Weight loss and detoxification: mechanisms and evidence

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.

Interviewer: Dr. Haas, do you agree with this approach?

Haas: I do agree that people lead toxic lives today, filled with too much sugar, smoking, drinking (coffee and alcohol) as well as too many processed foods. I also think that fasting, like what is advocated with the famous 'Master Cleanse' diet can be helpful. In fact, I think that doing the week-long Master Cleanse of lemonade, salt water flushes, and maple syrup is ideal as a seasonal biannual occurrence, in the autumn and in the spring (Haas 2008:6). I am most concerned about allergenic responses and symptoms of toxicity because of allergic reactions to environmental chemicals.

Gittleman: Weight loss cannot be overlooked, because obesity is a clear symptom of exposure to toxic chemicals in the environment. Weight loss is an important component of any detox program, and weight loss is required to derive the maximum benefits from my Fat Flush program, not simply because it is an aesthetic issue. That is why the caloric totals of the initial stages are so low.

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?