- The Milk
Cleanse is an eight-day regimen of milk and herbs marketed as a way to balancehealth . - Advocates say it can help remove toxins, boost energy, and relieve symptoms like brain fog.
- A gastroenterologist told Insider the cleanse is likely to make you poop more.
The latest version of a trendy milk and herbal supplement cleanse claims to fight fatigue, beat brain fog, and maybe even support weight loss.
Launched by Jody Levy, the entrepreneur behind the Watermelon Juice drink beloved by Beyoncé, the newest Milk Cleanse was first sold last summer through Levy's brand, Lab Elymental.
But the trend initially caught on (and was quickly debunked) in 2017.
There's no evidence to support any of the supposed benefits of the milk cleanse or similar regimens, according to Dr. Kyle Staller, gastroenterologist at Massachusetts General Hospital.
"It's likely a lot more hype than anything else," Staller told Insider. "There's no evidence that any of these types of diets have benefits."
How The Milk Cleanse works
The first eight days of the cleanse involves drinking at least one six-ounce glass of milk every two hours while you're awake, and as much milk as you need to stave off hunger. It also includes supplement blends of herbs like slippery elm, cranberry, and senna.
No other food or drink is permitted, according to the website, except for water and one daily cup of coffee.
After eight days, you move on to the next phase of incorporating nutritious food and another supplement blend of slippery elm and pepsin, a digestive enzyme derived from pig stomachs.
The cost of the cleanse is $275, not including the milk. Cleanse customers are instructed via the website to source their own milk, preferably the highest quality available.
Advocates say The Milk Cleanse offers a digestive 'reset'
To develop the product, Levy worked with naturopath doctor Linda Lancaster, who had previously popularized a generic version of the cleanse with the likes of Gwyneth Paltrow and Miranda Kerr. Celebrities have in the past touted 'The Milk Cleanse" as "detoxing" and claimed it helped expel toxins and parasites.
Popularized by Lancaster, the trend is based on a practice from Ayurveda, a naturalistic system of medicine with historic roots in India. In that tradition, milk is believed to have magnetic properties to draw out toxins and parasites, as well as nourish the body.
Levy told Insider that the cleanse helped her relieve chronic symptoms that other doctors had been unable to solve, and she marketed it to share the benefits with others. She said that she's careful not to make any medical statements about the cleanse, and sticks to anecdotes about its benefits when marketing the product.
"Everybody's wellness is different. The cleanse is one tool," she said. "We have positive stories about people's experience with the cleanse, and people in our community have been doing it for years."
Ingredients in The Milk Cleanse are more likely to have a laxative effect on the body, according to a doctor
Staller said the herb blends in The Milk Cleanse can help you poop. Ingredients, like senna and slippery elm, are well-documented laxatives that are cheap and widely available over the counter.
"If you want to have a bowel movement, they can be very effective, but you can do so just as easily by buying these at a local drug store," Staller said.
The cleanse itself isn't risky for otherwise healthy people, but overuse of laxatives can cause dehydration or electrolyte imbalance, and any cleanse can be a potential trigger for disordered eating, he said.
It's also unlikely to be a quick fix for fatigue, brain fog, digestive distress, or overweight, Staller said, primarily because those vague, broadly defined symptoms are related to lifestyle, and most of us experience them sometimes.
"These are all symptoms of being participants in a highly stressful society. That doesn't mean you have a parasite or anything else," he said.