Clean -- Expanded Edition: The Revolutionary Program to Restore the Body's Natural Ability to Heal Itself [Paperback]

Alejandro Junger (Author)

Book Description

Release date: April 17, 2012

A Life-Changing Medical Breakthrough

Clean is an M.D.'s program designed to be easily incorporated into our busy schedule while providing all the practical tools necessary to support and rejuvenate our bodies. The effect is transformative: nagging health problems will suddenly disappear, extra weight will drop away, and for the first time in our lives, we will experience what it truly means to feel healthy.

Expanded Edition Includes:
New Introduction • New Recipes • How to Become Clean for Life

Editorial Reviews

Review

“I am a /CLEAN/ believer, and I recommend its study and practice with the greatest confidence and enthusiasm.” (Robert Thurman, author of Inner Revolution)

“I have seen the incredible results of the CLEAN program with hundreds of patients, from changing their relationship to food, to weight loss to improving health to enjoying life again. If you want to achieve any of these, CLEAN is the book for you.” (Frank Lipman, M.D. author of SPENT)

“Alejandro Junger, M.D., is his message – brilliant, compassionate and embodied. Clean is visionary medicine, an initiation into the spirit of healing and its author’s credentials prove that science and spirituality are finally dancing cheek to cheek. ” (Gabrielle Roth, author of Sweat Your Prayers: Movement as Spiritual Practice)

“Through “Clean” Dr. Junger teaches us methods of cleansing, not only our physical bodies but also cleansing as a way of life-he shows us the power we have on a day-to-day basis to strive to be the healthiest, positive most beautiful beings possible.” (Donna Karan)

“Clean is a masterpiece of healing... Dr. Junger shows us how we don’t have to suffer any longer, nor feel tired, sick and weighed down with the sludge of modern life. You will discover that you didn’t know how badly you felt, once you have gotten Clean.” (Mark Hyman, MD, Author of the New York Times best-seller The UltraMind Solution)

“The Clean program works.... I have turned many of my friends on to this program and each one has experienced profound benefits, from weight loss to mental clarity to the end of chronic depression. The wisdom and information contained in this book is deeply helpful and life changing.” (Gwyneth Paltrow)

“With an acute understanding of the interconnectedness of body and mind, CLEAN presents a view of detoxification as a spiritual as well as physical necessity. Dr. Junger has given us a roadmap not only to greater health but also to greater joy.” (Marianne Williamson, author of The Age of Miracles)

“Alejandro Junger, a hypercharismatic Uruguayan, is poised to become the detox movement’s It Boy” (Elle)

“A whole-body, whole-foods plan...designed by a cleansing expert.” (Chicago Tribune)

About the Author

Alejandro Junger, M.D., is the New York Times bestselling author of Clean. Dr. Junger completed his training in internal medicine at New York University Downtown Hospital and his fellowship in car-diology at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. In addition, after completing his medical training, Junger studied Eastern medicine in India.

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: HarperOne; 2 Updated edition (April 17, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0062201662
• ISBN-13: 978-0062201669
• Product Dimensions: 5.3 x 1 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (207 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #343 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #1 in Books > Crafts, Hobbies & Home > Sustainable Living
  • #1 in Books > Crafts, Hobbies & Home > Home Improvement & Design > How-to & Home Improvements > Green Housecleaning
  • #4 in Books > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Alternative Medicine > Healing

More About the Author

Alejandro Junger, M.D., is board certified in internal medicine and cardiology, having trained and now practicing in New York City. In addition, after completing his medical training, Junger studied Eastern medicine in India. He was the medical director of WE Care Holistic Health Center in Palm Springs, a world-famous center for fasting, cleansing, and detoxification. Currently, he lives in Los Angeles with his family, is writing his second book , CLEAN For LIFE and sees patients privately.

Amazon Author Rankbeta 

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#35 in Books > Health, Fitness & Dieting

#42 in Kindle eBooks > Health, Fitness & Dieting

#35 in Books > Health, Fitness & Dieting

#42 in Kindle eBooks > Health, Fitness & Dieting

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

386 of 405 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A Great Starting Point--No Supplements Required September 2, 2012

By multiscan

Format:Paperback

I read a bunch of reviews before doing this diet but still had some doubts and questions. I got the book and followed it anyway, and based on my experience I think the following may be helpful to others:

I was probably 30-35lbs. overweight. I really, really wanted to make a change, and I saw "Clean" as a nice, extreme kick-off to what I thought would be a long and difficult struggle back to both fitness and a permanent change. I followed the program for the most part for a month, and the results were good. It turned out NOT to be very extreme at all, which was great. My partner was willing to give it a try too, and it was fun to have someone to collaborate, commiserate, and joke about it with.

