Marthas Vineyard Detox Diet

The Martha's Vineyard Detox Diet is a book that claims people who follow it to the letter can lose 21 pounds in 21 days. If you're interested in finding out about the diet without investing in the book, read on.

All About Detox

The first thing you should know is that the Martha's Vineyard Detox Diet is not a traditional diet plan that you can follow for months or even years.

It is a detox diet meant to cleanse the body of toxins and help you lose weight at the same time. It's only to be followed for two, seven, or 21 days at a time, though it is possible to repeat the diet regularly, as some people do with the lemonade diet.

Detoxification is said to clear out toxins, the result of which is a better functioning body with more energy. These sorts of diets typically aren't specifically geared toward weight loss, but that is usually the result because of the extremely limited food choices.

In the case of the Martha's Vineyard Detox Diet, you aren't actually eating anything in the sense of having to chew. The diet focuses on juices, vegetable purees, broths, herbal teas and supplements, vitamins and enzymes to keep the body healthy and functioning during the process.

The other main component of the program, as with many detox diets, is colonics and coffee enemas to clear out the bowels and keep things running smoothly. This can be a big turn off for people who might otherwise be interested in this sort of diet as a weight loss tool.

Details of the Martha's Vineyard Detox Diet

Juicing is the key to success with the Martha's Vineyard Detox.

If you follow the 21-day plan, you'll be eating (or maybe drinking is a better term) about 20 servings of fruit and vegetables a day, as well as consuming supplements and enzymes. You have to have a juicer at home to make all of the drinks you are supposed to be consuming, which can be a substantial outlay of cash for a diet you're not sure you'll be able to stick with.

You'll also have to buy supplements, enzymes and other supplies to supplement the vast amounts of fresh fruit and vegetables you'll be buying. The diet's website says the cost of the diet is about $12 a day.

In addition to regularly scheduled drinking, you're asked to get some physical activity—either walking or jumping on a trampoline—daily. Colonics and enemas should be performed weekly during the 21-day process, though the book says you can skip the colonic on the shorter detox programs.

No alcohol is allowed on the diet, as well as no solid food, so eating away from the house is pretty much out of the question unless you own a lot of thermoses.

As with many programs that involve some kind of fasting or radical reduction in calories, many people experience headaches, dizziness, acne, nausea, body aches, fatigue or other health problems a few days into the diet.

The Martha's Vineyard folks call this a "healing crisis" and say that it's totally normal as your body works to remove toxins. Still, it can be a little difficult to go about your normal routine while this is happening, so you might want to start the detox over a long weekend or when you have a few days of vacation that you can spend at home getting used to the diet and its effects.

After the 21 days, you will slowly ease back into eating food. Recipes and recommendations are included in the book to get your reintroduction to solid, cooked foods off to a healthy start.

This detox plan is certainly not for everyone. It can get a little expensive and complicated. But those who have had success with the program say that it's an effective way to lose a lot of weight fast.