Gothamist: Opinionist: Blueprint Cleanse

unnua

Sun, 02 Nov 2008 01:54:03 -0500

Almost any "cleanse" makes many people feel good and energized because of the reduced calories. In the first few days of not having enough to eat, the body increases energy as a strategy to help us obtain more food. (Of course, it can't keep this up for long.) The placebo effect is also a contributing factor, of course. The energy and good feelings have nothing to do with "cleansing toxins". Fecal matter does not build up in your body over time and neither do toxins. Waste products are quickly excreted.

Rachel12

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 10:43:10 -0500

DONT PARTICIPATE IN THIS FAST UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES. It made me very ill, and then their customer service person, an aggressive, uneducated-sounding person named Victoria, refused to give me a refund. A horrible experience.

guest

Tue, 02 Oct 2007 00:22:15 -0500

Wow...that was intense reading all these post! So...I did this cleanse. Have to say I feel great. My skin is glowing. I have more energy, and my mind is much clearer. It is a pretty steep price, however I don't have time to juice, or to even run around the farmers market looking for all the ingrediants to make these concoctions. It helped me to feel good inside and out. Science really hasn't done that for me lately.

Bofug

Wed, 23 May 2007 16:58:23 -0500

For a mere hundred bucks I'll send you my special detoxifying regimen. (Hint: It consists of FIVE days of cold pizza, week old hot'n'sour soup and a few cases of Old Milwaukee. Guaranteed to turn your colon inside out, purge your system of years of toxins, restore that glamorous lustre to your hair, and will actually detoxify the colons of anyone within a 50 metre radius, re-align the iron molecules of your cheap wine, demagentize your DVDs and totally increase the fidelity of your stereo system.) I feel an info-mercial coming on. Bofug

toby

Wed, 23 May 2007 10:04:04 -0500

Best cleanse ever: http://www.blessedherbs.com I had a ball!

jmunnie

Wed, 23 May 2007 09:59:08 -0500

"Fecal material does not adhere to the intestinal lining"... Not only that, but the intestine sheds cells continuously, meaning that not even its own external cells adhere to its lining! No one is hatin' on juice here, btw. Just pseudoscience. The claims do not stand up to scientific testing and observation.

anonymass

Tue, 22 May 2007 22:22:51 -0500

I don't know about your guys, but one cup of black coffee in the morning pretty much clears the pipes.

Andy Bernard

Tue, 22 May 2007 17:42:02 -0500

i drink juice too... i usually spend about 2 bucks for a bottle of it, though.

Annie

Tue, 22 May 2007 15:23:41 -0500

Not an employee, just a juice drinker. So sorry to disappoint.

SP

Tue, 22 May 2007 15:13:59 -0500

Annie (and others), welcome to a phenomenon known in the medical science world as the Placebo Effect. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Placebo_(origins_of_technical_term) Sending me $200 via paypal will make you feel really good too, and you dont even have to drink anything or give up eating stuff! It's awesome!!! Let me know if you're interested, I'll give you the info :)

whatever

Tue, 22 May 2007 15:01:22 -0500

Annie: so, I'm guessing you work for Blueprint Cleanse? you sound super-shilly in that last post, its like some sort of marketer prose.

Organic Avenue

Tue, 22 May 2007 14:58:07 -0500

Cleanses are great, but this Lower East Side company does an even more intense cleanse, of 5 days! Check it out for $350, and can be delivered anywhere in Manhattan! www.organicavenue.com 101 Stanton Street b/t Ludlow and Orchard

.

Tue, 22 May 2007 14:54:06 -0500

no one has mentioned the salt water cleanse (ha!), which actually feels pretty good once in a while. as for fasting, it's just not for me. I still suspect my muscles are eating themselves and my metabolism will be permanently f*cked up if I deny myself food.

