Tricks of the Trade: Beyonce (left) and Gwyneth Paltrow have undergone the detox. Photos: Getty Images
By Karen Springen and Anna Kuchment
Saint Augustine once said that “fasting cleanses the soul [and]
raises the mind.” Were he alive today, he might be surprised to see the
fast detached from its spiritual roots and transformed into little more
than a quick ticket to weight loss. Taken up by the likes of Beyoncé
Knowles and Madonna and splashed across the pages of gossip magazines
and Web sites, these “detox diets” or “cleanses” are everywhere.
Publishers are churning out books like “The Fast Track Detox Diet,”
“The Raw Food Detox Diet,” “Super Cleanse: Detox Your Body for
Long-Lasting Health and Beauty” and “21 Pounds in 21 Days: The Martha’s
Vineyard Diet Detox.” And as many as 3 million Americans flock to the
nation’s 5,000 colonic hydrotherapy centers for enemas, a component of
many detoxes, according to the International Association for Colon
Hydrotherapy. Proponents say detox diets rid the body of impurities and
boost energy.
Some regimens are more extreme than others. To prepare for her role
in “Dreamgirls,” Beyoncé lost 20 pounds in two weeks by drinking
purified water mixed with lemon juice, maple syrup and cayenne pepper
(a.k.a. “The Master Cleanse”). More moderate approaches allow clients
some food they can chew. Last spring, Oprah completed a 21-day cleanse
in which she gave up meat, fish, eggs, sugar, gluten, alcohol and
cheese. What was left? A lot, she says, including strawberry-rhubarb
wheat-free crepes for breakfast.
The concept behind these cleanses is as old as human history.
“There’s a straight line from detox diets to classical religious
fasting,” says Harvey Cox, professor of divinity at Harvard University.
In many religions, fasting is associated with enlightenment and
atonement and understanding the suffering of the poor. “It’s a way of
resetting one’s moral clock, of starting with a clean slate,” says
Michael McCullough, a psychology professor at the University of Miami.
Christians fast during Lent, Muslims fast during Ramadan and Jews fast
on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement that follows the New Year. “Fasting
builds self-control,” says McCullough. “It allows people to build
strength for when they have to adhere to some other moral dimension of
their religion.”
