I get enough hits from people looking for information on Trader Joe’s detox kit that it piqued my curiousity. So, the next time I found myself in Trader Joe’s, I picked one up. You get 3 containers of pills – fiber, liver, and a “digestive” formula. The plus side is that you only have to swallow pills; no drinking of funny powders. The downside is that you may find yourself swallowing up to 8 pills, twice a day. This may not be a problem for those of you who can swallow more than one pill at a time, but I found it to be a lot of capsules to gulp down.
Now, I admit that I didn’t alter my diet for this “detox”. I didn’t give up red meat, dairy, sugar, coffee, etc. Is this why I didn’t feel “cleansed” and totally energized? Who knows. I will say that this must be a pretty gentle detox, which is nice if you don’t want to worry about your bathroom schedule. ‘Nuff said? Okay.
I also did a little Googling and found claims that people heard other people lost 10 pounds doing this detox (or any detox) for just a couple of weeks. I didn’t find too many first-person proclamations. I’ve also come to the conclusion that if you spend 2 weeks eating only vegetables and water and maybe some bread, it’s not far-fetched to except weight to drop off. You’re not eating much! If I did that I could drop pounds even without detox pills. I’d also be hungry and cranky and not much fun to be around. I don’t buy the hype that you shouldn’t eat solid food while detoxing to give your system a break. I think your digestive system works whether you’re eating raw carrots or drinking carrot soup. I’m also skeptical that all the weight you drop with a “proper detox” wouldn’t just come right back after eating your first real meal. You know, water weight explanation and all. You certainly couldn’t exercise while on a detox – you’d pass out from lack of calories! Of course, what do I know. I’m no expert.
So, I have come to the conclusion that the most practical way to lose weight and be healthy is: eat less and exercise more! Stunning, isn’t it? Eat a couple of salads, maybe you don’t indulge in a double cheeseburger at every lunch, have some fish (non-fried) for dinner! Honestly, I find that when we do eat at home, it’s quite often pretty healthy. I don’t tend to make a lot of fried foods or heavy cream sauces. I leave those to the restaurant folk, which is why I tend to order those things when we do go out for dinner. I also tend not to eat salads when eating out because I find them to be boring and if I’m spending money on a meal I want to really enjoy it. I think an exception to this is the tri tip salad at Joey’s Smokin’ BBQ. It’s a salad, so you can feel like you’re eating healthy, but it has a good amount of tasty tri tip on top. Plus, the beans and corn and whatnot sprinkled throughout make it a really tasty dish. Would I rather have the brisket plate with mac ‘n cheese? Yes! I’m just saying that their salad doesn’t make me sad and wishing I had ordered something else.
Three Dog Kitchen 
So when you do the detox can you eat too? Or just pills? BTW, love your blog 🙂
No quick fix for weight loss, I say. Though, all those pictures (too disgusting to post here) are convincing enough that sometimes your intestines need a cleanse. I just can’t imagine ever taking pictures of the aftermath.
canyon cottage – Some detox “programs” involve a series of cleansing pills and you drink various beverages throughout the day – no real solid food. Others recommend cutting out red meat, dairy, alcohol, caffeine, and excess sugar. I would never recommend not eating while doing a detox (I actually don’t even recommend detoxing) as I think your body really needs food.
Melanie – I agree, detox is not for weight loss. I can see the benefits for doing it to feel “cleaner”, but I’ll stick with good ol’ diet and exercise to lose the pounds. I don’t know why anyone would take (and post) pictures of a detox aftermath, either. Ewww.
Hahaha. Somebody at work just did the master cleanse where you drink like lemonade with molasses and cayenne powder. She lost a ton of weight, but honestly, I’d rather be a little curvaceous and still get to eat cookies.
A cleanse is different from a diet. A cleanse is a temporary treatment to remove toxins from you body- especially your digestive system. The supplements in a cleansing program, such as the Trader Joe’s Complete Cleanse, are used with diet restrictions. It doesn’t say so on the box, but google other cleansing systems to get the specifics.
Many people, myself included, find that as a result of the cleanse, they have lost weight, or body fat around the midsection. Many theories on why this is- is it the herbs, the emptier gut, or just the restricted diet- who knows. But the results are real.
I have found as far as keeping my weight down- I avoid hydrogentated oils and high frutcose corn syrup. I don’t think the body really knows how to process those artificial substances and stores them in the fat cells.
Hi! I’m on day 5 of these pills – and I’m uh… detoxing multiple times a day. It’s not horrible, but yes, I’m getting rid of a lot more waste than I was before.
I *have* altered my diet some – avoiding refined flour, sugar, caffeine, etc – which may be contributing too.
No idea on weight loss as of yet – but I know I’m dropping off more than I’m putting in!
I agree with the idea that you are using the product to clean out the pipes and to help the body work easier.it can help in weightloss but more of a jump start. Your liver works hard to process everything you put into your mouth and much of that is toxin to the body(unless you eat an amazing healthy diet). So a cleanse may reduce the risk of some cancers. Cutting out processed foods and drinking plenty of water would be the most beneficial step to take To a healthier digestive system.
I think this detox will be perfect to tighten up and get rid of some water weight before my 10 year reunion. Obviously moving more and eating less is the way to go but this is just to really nice way to feel even better about yourself when you are running out of time.
