The Fast Track One-Day Detox Diet: Boost Metabolism, Get Rid of Fattening Toxins, Safely Lose Up to 8 Pounds Overnight and Keep Them Off for Good (Hardcover)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: liver loving recipes, powdered psyllium husks, detox diet, Fast Track, One Day Detox Diet, Seven Day Prequel (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

“In The Fast Track Detox Diet, the visionary nutritionist Ann Louise Gittleman has skillfully transformed the age old concept of fasting into a highly effective, rapid, but safe weight loss program that is perfect for twenty-first century living.”
Paula Baillie-Hamilton, M.D., Ph.D., author of Toxic Overload


“Ann Louise Gittleman brings one of the oldest medical traditions - fasting - into the 21st century. Our bodies’ toxin load is so high and at last, someone helps us address this issue in a way that makes sense.”

—Fred Pescatore, M.D., M.P.H., C.C.N., author of The Hamptons Diet


“Brilliant, enlightening, and powerful are just a few words that describe Ann Louise Gittleman's Fast Track Detox Diet. This is not just a diet book but rather an extraordinary analysis of how we should eat in our toxic world. Offering ground breaking solutions that will definitely improve the status of your health, Ann Louise Gittleman confirms my own belief that detox is a poorly understood missing link in the quest for optimum health. I can't wait to try her program!"
 
—Stephen T. Sinatra, M.D., F.A.C.C, C.N.S Author of The Sinatra Solution: Metabolic Cardiology


“The Fast Track Detox Diet makes common sense and is on the cutting-edge of health. I predict that within the next five years it will be common knowledge that ‘fattening chemicals’ like the ones this program uncovers, are a primary underlying factor sabotaging our best weight loss efforts.”

—Hyla Cass, M.D., Author of 8 Weeks to Vibrant Health



“I consider cleansing and detox dieting to be the missing link in Western nutrition and a key to the vitality of our civilization. Ann Louise Gittleman is to be commended for getting the detox message out to mainstream Americans. I couldn't agree more with her message and her methods.”
—Elson M. Haas, M.D., author of Staying Health With Nutrition and The New Detox Diet



“As a researcher in the arena of environmental medicine, I fully endorse Ann Louise Gittleman's work and methodology in The Fast Track Detox Diet.”
—Carolyn Dean, M.D., N.D., author of Death by Modern Medicine
 
“Again, Ann Louise Gittleman has connected the dots in a very important and overlooked area that plays a part in our obesity epidemic – the toxicity-weight connection. Thanks to Ann Louise everyone can now have access to a program that can enhance their detoxifications systems, boost their metabolism and help them feel fantastic.”

—Mark Hyman, M.D., Editor in Chief, Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine, co-author of Ultraprevention, and author of The Detox Box





“Gittleman’s The Fast Track Detox Diet brings together two problems that usually are treated separately - detoxification and weight loss - and does a credible job at answering the needs of both. In short, this is a good and useful book.”
— Dallas Clouatre, Ph.D., Author of Anti-Fat Nutrients

“Ann Louise Gittleman should be congratulated for her courage. This book is a must read.”
— D. Lindsey Berkson, Consulting scholar with the Center for Bioenvironmental Research at Tulane and Xavier Universities, and author of Hormone Deception

“Dr. Ann Louise Gittleman has, like me, devoted her career to bridging the gap between the halls of academia and the general public. Now she is bringing to the public the theory- which we've been hearing and discussing at cutting edge nutrition and medicine conferences for years- that chemicals in the environment can slow down the weight loss process and overburden the liver with toxins which have profound health effects. I'm going to follow her sober and sound advice to patients.”
—Jonny Bowden, M.A., C.N., C.N.S., author of Living the Low Carb Life

“Anything is do-able if you break it down into small enough components. That’s just what Ann Louise has done in her Fast Track Detox Diet. If you’ve been put off by complicated regimes or ineffective cleansing programs, this book will hold your hand and walk you through to a new, more vital ‘you.’”
—Nan Kathryn Fuchs, Ph.D., Editor, Women’s Health Letter

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Description

You know how it is. That special event just around the corner and you can’t fit into your designer jeans. You need a fool-proof, emergency weight-loss method that really works and works fast. So how do you safely and quickly lose those extra pounds?

Once again, renowned health pioneer and bestselling author Ann Louise Gittleman has a quick, no-strings-attached solution that is also good for you. She is always on the cutting edge of developing new methods to rejuvenate the body and facilitate weight loss and she’s done it again in The Fast Track One-Day Detox Diet. Gittleman takes the age-old method of fasting and incorporates it into a safe and healthy one-day plan that helps you lose weight fast, gets rid of toxins, and gives your body a cleansing boost to prepare it for even more weight loss down the road.

