Cleanses are all the rage among young women (and men), especially in urban areas – a search for “cleanse” or “detox” can turn up hundreds of webpages extolling the virtues of these righteous purges, which usually consist of food regiments with little to no solid food. Proponents of cleanses say they flush out the fats, toxins, and chemicals that are part and parcel of a modern diet. Many companies offer pre-prepared cleanses, where customers can choose the length of time they’d like to “cleanse” and can purchase instructions and enough premade juices and liquids to last for that number of days.

Breakfast, lunch and dinner. Hmmm...

I’ve read about these cleanses, but I must admit I’ve been skeptical. I get irritable, moody, and nauseous when I’m hungry – I can’t imagine voluntarily subsisting on juice for more than a few hours, much less a few days, and I can’t imagine that depriving myself of solid food would really work to flush my system out. Jauntsetter recently posted a firsthand account of one of these cleanses that seems to agree with me – this blogger found that a cleanse made her feel worse, not better.

After reading that, I feel vindicated and quite sure I won’t be committing to a cleanse anytime soon. Have you tried any of these trendy cleanses or detox programs? What was your experience?