While quick weight loss diets and cleanses that promise to help you lose pounds in just a mere few days are considered fad diets, many folks desperate to drop a few pounds quickly swear by them.

Find out if the cleanse is safe and if it really works when the author of The 4-Day Diet sets Rachael Ray’s viewers straight, including sharing the secrets to seeing results fast.

Created by Dr. Ian K. Smith, author of Fat Smash Diet and the diet expert on VH1’s Celebrity Fit Club, The 4-Day Diet helps you squash cravings and reset your appetite and health so that you can look better, feel better and eat better.

To learn more about the detox diet, read DietsInReview.com’s review of The 4-Day Diet.

Check your local listings for Rachael Ray Show air times.

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Tune In: The 4-Day Diet on the Rachael Ray Show

Starting today, Monday, January 4, several members of the Biggest Loser family are starting this detox plan, including Ali Sweeney, Heba Salama and Hollie Self, among others.

How does it work? They’re giving up the following for one week:

• No alcohol
• No dairy
• No meat
• No sugar
• No preservatives
• No caffeine

“Some friends of mine at Biggest Loser and I wanted to start off on Monday, Jan 4th focusing on health and clean simple foods,” says host Ali Sweeney on her Facebook page. “We’re calling it a ‘detox‘ though i guess it’s not really.” She admits that the program sounds brutal, but that they’ll all feel really good when it’s done.

It’s primarily a vegetarian and whole foods eating approach for an entire week, plus the restriction of sugar, caffeine and alcohol. A lot of fresh fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, seeds and water.

Unlike the detox and cleanse products that have swept the online marketing world this past year, this is one approach that is sound and will certainly set you up for success as you continue with a health eating and workout regimen for the remainder of the year.

Sign-up for the Biggest Loser Newsletter!

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The Biggest Loser New Year’s Detox

Image Via The Tyra Banks Show

In fact, the episode is only for the brave as Tyra plucks someone from the audience and shows a first-ever, daytime-television colonic!

As detoxification treatments are becoming more and more popular, Americans look to these procedures, whether it’s a colonic, juice fast or supplement program, to rid their bodies of excess toxins, shed a few pounds and improve their digestion. But are they really safe?

Tune in to The Tyra Show to find out.

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Tune-In: The Truth About Colon Cleansing on The Tyra Show

A health devotee in addition to being a mother, wife, actress, and writer for her very own GOOP blog, Gwyneth used this 3-week detoxification to get rid of a few extra pounds and lighten up all around. After 21 days of sipping raw juices and gently noshing on watercress, miso soup and raspberry and rice milk smoothies, the Academy Award-winning actress professed to feeling “pure, happy and much lighter.”

The brain’s and creativity behind Clean is Dr. Junger, a New York City-based internal medicine doctor who after moving to the Big Apple as a resident from his native Uruguay developed irritable bowel syndrome and depression. Disenchanted by many of the modern-day treatments he turned to alternative and holistic forms of healing to treat his condition. In his book Clean, he discusses how cleanses have been around thousands of years, but much of their knowledge and practice has gotten lost over generations. Given our current toxic environment, Dr. Junger’s Clean programs put our detoxification systems on full speed, while supporting our bodies to maximize their effectiveness.

Unlike many cleanses, which require that you eat close to nothing and consume a number of fiber-rich supplements that can lead to some serious and uncomfortable tummy troubles and potential electrolyte imbalances, the Clean detox program has you eating food or drinking a smoothie or juice five times a day. The Clean Program eases digestion by providing two liquid meals a day and a solid one in between, eliminating allergenic and mucus-forming food, which frees up even more energy, says Dr. Junger.

In addition, Gwyneth maintained a regular yoga and fitness schedule while also abstaining from alcohol, sugar, caffeine, grains, gluten, soy, dairy, meat or anything processed. Although she didn’t reveal precisely how many pounds she lost during the three-week program, she followed the well-outlined plan with strict adherence, never caving in to a nibble of this or that.

Here is the complete review of Dr. Junger’s Clean detox program.

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Gwyneth Paltrow’s “Clean” 3-Week Detox Diet

After almost a decade as a massage therapist I’ve seen more treatments come and go than I can keep track of. But one that has been around for practically ever is the colonic. In case you don’t know what a colonic is, it’s a treatment, much like an enema, where the lower bowel is cleaned out with water. Colonics claim to relieve all manner of ailments, everything from depression, high blood pressure, and headaches and much more.

Colonics are one of the few treatments I haven’t had done. I work with both the beauty industry (estheticians) and healing professionals (acupuncturists, massage therapists), and invariably when they are trying out new techniques they ask for guinea pigs and I am generally happy to oblige. But, as I’m sure you can imagine, I have not jumped at the offers of colonics. While I am intrigued by the claims of weight loss, and general improved health, the procedure is a bit “invasive” for my liking.

