‘Cleansing’ Diets — Are They Worth It?
A lot of people I know are doing some form of a cleansing diet right now — perhaps in the afterglow of New Year’s resolutions. Some people are doing a simple juice fast, others are following hard-core programs that involve cayenne pepper and lemonade, and some are just sticking to only fruits and vegetables. Many of them report feeling amazing and say their skin glows and they’re surprisingly full of energy. Others complain of headaches and lethargy.
The idea of a cleanse sounds interesting to me — spending a week or two eating only healthy, natural foods or juices in order to rid your body of toxins — but I also remember the days of Elissa the Vegetarian. In short, I was a mess. I decided to be a vegetarian on a whim and kept it up for years, but I never really did it correctly. Instead of replacing meat with some other form of protein, I essentially ate only side dishes. I became anemic. I got headaches. When I started eating meat again, I felt amazing and remembered what it felt like to have energy.
I realize that there are a ton of healthy vegetarians out there, and I know a vegetarian or vegan diet is healthier than an omnivorous diet for many reasons. But I’m wary of these cleanses that have you only drinking juice or adding weird things to your beverages in order to “clean” your system. I get headaches easily if I don’t eat, and the idea of drinking juice for a week sounds odd to me and borderline unhealthy. (Also, the idea of giving up coffee makes me shudder.) But if so many people love it, maybe I’m wrong.
Have you tried a cleansing diet of any kind? Did you like it?
Once upon a time, I was a smoker. I loved smoking — I loved taking smoke breaks, I loved the taste of it, and I loved the smell of it. I also hated smoking — it was expensive, it made my hair and clothes stink, and it wasn’t healthy. Finally, I quit.