It was just a month ago that the media reported Angelina Jolie was on a special diet in order to prepare for yet another pregnancy.  It seems now that has all changed as she is currently trying to lose 21 pounds in 21 days to prepare for her role in the upcoming film, Salt.  In the movie she plays a woman CIA assassin who is forced to disguise herself as a man.  A source said,

“To play a man convincingly Angelina is adamant she needs to lose her curves.”

Some friends are saying that Angelina wants to lose these 21 pounds so quickly that she is sticking to the Martha’s Vineyard Detox Diet where practitioners are encouraged to drink liquids every two hours to cleanse the body and not even a morsel of solid food is allowed.  In Grazia magazine, one source reported,

“She has been trying to go for the full 21 days but it’s tough. She’s lost around eight pounds but is now introducing a couple of small meals in between shakes as she was starting to feel weak.”

Obviously, she looks too thin and it’s sad to think that Angelina Jolie, just like Katie Holmes, is jumping on the detox bandwagon which makes one look as gaunt and ghostly as possible. However, husband Brad Pitt isn’t taking the matter as lightly as Katie’s husband, Tom.  One source said that Brad was so upset about it over the weekend that he stormed out of the house.  A supposed friend said,

“Brad told her that if she was staying on the diet, he was getting out of the way. Then she started screaming at him about a chore.  He felt that what he did or said would be wrong, so he went to Los Angeles to let off steam with some buddies. He thinks the diet is dangerous and unnecessary.”

Source

Developed by naturopath and nurse, Roni Deluz, the Martha’s Vineyard Diet Detox plan is a fasting-type diet that claims you’ll lose 21 lbs in 21 days. The diet consists of a 21 day detox (recommended once a year), and shorter versions including a 7 day and a 2 day weekend detox.

The Martha’s Vineyard Diet Detox Plan
It is a 21 day “detox” where you consume primarily soups and juices. During the course of the diet, you gradually add solid foods such as oatmeal for breakfast and stir-fried veggies for dinner.

The author makes many valid arguments including the health benefits of organic fruits and veggies, and the negative health consequences of processed foods that contain high fructose corn syrup, trans fats and artificial sweeteners. However the premise for this diet is flawed and will not result in any sustainable weight loss.

Weight Loss Claims
The author claims that “many people’s bodies become so overloaded with toxins that it is physically impossible for them to lose weight by using traditional dieting methods.” Although implicating “toxins” as the cause for obesity, the Martha Vineyard diet detox is actually a very low calorie diet. Consisting primarily of juices and soups over the course of 21 days, you can lose a substantial amount of weight, but it is a result of severe calorie restriction and not the result of “detoxing.” This type of diet will send your body into “starvation mode” where your body will not only use fat as fuel but also a substantial amount of metabolically active muscle tissue. While all diets will cause your metabolism to slow, very low calorie diets are particularly damaging to your metabolism. Once over, your resting metabolism is significantly slower because of the loss of muscle tissue, and you become prone to regaining the weight and then some.

Health Claims
The author talks about how the diet temporarily makes you feel “sick” as a result of your body dumping “toxic residues that have built up in its cells- free radicals, hard minerals, oxidized pollutants from smoke and fumes, herbicides, insecticides, food additives, and even cholesterol, for example – into the bloodstream and organs.” These symptoms are not from “detoxing” impurities as the author claims. These crash diets make you feel sick, because your metabolism is shutting down as your body goes into starvation mode. She calls this a “healing crisis” and acknowledges that clients may experience “acne, rashes, nausea, headaches, sleepiness, fatigue, constipation, diarrhea, runny nose, ear problems, and body aches.”

The author claims that one should drink fresh juice because processing kills “enzymes” found in store bought juices. While I agree that fresh-squeezed juice is healthier, it is not because of “enzymes.” Any enzymes found in juice will be quickly degraded by the stomach, making any potential benefits highly unlikely. Rather, fresh juices are healthier because extraction methods and heating will lower the antioxidant content of many store-bought juices.

The health and weight loss claims made by the author concerning colon cleansing and coffee enemas, that are part of her diet, have no scientific basis.

The Bottom Line
I would not recommend this diet, or any very low calorie diet, as it will promote a yo-yo pattern of weight loss and weight gain.