Western medicine as a whole does not seem to agree with colonic health claims. Saying that the water does not travel deep enough into the bowels to be effective. Still I know many people who swear by them, and do seem to have reaped benefits from the treatment.

I still haven’t made up my mind if I will have a colonic. With bikini season, OK who am I kidding, one piece with mom skirt season just around the corner, I’m willing to get all the help I can. But the idea of actually having the treatment is slightly less appealing than going to the gynecologist. So, I’ll leave it to each of you to make your own decision.

If you do decide to have a colonic, look for a colon hydro therapist certified by The International Association for Colon Hydrotherapy.

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Colonics for Weight Loss Not Widely Accepted

Katie Homes at a recent Glamour Magazine photo shoot.

After a recent dinner at Hollywood’s El Sole with Katie Holmes, Tom Cruise and John Lithgow, concerns have grown over Katie’s appearance. Onlookers described her as “super skinny,” “gaunt,” and “miserable.” Maybe it was the company? Or, other gossip hounds suggest Katie is on an extreme Scientology detox diet to prepare her for pregnancy.

The diet is called the “Purification Rundown,” and it is highly controversial. It involves a regimented mix of exercise, supplements in the form of Vitamin B3 (Niacin), a drink called “CalMag” consisting of calcium, magnesium and cider vinegar, and trips to the sauna five days a week for up to five hours. One source told The Insider, “sometimes it makes her lethargic. Tom’s encouraging her to stick to the diet because they are hoping to conceive baby number two.”

The Purification Rundown detox diet is further explained in the book Clear Body, Clear Mind, written by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard.

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Katie Holmes’ Scientology Detox Diet Raises Concerns

Hollywood stars have been using these detox cleanses to prepare themselves for red carpet events, and thanks to People Magazine, we’ve got an inside-look at how the likes of Beyonce and Gwyneth cleanse to lose weight.

Beyonce’s Cleanse

Beyonce made the Master Cleanse diet a household name. She prepares this recipe with hot water, lemon juice, maple syrup and cayenne pepper and drinks only this for 10-14 days. After using the Master Cleanse (also known as the lemonade diet or the maple syrup diet) to lose 20 pounds for her Dreamgirls role, she told Ellen Degeneres “I was very hungry, therefore I was evil.”

Anne Hathaway’s Cleanse

Similar to Beyonce, Anne uses a lemonade diet to prepare for red carpet photo opps. She uses David Kirsch’s 48-Hour Detox. Celeb trainer Kirsch’s lemonade mix isn’t really any different from the lemonade diet recipe you prepare at home. She drank this four times a day for 48 hours prior to the 2009 Golden Globes.

Gwyneth Paltrow’s Cleanse

This starlet is no stranger to cleansing and has been open about her cleansing regimen. “I like to do fasts and detoxes a couple of times during the year,” Gwyneth has said. She worked with Dr. Alejandro Junger to design a one-week diet and detox to help her “kick-start [her] year a bit lighter.” She removed all dairy, caffeine and processed food from her diet and drank a beet-carrot-apple-ginger juice, broccoli and arugula soup and ate meals like a sugar- and soy-free chicken teriyaki.

Giuliana Rancic’s Cleanse

The E! News anchor lost seven pounds before her 2007 wedding by using the The Ultimate Tea Diet. She had to drink four cups of tea each day and eat three light meals, like chicken breast and steamed vegetables.

Megan Fox’s Cleanse

The transformer star uses apple-cider vinegar and water to cleanse her system.

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The Most Popular Celebrity Detox Diets

One popular approach is detox dieting. A detox diet, or cleansing diet, purports to remove toxins and poisons from your body. You’re supposed to eat natural foods, which will aid in proper organ function.

But detox diets are controversial. That’s because their legitimacy is often in question by the scientific community. Scientists assert that their is no evidence that products promoted as detox work.

According to the BBC, the charitable trust Sense About Science reviewed 15 products. They looked at everything from bottled water to face scrub, and found many of their claims were “meaningless.”

“Your body is the best detox product you have,” says one spokesperson for Sense about Science.

An investigation was also carried out by the Voice of Young Science network, where they challenged the phraseology used in the detox product pushers’ ad campaigns, saying that each company had their own definition for the terms.

The group challenged companies behind products as varied as vitamins, shampoo, detox patches and a body brush on the evidence they had to support the detox claims made.

For more on how companies use liberal definitions of what a toxin is in order to hock their products, check out this article at the BBC’s website. And learn more about detox diets here at DietsInReview.com.

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Detox Diets Demystified