Fast Track one Day Detox Diet: Better Slow Down on the Detox Claim
The name implies that it will cleanse away the fat and create real weight loss. But don't be fooled, detox may be more snake-oil, rather than a health benefit.
Promise of a Quick Diet Through Detox
Ann Louise Gittleman’s fad diet, The Fast Track One-Day Detox Diet, has a misleading title. The diet doesn’t take one day to complete, and it’s more about flushing “toxins” from the body. It may have short-term success as a weight loss program, but this diet depends too much on the concept of detoxification -- which has never been scientifically proven to be beneficial.
The Fast Track One-Day Detox Diet actually takes eleven days. In some cases -- as websites promoting it claimed -- it can shed up to eight pounds in a short time. Still, this a diet with more questions than answers.
Who is Ann Louise Gittleman?
According to various sources, Gittleman is an author and proponent of alternative medicine. Much of her books focus on nutrition, dieting, and longevity. She has a following. In fact, one site refers to her as the “undisputed lady of nutrition”.
Aside from her books, she has a website, several blogs and You Tube videos dedicated to her. Some are created by her, but a quick glance reveals that many of them were supposedly created by her fans.
Despite her popularity, Gittleman is a controversial figure that has been accused of promoting pseudoscientific claims. In addition, her credentials are questionable at best.
For example:
- Although she attended and earned a degree at Columbia’s Teacher College, Gittleman earned her Ph.d at the defunct Clayton College of Natural Health, an unaccredited holistic medicine school that was accused of being a diploma mill.
- She has been accused of pushing false information on various TV shows. This included dietary supplements and electromagnetic radiation.
- She promoted diets that were based on flimsy scientific evidence.
Numerous scientists and other researchers have lambasted her over her books and her “magical” claims of diets using such things as “fat flushing” and detoxing (more on that later).
Speaking of detox, Gittleman has been considered a pioneer in this process. Her most famous books, The Fast-Track Detox Diet and The Fast-Track One-Day Detox Diet were best sellers and pivoted her as being an avid and effective promoter of dietary detox.
The Three Stages
So how is her supposed miracle diet supposed to work? It is broken down in three stages. These stages are rigid in its rules and the type of food consumed. In additions, it involves detoxing, eating choice food and fasting.
- Stage 1: The Prequel, which includes seven days of detox support foods that will prepare the body for the one-day fast.
- Stage 2: It’s the one-day fasting phase (the act of depriving one’s self of solid foods). It involves drinking Gittleman’s self-described miracle juice throughout the day.
- Stage 3: Called the sequel, this stage includes three days of incorporating “supportive” foods into one’s diet that's meant to keep the weight off. The final stage seems to indicate that the diet will have long term benefits for the dieter, which is a bold claim for any diet.
...things used for cleaning or brushing were renamed or repackaged as “detox” for selling purposes.
The main ingredient that’s meant to flush out the system of toxins is the Miracle Juice. According to ABC’s 20/20 broadcast on the subject, Miracle Juice is a concoction of unsweetened cranberry juice, orange juice, and lemon juice that’s flavored with cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg.
Interestingly, this drink is similar to other specialty diet drinks (such as Sassy water) and may prove to be the healthiest portion of this diet, considering the nutrients and vitamins contained in it. Still, the assumption is that this drink acts as a detoxification.
The diet portion for Stage 1 and Stage 3 center around eating lots of fruits and leafy vegetables, topped with flax-seed and powdered psyllium husks that, according to 20/20, is commonly found in laxatives, which is meant to flush your system out of toxins. Precisely what these toxin are never made clear.
The Concept of Detox
Detoxification (or detox) is the belief that toxins and chemicals from environmental factors, foods or medicines are making people unhealthy. Often, the term detox is confused with drug rehab. Detox referred to in drug rehab has nothing to do with detox diets. The type that’s mentioned in detox diets such as Gittleman’s program center around cleansing or flushing certain chemicals out the body’s vital organs - in particular, the colons, livers and lymph nodes.
According to Kathleen Zelman, WebMd’s Weight Loss Clinic writer, a detox diet will promote the use of herbs, pills, potions, colonics and fasting to rid the body of impurities.
The Fast Track One-Day Detox Diet doesn’t incorporate any pills. Instead, it relies on vegetables, Gittleman's Miracle Juice, and the one-day fasting upon which the name for the diet program came from.
... It is about a healthful diet, and we have science to back that up. But that isn’t sexy [for dieters]."
— Dr. David Katz, Yale University
The word “detox” sounds exciting and important; it’s a word that gets thrown around as a selling point for many diets and health regiments that are sold to the public. However, the problem with “detox” is that it is not scientifically proven to work or to have any medicinal powers.
According to the British website Sense about Science, several scientists and engineers who have studied detox diets such as The Fast Track One-Day Detox Diet have found that:
- Diet and holistic medicine companies seem not to have the same definition of “detox.”
- There’s little or no evidence offered by various companies to back up the detox claims.
- Many items, especially very common and mundane foods, or things used for cleaning or brushing were renamed or repackaged as “detox” for selling purposes.
The Verdict
As mentioned, this diet raises more questions than answers. What are the toxins? How does detoxing work and what is its benefits? Does it help with losing weight? The answers to these questions cannot be truly answered without research and evidence. At at this point, the concept of detox and the toxins they're supposed to remove are sketchy, at best.
What can be said, it that The Fast Track One-Day Detox Diet is a short-term weight loss as many fad diets tend to be. For that reason, trying the diet is not considered harmful; however, it’s not proven to be beneficial either. Also, its long-term effects have never been proven, and if someone was to stick to such a diet, it has the potential of leading to health problems.
There are better, scientifically supported diets out there. Anything with the word “detox” should be regarded with a lot of skepticism. Possibly, a quote from the 20/20 interview on the subject with Yale Medical School’s Dr. David Katz, an expert on nutrition, has the best assessment of this diet and others and why they’re so popular.
“You know it’s not about cutting carbs and it’s not about drinking miracle juice." He said. "It is about a healthful diet, and we have science to back that up. But that isn’t sexy [for dieters].”
Work Cited
- Ann Louise Gittleman — Lakanto
- Ann Louise Gittleman - Wikipedia
- Debunking detox – Sense About Science
- The Fast Track Detox Diet - Integrative Medicine Center of Western Colorado : Integrative Medicine C
About the Creator
Dean Traylor
I wrote for college and local newspapers, magazines and the Internet (30 years). I have degree in journalism, masters in special education (and credentials), and certificate in screenwriting. Also, a special ed. teacher (25 years)
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