Alkaline Cleanse vs Intermittent Fasting vs Detoxing

Alkaline Cleanse vs Fasting vs Detoxing

Alkaline Cleanse Vs Detoxing Vs Fasting

There is so much confusion out there as to what these three terms mean – and they are so different. Despite the mainstream treating them as the same thing, they are absolutely not, and each can serve a purpose.

In this guide, I want to give you a clear picture of each, the pros and cons and give you a clear path so you can understand, and use, these different approaches when it is right for you.

First of all…

The Biggest Myth We Need to Get Out There

There is some negativity out there and it’s based around this notion that your body has organs of detoxification, and your body can detox without you having to do anything.

I saw this meme recently:

detox nonsense

And it’s the exact same stupidity I see when skeptics and pop-nutritionists talk about the alkaline diet. They say ‘your body keeps your blood alkaline anyway so why do you need to do it’ blah blah blah.

Same stupid logic here. YES your body can maintain your pH. But doing so, when you’re bombarding it with sugar, soda, and processed foods will kill you. Why wouldn’t you make it easy for your body to maintain pH by eating nutrient-dense foods? That’s the whole point.

And so with supporting your body’s detoxification system – no matter which path you take – is going to SUPPORT those organs and processes to help your body eliminate toxins, rebuild, regenerate and thrive.

Sure, your body can do it regardless. So go ahead and keep eating crap. Meanwhile, we’ll eat the foods to support the body, allow those organs to work optimally, and we’ll be over here thriving, while you’re feeling crap and medicating yourself.

OK. Rant over.

The bottom line is this: supporting your body’s detoxification system is only one reason why you should look to cleanse/detox/fast. There is SO much more benefit to it.

And I want to start first with this…

The Alkaline Cleanse

This is my forte. No hiding from that. I have a free series coming up really soon too that teaches you everything you need to know to do a Cleanse at home – you can sign up for free here.

An alkaline cleanse, the way I teach it, is a whole-body reset – it is a process of super-nourishing your body for a period of time (I recommend seven days, but you can do five, or more than seven) while eliminating all acidic, pro-inflammatory foods (toxins) for that time.

It is 100% focused on abundance. An abundance of nourishment and nutrients. You don’t go hungry. You don’t limit how much you can eat. You get TONS of goodness.

The premise is to give your body a total break from toxins and foods/drinks that unbalance and cause the body to have to work hard…while at the same time giving your body every tool it needs to repair, heal and regenerate.

And it works like crazy.

Watch this super-quick selection of some of my students:

All amazing results. That’s how powerful it can be.

During the seven-days of the Alkaline Cleanse, you focus on eating alkaline juices, soups, and smoothies – all liquids – because they are the easiest to digest and efficient recipes for your body to extract and use nutrients from.

But again, with my plan, you don’t go hungry. You are consuming so many good foods, you feel light, energized, and full.

Most people associate doing a cleanse or detox with feeling tired, hungry, and weak. This is not the case. Not at all. Not one little bit.

And in terms of comparison – this is what my Alkaline Cleanse is about:

  • A focus on getting TONS of nourishment
  • Eliminating toxins
  • A liquid feast – focusing on easy-to-absorb, easy-to-digest, nutrient-dense recipes of alkaline juices, soups, and smoothies

My philosophy is that your body knows exactly what to do, it knows how to heal, repair, and thrive, and our job is to simply give it the tools it needs. My Alkaline Reset Cleanse is simply a very powerful, concentrated way of doing that.

And ‘doing a Cleanse’ is most closely related to the next topic here, which is the anatomy of doing a detox.

Detoxing

Doing a ‘detox’ can mean MANY different things. At one end of the spectrum, it could be simply eliminating the common toxins like caffeine, sugar, and alcohol, and at the other end, it could be reducing total food intake down to just a juice or two per day (with lots of water of course).

The ‘Lemonade Detox’ that was so popular in the 2000s which involved having just water with lemon, maple syrup and, cayenne pepper all day kind of created what the mainstream thinks of when they think of a detox now – basically that it is just starving yourself.

And in many ways that is correct.

The reality is, we should all be reducing caffeine, sugar, and alcohol (and other processed foods) right down forever if we’re serious about having good health and sustained all-day energy. You don’t always have to be perfect of course, but you should be looking to really reduce or eliminate these foods.

That really isn’t a ‘detox’, that’s just not eating crap for a few days.

So thinking about detox being defined a little more concretely as along the lines of 1-2 juices a day plus water – the logic here is to ‘give the body a break’ and to allow it to ‘purge’ toxins.

There is some logic there. But to me it’s fuzzy.

