Hello,

I'd like to thank you for your informative magazine and for the dedication you bring to the important issues of health freedom. But I'd also like to take issue with some of the information in Elaine Newkirk's article on cleansing. I am a Licensed Acupuncturist (in private practice for 18 years,) and teach nutrition at the Five Branches University in San Jose CA. The issue of "cleansing" comes up often, from both patients and students, so I now devote an entire class to proper detoxification protocols.

I am seriously concerned about the "master cleanse" espoused by Ms. Newkirk in her article. I've heard about it before and am dismayed to find it's still being promoted. Depriving the body of food while living on water, lemon, maple syrup, and cayenne, does NOT cleanse the body. On the contrary, it causes extreme stress and inhibits liver detoxification. I suspect that the "energy" that some people report feeling after a few days of this is most likely the adrenalin surge that results from the body's desperate attempt to maintain adequate blood sugar. Meanwhile, normal liver detoxification is inhibited because, as anyone who has ever studied basic biochemistry knows, the liver requires an abundance of certain nutrients and proteins to conjugate toxins and remove them from the body. Though the liver does some of its work through filtration, the heavy lifting is done through a two stage enzymatic system that requires fuel, as in food. When we fast, this system doesn't work well.

A poignant illustration of this problem is that the most common reason for sudden liver failure resulting in transplants is acetaminophen poisoning. This happens when people take even normal amounts of acetaminophen for the aches and pains of flu, but may feel too ill for several days to eat. In the absense of adequate food intake to supply the liver with nutrients (i.e. fasting), the liver can't detoxify the acetaminophen. The result is often fatal.

We need an abundant supply of many nutrients to properly eliminate both metabolic and environmental toxins. These include a multitude of minerals, vitamins (including C and the B family,) and amino acids from protein. You can't get any of this from the ingredients in the master cleanse program, though I warrant there's a bit of Vitamin C in the lemon juice and cayenne.

When my patients ask me for a cleansing program, here's what I tell them to do:
1. Eliminate all processed foods from your diet including all forms of sugar.
2. Eliminate alcohol, caffeine, and over the counter drugs.
3. Eat plentiful amounts of fresh fruits and vegetables.
4. Switch to organically raised food as much as possible.
5. Replace all vegetable oils with healthy fats like butter, coconut oil, and olive oil. (Everyone should do this permanently anyway.) These help with mineral absorption which is necessary to support your body's detoxification systems.
6. Add a fiber supplement like psyllium or flax and drink plenty of water to keep the colon working efficiently.
7.Eat adequate amounts of protein to insure the liver gets the amino acids necessary to build its detoxification enzymes.
8.Consider adding appropriate liver support herbs like milk thistle, curcumin, and dandelion.
If you follow this simple, sane regimen for a month, you may be amazed at the improvement in your health. But please stay away from extreme fad cleansing programs like "the master cleanse" which actually do more harm than good.

Narrye