Detox Diets - Are They Worth the Hype?

Welcome to Walking the Walk, a feature that takes a deeper look at commonly shared diet and fitness advice. Every other week, I'll choose one piece of advice and practice it for seven days. Then I'll report back on what I discovered about making it work in real life and how it affected my own personal fitness -- and how it ultimately can affect your own efforts.

When I started looking into detox diets to try for this week's "Walking the Walk," I started with the master -- Master Cleanse, that is. After I got done laughing -- nothing but lemonade and cayenne pepper for 10 days, maybe even longer! -- I decided I needed to look at some more moderate options.

When it comes to detox diets, I tend to err on the side of science. That is, science doesn't really back the idea that our bodies are full of stubborn toxins that need to be "removed." Most health experts say our liver, kidneys, and lungs do that just fine on their own. But I do think there's merit to the idea of giving up processed foods, focusing on whole foods, fruits and vegetables, and cutting out the junk. I also know that there are people out there who don't think ice cream for dinner is a good idea, so I'm willing to accept that there can be two sides to every issue.

Next, I moved on to Gwyneth Paltrow's version of detox, which can be found on her website, Goop. (On a side note, she calls the Master Cleanse hallucinogenic -- I kind of wish she had elaborated.) Her diet -- based on Dr. Alejandro Junger's book "Clean," out in May -- is pretty reasonable in that you actually get to eat. But by the time I got done buying products specific to the diet -- coconut water, miso paste, bonito flakes -- I wouldn't have enough grocery money left to feed the rest of the family.

No, I needed something clean and simple that didn't require a personal chef, so I based my detox diet on this sample menu from About.com. To find out how the week went, keep reading.