To me if I want my body to work harder, to eliminate toxins, to rebuild and repair, to restore function and rebalance – I WANT TO GIVE IT MORE GOOD STUFF, not starve it!.

I cannot understand the benefit of this. This type of detox can definitely work because you are taking someone who WAS eating a ton of rubbish and now they’re not.

But for me – if they were also adding in an abundance of goodness, nourishment, vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, anti-inflammatories, healthy fats, and alkalinity – wow, the results would go through the roof.

(Which they do).

So the similarity between my Alkaline Cleanse and following a detox is that in both you are eliminating the sugar, caffeine, processed foods, acid-forming foods, etc.

But the similarity ends there.

These detoxes are difficult. The Alkaline Cleanse is easy.
On these detoxes you are hungry. On the Alkaline Cleanse, you feel nourished and full.
They focus on restricting. The Alkaline Cleanse focuses on abundance.
These detoxes reduce nutrients going in. The Alkaline Cleanse massively increases it.

You get the picture.

PLUS I also worry about compliance. When you give up something like sugar or coffee cold turkey you feel like crap. It is hard. Really hard. The chances you’ll cave are high.

With the Alkaline Reset Cleanse (and I’ll explain all of this in the upcoming workshop) I walk you through my ‘Before’ phase which is a week (or more if you choose) BEFORE you start to guide you to taper off the caffeine, sugar, and gluten while gently increasing the nutrients that will prepare your body for the Cleanse.

Most people on my Cleanse don’t experience any ‘detoxification symptoms’ like headaches, fatigue, flu, etc. they just feel wonderful.

Now…this discussion is segueing nicely to the next section because this detox of only having a juice or two per day sounds a lot like…

Fasting

The variety in definitions of ‘doing a detox’ could be tenfold when it comes to fasting.

Are we talking intermittent fasting? If so are we talking a number of hours a day…? 16:8? 14:10? 12:12? Or days of the week? One on, one-off…or 5:2…or 7 on and 7 off?

Or are we talking a 100% water fast…if so how many days?

And during fasted states, how many calories are allowed? 700? 500? None?

There is a lot of variation here.

But one thing is for sure – it is 100% different from doing an Alkaline Cleanse where you are eating a TON of easily digested foods and filling your body with nutrients.

I am definitely not a critic or skeptic of fasting. One of the big benefits is that it brings a real focus and mindfulness to eating.

There have been studies that have shown some remarkable results. Again, due to the variance in definition of fasting it’s hard to know exactly which protocol is best, for who, and when…but there is enough positive evidence there to suggest that as part of an ongoing lifestyle mix – there could be some benefit here.

And this is where I see fasting fitting. I see it as a possible adjunct to having the Alkaline Reset Cleanse as part of your lifestyle.

And the version or definition of IF that I have seen the best results with, and the highest stick rate is with 16:8 or 14:10 at 5 days a week, OR a week on and then a week off.

What IS Intermittent Fasting and Can It Work with the Alkaline Diet?

Intermittent Fasting (IF) is the concept of restricting the window of eating food to certain periods and fasting outside of that window.

This can be a certain number of hours in a day or a certain number of days in a week.

Most popular are eating for 8 hours, and fasting for 16.

For example, only eating between 11 am – 7 pm.

This can then be cycled on and off – as mentioned – on for a day, off for a day. Or on during the workweek and off on the weekend.

OR…

The other popular model is to eat freely for a set number of days per week and then fast entirely for another number of days.

For example, eating freely Monday-Friday and then fast all weekend.

The definition of a fasted state varies, but most agree that sub 500 calories for women and sub 600 for men in a day is a fasting day. This, therefore, allows for things like herbal tea and broths and 1-2 very small meals.

The concerns I have are…

There are a few, but I am by no means saying it’s a total no-no.

Firstly, compliance is becoming an issue, the more and more ‘Bulletproof Coffee’ gains popularity. Many people are now turning to caffeine to get them through their fasting periods in increasing quantities, and this is clearly a recipe for disaster.

I also worry about the slippery slope of finishing a fast. I know that a lot of people will finish a fast and ‘reward’ themselves with such awful food they might not have bothered in the first place (or end up doing more harm than good).

Another concern is that for many people with hormonal imbalance (I’ll go into depth on hormones in the Alkaline Cleanse Workshop by the way – so remember to register) – NOT eating first thing is very counterproductive.

I’ve mentioned my ‘Perfect Breakfast Formula’ on this site here many times and I love it, especially for helping people with hormone imbalance.

With a lot of hormone-influence health challenges – supporting the body to have the correct balance of insulin and cortisol first thing is hugely important. And fasting, before this imbalance of hormones is addressed, can compound this issue.