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I’d like to share my experience with the Trader Joe’s Complete Cleanse. I’ve done it before with a 7 day detox regimen from the book “Prescrition for Nutritional Healing”, which consists of 2 days of raw fruits and vegetables, 3 days of herbal teas, warm lemon juice with water and cayenne pepper, vegetable broths and then followed by 2 days of raw fruits and vegetables again.
To start off I do purge a lot of waste during the first couple of days of the program. Around the 3rd day I become light headed, occasionally dizzy and low on energy. I make sure I have the time to rest a lot during this period. Towards the 3rd or 4th day I go back and forth from being tired and low energy to hyper alert and energetic. At the end, I notice that I’ve lost about 10 pounds. After the program, I feel more spry, alert, better about myself and I don’t have a craving for meat for the next month. I feel like my digestive system works a lot better and easier based on my bowel movements. As I go back to my regular routine, I slowly put the weight back on in the next month and don’t feel the positive effects of the detox fast after a couple of months. I do this program 2 or 3 times a year. I don’t know which effects are from the Complete Cleanse or from the detox regimen- I imagine the Complete Cleanse effects are a lot more subtle or maybe even unnoticeable, but I do feel healthier and more energetic after the whole program.
You definitely have to follow the diet restrictions to get the benefit out of this cleanse, or any cleanse for that matter. If you simply continue to put the crap into your body (red meat, sugar, alcohol, etc) that the cleanse is intended to clean out, then you are really just wasting money and popping pills for no reason. This cleanse definitely works…makes you feel lighter, more energized, and a benefit is the weight loss (of course probably majorly contributed to by the diet modifications). There is a bonus, if you love Trader Joes as much as I do, that a lot of their foods and salads (w/o dressing) are acceptable as far as this cleanse is concerned. I am in the midst of my second TJs cleanse and the results are just as great as they were the first time around. I suggest trying it again and following the fine print on the box. Good luck!
I did Trader Joe’s Complete Cleanse 4 years ago, and it was my first time doing a cleanse and I must say it was a great experience.
I did my research before beginning this process and decided I needed a cleanse not a detox. Please do your research and know the difference.
The suggestion was to do a two day juice, prior to the cleanse, with either cranberry juice mixed with water or cranberry extract, mixed accordingly to taste. Not too sweet, just to taste. I think this was the hardest part for me. I felt light headed, moody and could not work out. Walking for 10minutes was challenging, that was my extent of working out. I did the two day juice Saturday and Sunday, since I knew these two days would be quiet with no family or friends around. LOL. Didn’t want to go off on anyone.
Where the nutritional restrictions are concerned, I only ate red meat once or twice a month, so that was not a difficult thing to restrict for 16 days (2 day juice). I only drink alcohol when I go out, so that wasn’t difficult to restrict, the rest was pretty easy, except I love tea with soya milk, and splenda, that was the hardest thing for me to cut out and I managed to do it for the entire process. I already drank 60-90oz of water a day, so that again was easy for me, just more trips to the rest room. Like I needed more trips to the rest room. LOL.
Once I was finished with my two day juice, I began the cleanse. The first 3 days of the cleanse were the hardest, but I did notice that my bowel movements were not out of control. I had a type of internal warning, just like you would normally get, to let me know I needed to GO. I also noticed that my best bowel movement, if you can call it that, was first thing in the morning. That one had more of a sense of urgency, but throughout the day, my other bowel movements were very manageable. I lost a total of 6lbs during the cleanse and also became and have remained a “Pescatarian” . (Only eat fish).
The one thing I stress is whatever the water intake for taking each pill is, make sure you drink that amount of water or at least very close to the amount suggested. It is a major factor of the cleansing process. If you are one of those people that just pops a pill without drinking water, you cannot do that with this cleanse. Some of the capsules are powder filled and the water reacts with the coating around the pill and helps the digestion process of the powder in the pill. If not you will find yourself burping and you will burp powder. NO JOKE. Test the theory, I dare you. LOL. I’m joking don’t test the theory.
Anyway, all in all it was a great experience, I lost 6lbs, became a Pescatarian, and felt “cleansed” when I completed my 14 days. (16). I felt light in my mood, energized, and a sense emptyness, as if, yes, I was cleansed. LOL. That was my intent to “cleanse” not to lose weight, that was a bonus.
Would I do it again? Absolutely, in fact it may be time to do another one. This was my personal experience, someone else may not have the same results.
As always, speak with your health care professionally for the best advise fit for you. GOOD LUCK.
Hey there,
I am actually starting my day 1 with this detox. I am eating 1,200 calories a day and I only eat chicken, salads, hummus, and drink water. I am going to see if I cut my carbs and eat fruits vegetables and chicken everyday if it changes my weight. I also do 1,000 cardio calories a day and constantly moving. I love to work out but I used to eat badly so I gained weight. I want to see the hype about these cleansers. I believe eating right is the way to go but if I do all of these things at once then I may lose weight faster. As for not having enough calories, I can eat 500 a day and still be able to have energy after burning 1,000 that day. It may be because I am still young though that I can do it with ease. I was a smoker though for 7 years everyday. My body has been through it all.