The plan itself is blissfully simple:

THE PREQUEL: Seven days of adding detox support foods to your diet to prepare your body for the one-day Fast

THE FAST: One day of sipping Gittleman’s “Miracle Juice,” a deliciously spiced mixture of herbs and spices specially designed to stave off hunger, balance blood sugar, boost metabolism, and replenish nutrients (no kidding, the juice is completely delicious)

THE SEQUEL: Three days of reintroducing supportive and immune-boosting foods into your diet to seal in the results

That’s all. There’s no need for a strict maintenance plan or more dieting because the Fast Track One-Day Detox Diet purges your body of fattening toxins so that you’ll keep losing weight once you’re finished. What’s more, if you can’t add those healthy foods to your diet in the Prequel and Sequel, Gittleman provides a list of replacement supplements that you can easily find in your local health food store or online.

So, use The Fast Track One-Day Detox Diet to jump start an over-40 metabolism, melt away vacation or holiday pounds, break a diet plateau, get in shape for that high school reunion or wedding, and even help heal a chronic illness. Even if you’ve been slow to lose weight in the past, the pounds will melt away quickly during your one-day fast. Inside there are recipes to prepare for the fast, shopping lists, and tips for sailing through the fast.

In addition, Ann Louise Gittleman shares the wisdom she’s gained from years of research on health, diet, and nutrition. You’ll find out about hidden toxins found in the environment and in everyday foods, and learn easy steps you can take to live healthier every day.

The perfect diet: simplicity, effortless weight loss, and obvious health benefits from a nutritionist with a proven tack record. You’ll feel so good after your first fast, you’ll want to incorporate the Fast Track’s cleansing principles and periodic fasting into your life for good.

Don’t delay, it’s time to jump on the Fast Track to a lighter, healthier you.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 276 pages
• Publisher: Morgan Road Books (April 8, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0767920457
• ISBN-13: 978-0767920452
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (116 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #180,222 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

355 of 357 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A bit complicated, but worth it for certain people, April 5, 2006

By	International Diva - See all my reviews

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I had about 20 pounds to lose, and tried other methods but couldn't seem to budge them. The key thing about any diet or eating program is that everyone's chemical makeup and metabolism responds differently, and so they don't work for everyone.

The people who would benefit the most from this book and this program are those with a combination of certain symtoms and habits, plus a willingness to spend time, energy and money on shifting how they eat.

This is a good book for you if (like me) you suffer from a collection of symptoms:
- overweight
- bloating
- fatigue
- bad skin/rashes
- gastric issues
- problems sleeping
- cholesterol problems (among other things)

While at the same time you have erratic eating habits, such as:

- lots of restaurant meals & takeout
- non-organic food
- fast-food or processed prepared meals
- a passion for sugar, alcohol or caffeine
- overeating/portion control problems
- too much starch, not enough vegetables in your diet

And:
- you decide you can live without coffee
- you're not dependent on drugs or alcohol
- you have accessibility to a steady supply of organic fruits, vegetables and meat into your diet (read: a Whole Foods or Trader Joe's near you)
- the pocketbook to afford more expensive food, plus supplements

This book would probably benefit these types of people the most, as it changes your focus toward food, and makes you understand why certain foods and habits are bad for you. The focus on the liver/colon is especially helpful if you've never given these two organs much thought. For me, it was a major eye opener. Her arguments for organic foods (especially meat) are especially persuasive.

All that said, this is not a one-day detox, and I agree that the title is misleading. I lost six pounds in 11 days on this program, despite a sluggish thyroid. Since then, I've lost an additional two pounds in about a week. I don't stick to it daily but I've incorporated some lessons and I'm continuing to lose. I now find it almost impossible not to eat organic, and I realized that I had a sensitivity to gluten that I was not aware of which surely affected my weight.

One thing you have to keep in mind when selecting an eating program is choosing one that has foods that you like. To be successful on this program, you must like or be willing to eat some dark leafy vegetables (kale, mustard greens, chard, etc.), plus your choice of asparagus, artichokes, broccoli, brussel sprouts and the like. And eggs, you've got to eat some eggs on this plan. But otherwise, you can eat a lot of your normal foods - the key is on elmininating wheat, sugar, alcohol and caffeine. (I cheated, and drank a cup of decaf organic coffee each morning so I didn't lose the "ritual" and it had a sort of placebo effect.) Someone posted that you can't use olive oil, which is erroneous; it's encouraged as part of "healthy oils" intake.

You must also like cranberry juice, which is required for the fast to help stave off hunger. The requirement for unsweetened cranberry use probably makes this impractical for most people living outside the U.S.Canada, as it's difficult or not impossible to get in Europe, Asia and Australia.

Many people complain about the cost of her supplements. But if you take her book into a local health food store, they can hook you up with an equivalent of whatever she's offering. I bit the bullet and ordered Colonix (you can find through a search engine) instead and while spendy, it's been incredibly effective as part of this program.


