOX DIET
Story by Jacquie Clancy
Image from istockphoto.com
Detox. Fast. Cleanse. There’s no doubt you’ve heard these terms associated with dieting and losing weight. But detoxing or cleansing is not necessarily a “get skinny quick” scheme. The basic premise of a detox diet is exactly that, to detoxify your body. We all have those days where we eat a few too many fries or have one too many glasses of wine, and so, the point of a detox is to wipe your slate clean and start with a cleansed digestive system.
All of the different books I perused through while looking for a detox to try all promised the same results after the cleanse: you will feel more energized and healthy. After looking through my local library I choose The Fast Track One-Day Detox Diet by Ann Louise Gittleman, a veteran diet and health book author. Although the book is from a few years ago, it suggested a “One Day Detox Diet” which, to be quite honest, is what drew me to it. If I can get the same results after one day rather than a week why wouldn’t I?
Included in this program, however, is a prequel to the one day detox which includes a few rules to follow. You must consume “liver loving” and “colon loving” foods which consist mainly of leafy greens, other vegetables and fruits. Gittleman indicates that if you aren’t doing this cleanse for weight loss only, you can include some oatmeal or quinoa in your meals. No excess fat, sugar, artificial sweeteners, refined carbs, gluten, soy protein isolates, alcohol or caffeine is permitted. Yes, that means no coffe. Uh oh.
After the prequel, there is one day of consuming nothing but a cranberry and citrus juice mixture (the “Miracle Juice”) which will be the pinnacle of the detox. I decided to document my experience day-by-day; the prequel should be completed for seven days before the one-day detox. I decided to modify the seven day prequel because I wasn’t consuming much of the “banned” foods for the week or so prior, so I will be following the prequel for the first four days, the 5th day will be the “one day detox”, and the following days will be the sequel (pretty much the same as the prequel, but with a few more options, especially with carbs).
Day 1:
I missed my coffee this morning, but a hot green tea hit the spot…almost. My breakfast (1/2 a cup of oatmeal and 1 cup of berries) is pretty standard for me. The only thing I noticed was a dip in energy after lunch, around 3:00pm, but I fixed that with a quick snack of a hard-boiled egg. I pre-made a cabbage soup from a recipe I found for my dinners all week, so I wouldn’t have to think about cooking; and it turns out…I hate cabbage!
Days 2-4:
My energy levels seem normal, although I did get some headaches which I am blaming on the “no coffee” rule. Other than that, if you get creative with the foods you are permitted, it’s really not very hard to get by. The only struggle I had was when meeting up with a friend for dinner. I ordered a garden salad with grilled chicken and oil and vinegar dressing on the side, all of which are permitted in the prequel phase.
Day 5:
Today I gathered the ingredients for the “Miracle Juice” I will be drinking tomorrow. It is prepared by a recipe combining cranberry juice, orange juice and lemon juice with a little bit of cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger. It doesn’t taste too bad, but it’s not delicious by any means.
Day 6:
The drink really does curb your appetite like it says it will! Not to say I wouldn’t have liked a sandwich around 1 o’clock, but I don’t feel like I’m wasting away. I think I just feel like eating for the sake of eating, not because I’m hungry.
Day 7:
I can’t say that after yesterdays’ juice diet I feel like I have lost “up to eight pounds” as Gittleman says one of her test patients did, but I do feel less bloated than I did a few days ago. Once the processed foods you eat are no longer in your body the bloated feeling is gone, and it feels good. I enjoyed my breakfast of yogurt (which is permitted in the sequel phase), granola and fruit. It is recommended to introduce these “banned” foods slowly, so a lot of dairy and carbs can’t all come back on the menu at once.
To sum up, I don’t know if I would recommend this exact cleanse to anyone, but I do think that the detox diet is a good way to flush your system and have a fresh start. From what I have read, other detoxers usually perform a cleanse a few times a year. It is hard to restrict your food choices, so getting yourself prepared is definitely the key. Next time I try this I won’t include ANY cabbage, but leafy greens and different sources of protein (lean beef, chicken or salmon) offer a variety of options. I will probably try to restrict my diet and only consume the “prequel foods” for a few days before a big holiday party, where I’ll want to squeeze into an awesome dress and feel more confident and less bloated.
There are so many detoxes out there; the challenge is definitely finding one that fits your lifestyle. Happy detoxing!
