If I want a good cleanse I'll get food poisoning.

and quit porn and you can fly

Guess I'll never know what it's like to fly

Who said anything about detox? I have no illusions about any actual 'cleansing' happening. I do it as a kind of a reset to become more aware of the foods I eat. And it's very effective at that. Did you read the article? He doesn't make any claims about detox either.

Science adherents can be just as dogmatic as any other fanatics.

This article came to me by way of Tim Ferriss - one of the best debunkers (of both science and marketing) in the media today.

The Master Cleanse diet does purport to be a detox diet…

The Master Cleanse is a Detox Diet. The Detox of The Master Cleanse Diet occurs largely through Bowel Movements. The Daily Detox Bowel Movement is the result from the Nightly Laxative, and The Salt Water Flush. The Salt Water Flush is optional but the Bedtime Laxative is not. Some choose to do a Morning Laxative as well.

http://themastercleanse.org/

While science doesn't support the benefit of cleanses for "detox" and other physiological effects, I agree that some may find a more spiritual or philosophical benefit to it (which can have physiological benefits - the two cannot be separated).

And yes, I did read the article. I found it quite interesting, I wonder how similar his concoction is to the nutritional formula used in parenteral nutrition?

However, as others have noted, it raises all the red flags of being snake oil, which leads me to question its credibility.

Hadn't heard of Tim Ferriss, so looked him up…based on what I read about him (abeit quickly), this doesn't really seem his area of expertise either, so for me, that doesn't lend any additional credibility to the article.

It is an interest experiment though, and I am curious to see his report on longer term effects…

There's a number of studies that suggest that supplements don't offer all of the benefits of real food, that it's not just the main nutrients, but also other compounds, and that they all work together. Personally, I like food… eating it is what we've evolved to do. :)

Interesting, he's now posted the ingrediants that are in it:
http://robrhinehart.com/?p=424

I would lean towards calling it snake oil, but that being said, he seems a little more open and honest than most snake oil salesmen.

Maybe we should all pitch in $5 and get someone on the board into the experiment? See how they feel. Anyone up for being a guinea pig?

meh I'll take the awesome flavours of real food.

Just don't eat like a moron and you get both flavourful food and a balanced proper diet.

His idea that it's a burden on his time to cook and clean? What about the amazing conversation's that can happen over a great dinner and a bottle of wine? Hanging out in the kitchen with the cook and talking? Okay doing the dishes can suck, but it's not worth loosing the other stuff. Eating real food isn't all that bad.

Here are my thoughts from a quick read:

1st thought: Since when is a liquid diet that includes only necessary ingredients a novel idea? People (see comments) seem to think he's some sort of genius for thinking of this. All the while, people have been consuming various forms of "complete" diets in hospitals (or at home for dieting) for decades whether by mouth or intravenously (parenteral nutrition as mudhoney noted). There are hundreds of commercial products available that are formulated for the specific needs of various conditions.
I guess healthy people haven't really tried to do this as a fulltime replacement for normal food. Why would they? real food tastes good…

2nd thought: the guy is less thorough is his research and prep than a 5th grader preparing a poster for the school's science fair. some glaring examples:

1: Forgetting iron is his concoction? :???:

2: making a mistake in the cost calculation: oops, turns out the cost is 3X what I initially suggested. :rolleyes:

3: not actually showing the details of his complete ingredient composition. He uses oligosaccharides like maltodextrin (which oligosaccharides exactly?), non-defined protein and olive oil for fat (its exact composition?).

4: His main premise that he only consumes pure chemicals and elements yet he includes olive oil and non-defined "proteins". If he was following his premise, he would have put together a pure mixture of various fats and amino acids

Despite his basic failings at the "scientific method", somehow he has the audacity to write this: "There is precious little good data in nutrition science. Every study I've seen shows poor statistical methods, conflicts with other studies, or does not show statistically significant results, usually all three. It's a difficult field because there are simply too many variables and the parameters are difficult to control precisely. This is why diets are fads. I decided to ditch nutrition and focus on biology. "

In the paragraph under "Global Implications" this guy states that it's normal to not have bowel movements. This is completely false - you need to have regular BMs to get rid of waste produced by your body. Contrary to what he writes, this waste is not a byproduct of food but it is formed by the natural turnover/breakdown of your body tissue. Fibre just makes passing your bowel movements easier, it's not the "reason for" bowel movements. His formula has just 5g of fibre per day, this is less than 20% of recommended. So if he thinks it's "normal" to have rock hard bowel movements every 10 days, then you probably don't want to take dietary advice from him.

As previously mentioned, a lot of extreme fad diets "work" because a person's baseline diet is often crap. He mentions that his typical diet consists of eggs in the morning, eating out for lunch, and a burger/quesadilla for dinner. Although I can't be sure, this guy probably went for weeks without eating a single vegetable.

If I want a good cleanse I'll get food poisoning.

Done that, and you don't want to get cleansed that way.

If you want a good cleansing, go to a pig roast and gorge on cracklin and fatty pork. Within a few hours you'll be thoroughly cleansed.

My wife kind of finds my dandruff sexy , and alluring … BUT my real concern ………..

Is there any chance that this program will make my penis any bigger?

I really hope not , as i pass out when i get an erection as it is.