One secret to the 11 day diet for me was vegetable soup. I made a couple of batches of different soups on the weekend (such as cabbage soup, broccoli/cauliflower, kale/white bean) and ate those each day for lunch to get several of the required vegetables. I also learned that I really like mustard greens and chard - I'd just never realized it. Just visit a recipe site like [...] for the recipes and plug in the ingredients.

She has recipes in the back of the book, but I didn't try them save for the flax "pancake" that I made after the fast. It was fine, mostly apple-y, but I hadn't eaten in a day so anything tasted good!

273 of 281 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Combined detoxification and weight loss for the real world, April 18, 2005

By	Dallas Clouatre (Santa Monica, CA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Gittleman's Fast Track Detox Diet brings together two problems that usually are treated separately--detoxification and weight loss--and does a credible job at answering the needs of both. Moreover, no matter what approach one ultimately takes toward losing weight and establishing weight maintenance, her book is a good starting point. The reason is simple: whether or not an individual gained weight because of environmental toxins, it is certainly the case that toxins are stored preferentially in fatty tissues and are released when a person diets. This release of toxins has been shown to be one of the major factors involved in dieting mood swings and in the slowing of weight loss. Simple fasts cause toxins to be released, but these compounds are quickly reabsorbed under fasting conditions, plus the body reacts badly to being suddenly pushed to the wall with fasts. Gittleman knows this and therefore carefully prepares the dieter in the period up to the fast, tells the dieter what to consume to prevent the metabolism from plummeting during the fast, and then maps out an approach for the days following the fast.

Something that I have always liked about Gittleman is that she is very aware of the maxim, "do no harm." Are there more thorough detoxifications available? Of course, but few of us have the luxury of following them, which sometimes I think is a good thing. Are there faster weight loss approaches being marketed? Of course, although speed and lasting weight loss seldom go hand-in-hand. Gittleman describes an initial approach that gets results for the dieter about as quickly as anyone could ever reasonably hope for, yet does not lead to a nasty rebound in weight gain. Thereafter, I would suggest that dieters follow, instead, the approach given in The Fat Flush Plan for consistent and lasting weight loss.

In short, this is a good and useful book. I agree with Gittleman that the data is overwhelming linking environmental toxins to metabolic disorders. Yet even aside from the issue of stored toxins, the preponderance of individuals with weight problems suffer from sub par liver performance and can use Gittleman's tune-up to improve their results from dieting. Highly recommended.

88 of 88 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Enlightening Book, Great Results, Tough Diet, August 11, 2005

By	K. Mac (Texas) - See all my reviews

I recently finished fast track and it definitely worked. I went on the diet to break a weight loss plateau and I lost about 7 pounds: 4 on prequel, 2 on fast and 1 on sequel. More than I expected. I followed it pretty much exactly, with one or two mess-ups or omissions here and there. I had plenty of energy - worked out almost every day - and wasn't hungry most of the time, nor did I experience constant cravings. The science behind the diet makes sense, and I definitely felt like I was retraining my body and learning about the importance of adding certain categories of food into my diet.

Be warned - I didn't feel this fabulous euphoric feeling that the book alludes to. I actually just felt fine throughout. I will say though, the diet was worth it for me. But if you are like me and love lattes, turkey sandwiches, wine, cheese, crackers, etc. and are used to having them in your weekly routine...it will be a little tough. You should also know that the diet was pretty difficult to follow for me in a social setting. It is relatively expensive, and you must prepare in advance (example - I went into my office building's store for a snack one afternoon and couldn't find one thing that was `allowed'). It was hard to incorporate all of the things that I was supposed to eat (how do you eat a cup of raw parsley?!?), but I got creative, used the book's recipes, and it did get easier.

Some tips (my humble opinion, of course):
-Give up caffeine a few days before you start. Find some `legal' recipes you want to try. Warn your spouse/friends that if they eat out of the cracker box in front of you, you might get irritated. Seriously, telling people you are doing it makes you accountable.
-Start on a Monday or Tuesday so you only have to diet over one weekend (I fasted on a work day and just made plans to run an errand during lunch, was fine for me).
-If you are used to a weekend evening cocktail, mix some cranberry juice, fresh lemon, sparkling water and stevia in a wine glass. It almost fooled me.
-Make a chimichurri sauce with parsley, cilantro, lemon juice, olive oil and garlic and have it on hand to help you meet that `requirement'.
-For the fast, drink the juice and water exactly as suggested by the book. I tried to conserve some juice because I was scared of getting hungry at night, and it didn't work.
-Try to exercise during prequel and sequel, you will have enough energy and it might focus you away from food.
-Start the diet with a partner, I will next time.

I hope this helps. And while I can't imagine a world without Starbucks and Wheat Thins, it is definitely worth it to try this diet a few times a year. If anything, it reprograms you to appreciate food and to be conscious of your veggie, fruit, fiber and water intake. Good luck!