Making the 1-month commitment made it easy to also commit to upping my activity levels (mostly biking: 2, then 3-4 times a week). I also checked some books out of the public library and read a lot of basic stuff about diet, exercise, and nutrition. And I saw the diet as an opportunity to learn to cook and appreciate new foods. Eventually, I started in on a long-standing goal of learning to cook Thai and Vietnamese food--both of which fall pretty much squarely on the side of the diet's "allowed" foods. I think what I'm saying is, it helped to build a bunch of smaller goals and interests into this thing--though it would not have worked to try to set everything into motion from the beginning; things kind of evolved as the month carried forward.

By the month's end I started feeling a LITTLE BIT more energetic from day to day, and a LOT better about my ability to take charge of this area of my life--so much so that I've started applying some of what I learned in that month to other areas. I broke some bad dietary habits, and I added a LOT of veggies to my diet.... And I lost 16 lbs. In the following 2 months I added some of the eliminated foods back in though in smaller amounts than before, and continued exercising and eating lots of vegs, smaller portions etc., and lost around 6 lbs. a month.

As others have said, the core of the diet is habit-alteration, and an "elimination diet". But what is the latter? It's the diet that clinics ask people who need testing for food allergies to get on in advance of the testing. You cut out everything that many people are allergic to. Then you eat foods that aren't on that list. And you eat less--though there's no need to starve yourself as some reviewers apparently did. And, after 21-30 days, you will have developed some new eating habits, tracked down a lot of new, healthier recipes, changed some of how you socialize (in my case overeating and somewhat over-imbibing), and started feeling better--physically and emotionally.

If you ALSO lose weight, and you probably will, Great! But the primary goal should be changing how you eat and increasing your activity level--i.e. correcting the reasons you probably got fat in the first place.

For people who are as put off by fads, commercial hype, programs, proselytizing as I am:

YOU DO NOT NEED TO BUY SUPPLEMENTS. The book unfortunately hypes them because Dr. Hunger (or is it Younger?) is selling an expensive and unnecessary sack of them for hundreds of dollars. You don't need other posters' list of "natural" replacements either. The big box of special Diet Stuff is shake powders and vitamins and Colon Blow (remember the SNL skit?) for people who want their rear end to have a mystical experience, or who want to get as close to a magic diet pill as possible instead of altering their behaviors. It's kind of lame Dr. Younger is hawking that stuff, because it goes against the book's basic approach, which is to change how you think about, select, and consume foods; not just drop pounds.

I did buy a barrel of pricey protein powder for breakfast shakes and a bunch of other FOODS that I did not previously keep on hand the night before I started in. But I did not--and the book doesn't actually insist that you do--buy any supplements or the fannytastic Clean "KIT" (that's my last scatological joke, I promise).

Also, for those who think this might be too difficult or extreme: after a week and a half I went down to just 1 breakfast shake (rather than the Slim Fast-like recommendation of 2 shakes and a meal per day) because I couldn't see a difference between drinking some low-GI carbs, protein, and fats for lunch in shake form and just eating them.

In sum, though I found most of its rationales ranged from under-articulated, to corny, to outright-laughable, the book's basic program is good. I benefited the most from taking on, and completing the 1 month challenge, and now, 3 months after starting in on it, I'm eating way better, exercising 2-5 times a week, feeling better, and I've dropped 25 lbs of fat. Read more ›

118 of 125 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Finishing my second week of the cleanse and.... December 19, 2012

By Maria Navas

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

I must say i am very happy and satisfied. I will summarize all my perceptions of the book and the cleanse:

1. The book has a lot of repetive content but also has good information about food/pollutant reactions in the body and body detox info which is worth reading. What i found a little dissapointing is that the Dr. didn't add any references of medical studies of the statements he explained about so the book will have more credibility and medical support behind. For this fact i did not put 5 stars. But i want to say also that the book is very open and does not force you to do anything... the more you can, the better, if not then the little you are doing is already good.

2. I am a regular sugar/wheat/dairy products consumer but i am also fit, healthy, do sports often and eat good foods as well. Me and my husband always wanted to do a detox diet but we was afraid of doing something dangerous. We felt this one "fit our bill" and tried to do it. Funny thing: from all the food to include in this clease program, i knew only 50% of them and i was afraid i couldn't find those i knew.

