Comparing the Fat Flush Plan and Master Cleanse detoxification approaches

Weight Loss & Detoxification

Nutrition Today:" Transcript

Weight loss and detoxification -- Dr. Anne-Louise Gittleman vs. Dr. Elon Haas

Interviewer: Dr. Gittleman, you call your diet plan the 'Fat Flush Plan,' and Dr. Haas, you say that detoxification can lead to weight loss. How is it possible to flush fat from your system? I always thought the only way to lose fat was to shrink your fat cells through diet and exercise. Surely if you follow a low-calorie diet and you expend more energy than you take in you will lose weight, regardless of whether you are following a detoxification program.

Gittleman: My program is not just a low-calorie diet program. That is a misnomer. It is meant to address the misconception that most people have about weight gain. Weight gain is not caused by eating too much and exercising too little.

Interviewer: It isn't? But isn't your plan a low-calorie diet? According to one diet review site, the diet you prescribe during the first phase of your plan, the Two-Week Fat Flush only contains 1,100 calories a day, which is followed by the Ongoing Fat Flush where dieters eat 1,500 calories a day, well under the prescribed 2,000 FDA recommended allotment for women and the 2,200 calories a day suggested for men.

Gittleman: I believe weight gain is caused by eating the wrong type of foods, not eating too much in general. Eating too many processed foods leads to water retention, liver toxicity and excess insulin production. The average, modern diet is very nutrient poor, given that unless people are careful they find themselves eating mass-produced, animals, dairy products, vegetables, and refined grains. People are too busy and stressed out today to eat properly, which also encourages fat storage because of elevated hormonal levels, and the modern fear of eating fat actually leads to an unbalanced diet that leads to more fat production. Environmental toxins, artificial dyes and preservatives, even prescription drugs slow the metabolism. That is why during the first phase of my Fat Flush Plan, I have my patients take flaxseed oil and fatty acid supplements. During the first phases of the detox, they eat no carbohydrates although good, unrefined carbohydrates are re-introduced later in the diet.

Question

Interviewer: What is the role of supplementation in both of your plans? People have been eating food for generations to get all of their nutrients, why is it necessary to take vitamins and minerals if a dieter are eating properly?

Gittleman: While I do place an emphasis pure, rather than processed foods, this is not enough given the degree to which the food supply has been tainted by over-commercialization of agriculture. Maybe hundreds of years ago it was enough to eat food without supplements, but now too much of the food supply is drained of its natural nutrients for a dieter to get enough nutrients without supplements. As part of my Fat Flush plan, the first thing a person has in the morning is a laxative known as psyllium husks, and they take cranberry drinks as a diuretic.

Haas: I recommend fiber, vitamin C, other antioxidants, chlorophyll, and glutathione, mainly as amino acid L-cysteine. Herbs such as garlic, red clover, Echinacea, or cayenne are also part of my detoxification program (Haas 2008:8). The Master Cleanse, which I recommend, makes use of lemonade and maple syrup.

Gittleman: The problem I have with the Master Cleanse and other 'simple fasts' that basically cut calories is that yes, they cause quick weight loss, but because they release the stored-up environmental toxins from processed foods into the body, this can cause a harmful shock to the dieter's system. Besides, these toxins are reabsorbed by the body when the person starts fasting quickly, especially if the person is a chronic dieter, as the dieter's slow metabolism desperately searches for fuel. This is why my plan has three stages. During the first stage before the flush, allergenic and toxic environmental substances are eliminated, so they leach slowly from the body. This prepares the body for the serious flush, which is then followed by introducing some healthy carbohydrates and low-fat dairy products back into the diet.

Question

Interviewer: Does gender have a significant impact on a dieter's ability to lose weight?

Gittleman: Absolutely! So many women diet throughout their lives, and by the time they hit menopause they have been dieting for so long they have impeded their body's natural ability to burn calories for fuel. Their bodies are in famine mode, and burning as few calories as possible, just to stay alive. It is necessary to kick-start the metabolism with healthy foods and also to reintroduce healthy fats back into the diet to restore a healthy hormonal balance. Women must understand that fat is not the enemy and that it is a natural and necessary nutrient vital to survival. To introduce fat back into the diet of chronic female dieters I prescribe flaxseed oil.

Haas: Every dieter must deal with his or her own idiosyncrasies, regardless of gender. Dieters have different metabolisms based on their age and activity level as well as gender and body composition and weight. The problem I have with some of Gittleman's advice is that she stresses a very low calorie diet plan for all dieters, regardless of age and gender. Perhaps her initial 1,100 calorie flush might be helpful, but she also recommends 1,500 calories as a maintenance plan. I would want to review the patient's general health history and history of allergies and environmental toxins before prescribing a long-term meal plan. I also advocate eating seasonally more than Dr. Gittleman. A dieter and a diet doctor must be flexible according to the needs of the dieter's body and the needs of the season.