Annie

Tue, 22 May 2007 14:20:08 -0500

Okay, Nick. Then I guess I'm one of the oblivious consumers you mention. Hmm...I don't feel oblivious. I actually feel healthy, happy and more aware of how I eat. To me, it was money well spent. And maybe it's just not for everyone.

Lieutenant Worf

Tue, 22 May 2007 14:11:48 -0500

Prune Juice can do that AND more Its a warrior's drink

smitty

Tue, 22 May 2007 13:48:52 -0500

A great book on healthful diets is "Eat to Live" by Dr. Joel Fuhrman. It is just about eating a nutrient-rich diet. No fads needed.

enter the red carpet

Tue, 22 May 2007 13:48:16 -0500

But you also get a free insulated "goody bag". surely, that means it's good stuff that it needs to be fresh and insulated. if you don't get your goody bag, make sure you complain.

nick

Tue, 22 May 2007 13:37:32 -0500

nobody is hating on fruits and veggies, annie. everyone is hating on the fucking snakes who sell this extremely overpriced product to oblivious consumers. big difference.

SP

Tue, 22 May 2007 13:25:28 -0500

MH, thanks for re-posting this, but evidently the main disease that these people suffer from is an inability to read or listen to anything that goes against their deeply ingrained superstitions. While they are for the most part only harming and fooling themselves, the sad thing is, they can also end up harming others. This reminds me of the story about a vegan couple that killed their newborn baby. They fed it a vegan diet and it starved to death. They had no idea what they were doing.

Annie

Tue, 22 May 2007 13:25:11 -0500

Wow, so much hating on fruits and veggies!! I tried this cleanse and felt fantastic. I wonder if detox works for hostility...

Reality Czech

Tue, 22 May 2007 13:19:38 -0500

what a bunch of BS. Get an enema. It's cheaper and feels better.

edEx

Tue, 22 May 2007 13:15:02 -0500

The downside of long-term juice diets and fasts is that their lack of protein, fats, and other nutrients actually cause lethargy, weakness, and even mental confusion.

Murray Hillster

Tue, 22 May 2007 13:08:52 -0500

You know, if I posted more nonsense about "10 lbs. of hardened fecal matter" and "your body does get filled with toxins, which lay dormant in various tissues and can be released in various ways" right after somebody posted a link to, quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/gastro.html I'd probably be a little embarrassed. But then again, I'm not Kevin Bracken. Indeed, Quackwatch also provides the following helpful page: "Twenty-Five Ways to Spot Quacks and Vitamin Pushers" "18. They Use Disclaimers Couched in Pseudomedical Jargon. ... Some approaches to "detoxification" are based on notions that, as a result of intestinal stasis, intestinal contents putrefy, and toxins are formed and absorbed, which causes chronic poisoning of the body. This "autointoxication" theory was popular around the turn of the century but was abandoned by the scientific community during the 1930s. No such "toxins" have ever been found, and careful observations have shown that individuals in good health can vary greatly in bowel habits. Quacks may also suggest that fecal material collects on the lining of the intestine and causes trouble unless removed by laxatives, colonic irrigation, special diets, and/or various herbs or food supplements that "cleanse" the body. The falsity of this notion is obvious to doctors who perform intestinal surgery or peer within the large intestine with a diagnostic instrument. Fecal material does not adhere to the intestinal lining. Colonic irrigation is done by inserting a tube into the rectum and pumping up to 20 gallons of water in and out. This type of enema is not only therapeutically worthless but can cause fatal electrolyte imbalance. Cases of death due to intestinal perforation and infection (from contaminated equipment) have also been reported." www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/spotquack.html

anon

Tue, 22 May 2007 12:39:59 -0500

I've been using a book which promotes no-fad-dieting, just sensible eating and exercise (and boy, are the workouts tough) - the book also de-bunks common diet and fitness myths, among them juice fasts. The body detoxifies itself (hello, liver!) and eating/drinking nothing but juice for three days doesn't actually 'detox' you any more. The 'weight' lost is water weight. If you just cut back on sodium for a few days you'd probably get a similar effect.