3. I was surprised to find that in naturist/health stores they sell most of the foods i didn't know existed/i could find. I found also natural protein powder, pure greens powder, organic coconut water/milk/oil, stevia, you name it.

4. We live in Norway and I knew most of the vegetables and fruits I couldn't find them so easily organic, so i started with i had in hand. If i could find organic stuff great, if not, ... well, at least changing my old bad eating habits was a good step already!

5.... The first 3 days are quite overwhelming because you need to find in advanced the food you need to prepare, to read the recipes, and you are ready to cook and then realized you didn't have this or that. But after the third day, you get used to it and you find it natural, it requires just a little planning and imagination as well (for the recipes). I started by doing the morning shakes and cleaning all the mess in 30 mins and now i do everything in 10 minutes. Also, in the beginning you tend to stick to the recipes and then you realize that you can adapt your own cooking recipes or style with the cleanse food/ingredients. Since many days ago i don't read the recipes.

6. first day i needed sugar horribly but after the second day the cravings faded. However, my husband had terrible sugar cravings the whole first week. I had nightmares the 4-5 day and probably felt a little tired those days but since then it is fine. My husband had headcahes, tiredness, coffee-sugar cravings and sometimes accute hunger.

7. I was not used to drinking something so heavy and powerful in the mornings so the first 2-3 days i was feeling liek throwing up after drinking the shakes and could barely drink half of it. My body got used to it and now I drink a better quantity and i enjoyed the drink.

8. The first week i was not feeling hungry and i was surprised to see how light i felt, how little i needed to eat to feel full and how much i enjoyed the shakes and the soups (making them, inventing them and drinking them).

9. I did regular sports and listened to my body a lot. I couldn't do as long as i usually do but i didn't regret it. I didn't feel a drop in energy. On the contrary, my energy increased, i was not feeling sleepy during the day. One bad thing is that we couldn't do sauna often... it would have helped even more.

10. Now we are on our second week. We both lost 3 kilos (6.5 pounds) but clothing size is the same and we were not overweight. I have no idea from where i lost that weight! I realized how much of the food i was eating affected me, specially my digestion.

11. Final comment: i recommend this, why? 1. Gives you knowledge about food, about your body and about the reactions that different foods have in your body. You don't feel hungry, you eat properly, you feel great and you feel changes. I recommend to do it in a period of your life when you are not stress or with overload of work (this is our current situation and makes cooking a little difficult sometimes) but you adapt easily to the foods and you adapt the foods into your own cooking style. Yes, it can be a little expensive... here in norway fruits are very expensive, but we eat much less and also waste much less food so in the end, the extra cost is minimal. Read more ›

93 of 112 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Not Perfect, But Impressive Results January 21, 2013

By Frank Andrews

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

This was recommended to me by a friend. Plenty of people try liquid diets that are supposed to clean out your system, but I never tried any because it seems like they always provide mixed results and they seem very difficult to keep up.

First off, I've been a caffeine addict (via coffee) for five years. I've tried multiple times to quit, but never could. I had virtually ZERO energy without it and would get the withdraw headaches. So, the first way this book helped me is I FINALLY kicked my addiction (with no headaches)!

The second improvement I saw was losing weight around my gut (which has always been the hardest area). I started losing the weight after the first week and I wasn't even exercising during that time. My family was inspired and followed the meal plan as well. My father (in his early 70s) lost 10lbs. after two weeks.

The third way it helped is improving my taste for vegetables. Before I had a select few I would enjoy, now I can eat all sorts and actually like the taste.

There are a few downsides. For one, the way the book is written had me going back-and-forth a lot for the information I needed and it seemed like some pertinent info was just completely missing (Kindle issue?). 21 Days can be challenging when life 'gets in the way' but if you commit to it it's easily attainable. The other unfortunate thing is it can get expensive if you want to prepare a good variety of the recipes. What I had to end up doing is select my favorites and just rotate those. Lastly, the soup recipes were the only challenging meals to consume as far as taste and texture. Luckily, you can opt for juices instead.

Breakfast was easy and lunch was amazing! People would see my meals for lunch and couldn't believe something so healthy looked that good.... The great thing is we didn't follow the recipes perfectly every time, but we got most of the key ingredients, so there seems to be some flexibility. It's hard to know if my cleanse was less effective as a result, but either way, I plan on rotating into this system periodically throughout the year to maintain my health.

I realize it's not perfect, but the Pros FAR outweigh the CONS so I think it deserves a 5 star rating. Hope this review helps! Read more ›