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What Is Simplifast®?

Dan Harkins
Dan Harkins

With promises to cleanse, energize and restore a body's digestive balance, Simplifast® is a week-long, liquid-only detoxification fast made of just organic products. For the best results, this dieting drink is meant to be consumed at least four times a day, for as many as seven days, as the body's only sustenance. The manufacturer claims that up to 20 lbs (or 6.8 kg) can be shed in 10 days, if only Simplifast® is consumed. Others use the drink for shorter fasting periods of one or three days.

Available in strawberry, lemonade and blueberry flavors, Simplifast® makes use of a fairly common ingredient in detox drinks — lemon juice, which makes up about 12 percent of the drink's 16 oz (or 500 ml). This type of juice is praised for not only its cleaning qualities but also for its potent blend of chemical building blocks. The juice is slightly diluted with filtered water, sweetened with maple syrup, and combined with a vitamin and mineral punch of potassium chloride, folic acid, chicory inulin fiber, sodium chloride, ascorbic acid, magnesium gluconate and vitamins A, C, D, E, B6 and B12. It also contains small amounts of vital minerals like selenium, zinc, manganese and magnesium, which normally are obtained from a balanced diet.

Lemon juice is a major component of Simplifast.
Lemon juice is a major component of Simplifast.

According to the company, each drink has just 110 calories, none from fat. Its sugary flavor is natural, from maple syrup, lemons, blueberries or strawberries. In addition to detoxification and dieting efforts, the company also extols its product as a sports drink. The drink has a high level of electrolytes and antioxidants as well as a lack of preservatives and other artificial additives.

Simplifast® is sweetened with maple syrup.
Simplifast® is sweetened with maple syrup.

Extending the Simplifast® diet beyond a maximum of 20 days could lead to a protein deficiency in the body, according to the company. Before this period ends, however, the body will use its own protein and fat storage for sustenance, encouraging weight loss. The company Web site states that a three-day fast could result in weight loss of up to 10 lbs (or 3.4 kg.), and a 10-day fast could result in 20 lbs (or 6.8 kg) being shed.

Even hypoglycemics can try this method of cleansing the digestive tract while losing weight, since maple syrup supplies the body with needed sugars; however, pregnant women are discouraged from fasting or cleansing, as are those with major medical problems. For everyone else, the company claims that its product can safely cleanse not just the intestines and colon, but also the bloodstream and major organs. Even some of the body's cellulite — pockets of waste in the body's fat stores — may be vulnerable.

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    • Lemon juice is a major component of Simplifast.
      By: Viktorija
      Lemon juice is a major component of Simplifast.
    • Simplifast® is sweetened with maple syrup.
      By: Bert Folsom
      Simplifast® is sweetened with maple syrup.