edEx

Tue, 22 May 2007 12:13:13 -0500

when you meat eat greens. when you eat greens, eat em raw with no dressing or steaming. when you steam, wear a dressing such as a towel.

jeanette

Tue, 22 May 2007 12:08:16 -0500

i liked the review. i would never spend all that money on juice that someone has bottled. but if you can't do it without the convenience, then it makes sense. it makes sense that this would be on Gothamist. a lot of new yorkers are interested in fasting and detoxing. all of y'all haters should be too. you live in a dirty place. if anyone is thinking of juice fasting: do it! it's great. just use fresh fruit and puree it or juice it yourself. you'll feel great! you can get free information at any of the raw food stores in nyc.

Sebastien

Tue, 22 May 2007 12:04:06 -0500

No mention of the changes in the smell of the breath, embarrassing flatulence, changes in bowel movements including diarrhea and all the other things associated with these bogus liquid cleanse products? Check her references, she must actually shill for this juice company.

SP

Tue, 22 May 2007 12:03:39 -0500

Hey Kevin, I have a really nice late 19th Century bridge for sale, you might be interested in. I'll let you have it for cheap. Anyway, I'm off, I have some burgers to eat.

matty

Tue, 22 May 2007 11:59:30 -0500

If you really want to "detox" just cut back on alcohol, cigarettes and fast food. within a week you will look and feel better. no juices required.

steve

Tue, 22 May 2007 11:57:15 -0500

Is this the start of Gothamist using PayPerPost? or am I missing how this is even remotely related to NYC?

Kevin Bracken

Tue, 22 May 2007 11:56:18 -0500

Actually Matuko, there is such think as a detox. The body can contain up to 10 lbs. of hardened fecal matter, and if you have ever switched from water to lemon water, this will soon become apparent as you shed this useless material. Additionally, your body does get filled with toxins, which lay dormant in various tissues and can be released in various ways. Massages, certain diets and even acupuncture can go a long way in ridding your body of these substances. Also, Raze, no. It was free. This is how companies promote themselves, which is totally legitimate.

Brightliner

Tue, 22 May 2007 11:52:33 -0500

She didn't pay $200. It said right in the first paragraph that it was a free sample. Which is a smart business decision for the company. These things probably cost them about $10 total. If they can get some publicity and even one customer, they've made back that free sample cost and then some. I think I saw an informercial for something like this while channel-surfing one afternoon. I only saw a minute or so, but they just had me rolling on the floor laughing at their claims. "Even the FDA says you have several pounds of undigested food caked on the sides of your colon." Suuuuure, they do. Man, there must be a sucker born every second.

SP

Tue, 22 May 2007 11:48:53 -0500

the whole concept of autointoxication by the digestive system is complete bullshit and is potentially dangerous, and has been thoroughly debunked by medical science. Other "treatments" for this make believe condition include enemas, laxatives and colonic cleansings. Maybe Laren should volunteer for a nice colonic irrigation and tell us all about her experience too. If anyone is interested in the facts, read this: quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/gastro.html A good site, they have articles on many other subjects of BS pseudo medical "treatments" aimed at preying on weak minded and/or desperate people who are easily convinced they are sick when they are not, or whose health is so dire that they are willing to try anything, often to their further detriment, such as vitamins, herbs, crystals etc.

matukonyc

Tue, 22 May 2007 11:32:41 -0500

Hopefully, the fact that you wasted all that time to write an article about an unhealthy scam because a publicist sent you a free sample will dissuade others about wasting their time on such nonsense. There's no such thing a "detoxification" and certainly depriving one's body of nutrition for three days just to drop a few pounds of water weight is the most idiotic thing anyone could do.

Raze

Tue, 22 May 2007 11:09:29 -0500

um, you paid 200 bucks for three days worth of shakes? I'll tie you up and leave you in a closet for three days food-free for only $149.99.