21 Pounds in 21 Days: Martha's Vineyard Diet Detox

Sad. I hope it works. I know a friend who did a Buddhist retreat and did a detox did like this and said that some of his health problems cleared up. Perhaps there is a balance in our body that just needs to be tweaked. 21 Pounds though - hmmm...

The sad fact is that there are plenty of people that will part with their hard-earned cash for this book. And supposing that any of them actaully manage to lose all that weight, what's the betting that they will all have regained it within the 21 days following the program?

I am sceptical of detox plans in general as the human body is designed to remove toxins all by itself. That's why we have a liver, kidneys etc.

I am so sick of hearing about these so-called 'detox' diets. Calling things toxins seems so vague to me. What exactly are these so-called toxins? I think shennanigans. And why is it always liquid diets? Seems to me you can eat natural foods without using liquids and therefore having liquids come out (ew).

The body releases toxins naturally already without help. It's called sweating or going to the bathroom. Drinking a lot of juice won't help.

Watch this from the BBC:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sn/humanbody/truthaboutfood/flashapp/nonflash.shtml

Click on "Does Detox Work?" It's very interesting.

I've heard all about this diet, and in my opinion, it sounds quite expensive since colon cleansing is a part of it.

I learned from Deepak Chopra that the intestines naturally have bacteria in them, and colon cleansing isn't such a good route to take because you're not only removing the "bad" bacteria, but also the good. That's my 2 cents on this. ;)

We are in the wrong business. Everyone should write a BS Diet Book. If Doctor Phil can do it so can everyone else.

Good review.

Yes. It's true that the body is designed to rid itself of toxins through elimination channels such as the liver and kidneys. However, these organs can and will become dysfunctional through years and years of abuse caused by bad eating habits, after which you will need to take additional measures to help your body detoxify itself.

Wait a min - lets do the math here...to loose 1lb you must have a caloric decrease of 3,500 cal..if you normally eat 2,000 cal, that means that every day you have to burn an additional 1,500 calories while not taking in any at all...wow, that sounds healthy?

I think that most of these detox diets are just glorified starvation diets. By calling them a "Detox" people somehow justify the drastically unhealthy restriction of calories. With out the guise of toxin-mumbo-jumbo none of these authors would be able to get a starvation diet book published let alone on the best sellers list! I say call these diets what they really are.

While I do subscribe to the notion that food is medicine, and that certain foods work better with certain body types. I come from an Eastern culture, so all of this is very ingrained in the way we eat and take care of our bodies (under ideal circumstances of course). Having said that, this book is just another way to capitalize on the likes of the Master Cleanse, which operates on the same basic principles and can be obtained on the Internet after 3 seconds of googling.

I suppose it's easy to dismiss the idea considering it is so foreign to the American Lifestyle. As someone who has completed the program, however (and also who is knowledgeable in aromatherapy and nutrition) I have to say that the book deliveres what it claims. Nowhere in the book does Dr. Roni DeLuz advocate doing this program as a long-term eating style. Instead she advocates going back to nature as a way of detoxifying and ridding ourselves of our food/chemical additives/colorings.flavorings/aroma addictions.

Upon completion, I have found that I did not lose quite as many pounds as she claimed, but my skin cleared up, my back problems are so much better as to be nearly gone, and that I do have the extra eneryg that I was promised.

Perhaps you should read the book and try one of the shorter programs for yourselves -- then you can have an educated opinion on the matter, and your opinons will actually carry some weight.

Hi Sonya,

Thanks for your input. A couple of thoughts on what you wrote...

Sonya said:
I suppose it's easy to dismiss the idea considering it is so foreign to the American Lifestyle.

Which country/continents have a "lifestyle" whereby they eat near-starvation level calories. To me, a "lifestyle" or way of eating is one where people can enjoy sustained healthy eating habits without putting themselves through extremes. I agree that THIS concept is lost on many a North American but I would venture to say that extreme detox plans are not engrained in other cultures.

Sonya said:
As someone who has completed the program, however (and also who is knowledgeable in aromatherapy and nutrition) I have to say that the book deliveres what it claims.

I have no doubt that following this regime will result in weight loss. My contention is the method in which it is achieved.

Sonya said:
Nowhere in the book does Dr. Roni DeLuz advocate doing this program as a long-term eating style. Instead she advocates going back to nature as a way of detoxifying and ridding ourselves of our food/chemical additives/colorings.flavorings/aroma addictions.

I'm glad she doesn't promote this as a long-term eating style because people would die. In terms of "detoxifying", You would have to convince me that we need to "detoxify" in the first place. You would have to provide me with some blood tests indicating comprimising levels of "toxins", after which you would have to provide me with a post-program bloodwork that clearly demonstrates removal of those toxins. Ms. DeLuz does not provide any proof in this regard.

Sonya said:
Upon completion, I have found that I did not lose quite as many pounds as she claimed, but my skin cleared up, my back problems are so much better as to be nearly gone, and that I do have the extra eneryg that I was promised.

Would you consider the back pain and energy may be a placebo effect? Also, I'm glad you didn't lose the weight that you were supposed to as I believe it to be an unsafe rate at which to lose.

Sonya said:
Perhaps you should read the book and try one of the shorter programs for yourselves -- then you can have an educated opinion on the matter, and your opinons will actually carry some weight.

After reading the book and reading about the numerous side effects (see original post), I feel I am "educated" enough to never want to try this diet. I am not not moved by glowing testimonials and other anactdotal accounts. Scads of research has shown that extreme diets have extreme failure rates. Take a look at some of the accounts of people who are on the diet. They report miserable side effects and most drop out. To me, this is no way to boost your health.

Would you consider that just eating whole, healthy foods and exercising would be a viable substitue to this kind of program?

Again, I thank you for your opinions on the subject.

It's a shame that Ms. DeLuz cites in her credentials that she comes from schools which teach natural healing and holistic nutrition. It's people like her that make it difficult for my regular doctor, and other rational-minded people to believe in the benefits of natural healing and holistic medicine. Because there definately are benefits to both. Unfortunately, there are so many hucksters out there, and we have so much crap to sort through, that we get tired and turn back to prescriptions and poor diets because that's what we know.

It makes me sick just thinking about all the people that will be running out to drink one of her concoctions instead of eating a nice apple and drinking a tall glass of ice water.

I've been on the Martha's Vineyard Detox diet for 9 days now. It is not easy at all. Although I have lost 9 lbs according to my scale, I'm not sure if it is muscle lbs or what. It is next to impossible to stay on the diet while working - as most of us normal people have to do. The vegetable juice tasted so bad I would gag each time I had to drink it and ended up using V8 with some greens juiced in instead. I e-mailed 4 important questions to the 21 Pounds in 21 Days website - a week later I am still awaiting my answers. What great support and customer service!!