The assumptions reported by Samantha Henig in her Master Cleanse Oddysey were way off base. Nice opinions but horrible reporting. She suggested that the cleanse is done out of psychological problems such as eating disorders. Just because a doctor wonders out loud about the cleanse without trying it, doesn't mean you should take his/her word for it. I've done the cleanse once and since then have decided that I would do it once/year. Does that make me anorexic? Does it make me a candidate for anorexia? Does this make the millions of people in many different religions all over the world who recognize the spiritual benefits of fasting mere basket cases? Before I did the cleanse I read hundreds of those message boards she alludes to as if they were mostly crazy people talking, and I came to the conclusion that 95% of the people who try it love the effects while a very small percentage either aren't comfortable (thereby giving it up, understandably) or don't follow the directions and have a bad experience. I highly recommend trying it for the cleanse (yes, losing weight is a bonus) because you have a 95% chance of having a great experience.

It's great that you use cleanses for spiritual purposes. However.

The point that Samantha, and the Doctors, bring us is sadly valid. People who diet, ie use extreme control factors over food for the purpose of self worth/esteem/gratification, do so for unhealthy psychological reasons.

It's not the worst thing ever, compared ot other self-defeating or self-destructive control factors that are practiced, but it is admittedly real.

And it sucks. It sucks to realize that your mind is churing along a a track which you attribute to being a person of self control who is rational and focused, only to (hopefully) become aware, after another weight loss/regain cycle, that this is not self control, this is a mind trick flying below your self awareness radar.

Since I, after hopefully for the last time of putting myself through rigidly restricted caloric diet inspired by some pithy words of advice from another celebrity trainer/diet guru/squawkbox of the diet industry who claims I too can waste away by living close to blackout everyday, only to finally resume eating agin and gain every hard fought pound back, agree with the idiocy of fasting for quick weight loss.

I hope with weight training and vitamins to unfuck my metabolic backlash and never.do.it.again.

I'm forty, and I've battled e.d. since I was a ballet dancer at 14 years old. Everything she says here is true. A voice of reason sucked into the void of misinformation.

I agree there are people who use the cleanse and do so for unhealthy reasons. But to group everyone who fasts into that pool is just misinformed. Because some people who drink are alcoholics, not everyone who drinks is an alcoholic. I find that alcoholics tend to think that everyone is an alcoholic. So it's not unreasonable to believe that if you and Samantha had a little more self-esteem, you wouldn't think everyone who fasts is psychologically unhealthy. People have fasted for thousands of years for good reason. I watch my calories, take vitamins, am educated and self-employed and am relatively very healthy of body and mind. I'm not going to assume everyone is as healthy as me and you shouldn't listen to celebrities' advice about dieting. Listen to yourself. If that excludes fasting, good for you. But don't pretend you know everybody's situation.

I agree that she grouped all people who use the cleanse into the eating disorder or weight loss catagory. I cleanse usually once a year and it is a nice reboot to my system. My migraines even occur less for a few months after my cleanse, my skin looks better and I like that. I don't know if it is because of the cleanse or that I just eat better right after the cleanse.

She is right about some of the message boards, there are lots of people with wieght issues and are using the cleanse to lose weight. I wish she would have stuck out the last few days and given a full overview of the cleanse but it's hard not to eat for 10 days I remember driving by a burger king and almost crying it smelled so good while doing a cleanse and I hate fast food hamburgers.