This is EVEN WORSE when the faster also uses caffeine to get them through their early morning fast, which causes the body to pump out even more cortisol

There is no doubt that IF is promising, and can bring great benefits. I do urge you to ‘test’ it on yourself and don’t just read a book and see it as a cure-all.

And most importantly, I don’t actually see it in the same category as my Alkaline Cleanse. They are complementary.

While I give you the full protocol for what to do AFTER the Alkaline Reset in my training, you can definitely combine these principles with IF if IF works for you.

So, Which Is Best Then…a Cleanse, Detox, or Intermittent Fasting?

If you want to completely reset and reboot your body… If you want to undo years of poor diet choices and clogging…and if you want to create massive healing in your body quickly – I recommend doing my version of a cleanse, which I call The Alkaline Reset Cleanse.

I see this as FAR FAR FAR superior to your classic ‘detox’. FAR superior.

And my student success stories reflect this.

  • Jennifer lost 28lbs over the ‘before’, ‘during’ and ‘after’ weeks (21 days) of my Alkaline Reset…
  • Denise completely reversed her autoimmune condition (psoriatic arthritis) and is no longer on any medication…
  • Robert no longer has any symptoms of his polycystic kidneys…
  • Eugenia lost 28lbs…
  • Juanita reversed her autoimmune condition (lupus) and lost 18lbs…
  • Darline lost 23lbs in 21 days and a year on has lost 78lbs (gone from size 22 to a 12)
  • Julie lost 10lbs in 9 days and 20lbs in 21 days…
  • Helen reversed her osteoporosis…

And those people who DIDN’T want to lose weight did not, by the way. This isn’t a weight-loss cleanse – it’s a body-nourishing cleanse. If you don’t need to lose weight you will not.

AND THEN… if you want to add IF as part of your overall alkaline lifestyle this can be a great combination.

But simply starving out the toxins? Very inefficient, painful, stressful, and tough. Doing the Alkaline Reset Cleanse is nourishing, enjoyable, uplifting, and delicious.

I know which I’d choose 🙂

Any questions? Ask below.

Ross 🙂

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  1. Tina Attenborough Reply

    Hi Ross, during a search for information on how to stop midges and other things biting me, I came across the idea that an alkaline diet may help. So have only just found you and sadly missed this reset/cleanse workshop. However, I will now be following your guide to a better ph balance and also hope the drop the 2-3 stone I have gained from menopause over the last 5 years too, especially as my daughter gets married next June! I also suffer with body inflammation and fibromyalgia. I have been keeping it under control but I not as well I thought I had, so here goes, nothing else has worked for the weight loss, but I’m forever hopeful. Thank you

  2. Almarez Sirner Reply

    Bookmarked your website for easy access! These articles are great

  3. Genevieve Forde Reply

    Hi Ross –

    Thanks again for all the information on detox /cleansing etc. I would be absolutely hopeless at fasting!

    I read your information about joining the alkaline base camp. The problem is that I don’t have internet banking because of all the interference online that I get, and I don’t think it would be safe for me at the moment anyway.

    I would really like to join the free (thank you) one week alkaline cleanse / detox in February, but I have not been able to register online, despite numerous attempts. I probably won’t have my new slow cold-press juicer by then either – “unless a miracle happens.

    If you still think I can do the February cleanse, even without the slow juicer (I do hsve a blender) could you sign me up for the cleanse / detox?

    Otherwise I will hsve to wait until a later time. Perhaps I could send payments to you with a bank cheque, or some other way?

    Thank you –
    “Genevieve Forde

    Whangaparaoa Peninsula
    Aotearoa New Zealand

  4. Nat Reply

    Hi Ross

    I have been doing IF for 2 weeks now eating lunch and dinner only and would like to continue – how long do you recommend one keep doing this.
    Is there a time frame or if one feels ok can you do it forever ??
    Also once I start your cleanse do I just skip the whole breakfast part and only do lunch and dinner .I only drink water and herbal tea in the fasting period CAN I drink green juices and soups or is that considered EATING FOOD and not fasting.
    Thanks
    Regards Nat

  5. tiitta Reply

    I’ve done the ARC…tough, but effective; not hungry, but afraid to add my favorite herbs/spices making it a bit dull (we scandinavians eat seldom preprocessed food etc compared to US and Australian habits, I have no clue) Still convinced it is a good way to clean ones old body ( mine), I have a question for you, father of three????; may I gently promote this to my dearest friend who was just diagnosed with liver cancer….mainly the alkaline booster/energy juices etc!?!

  6. Martina Muldoon Reply

    I was recently diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis, but I don’t want to take drugs since my body doesn’t deal well with them. Coming from a European background we eat our main meal around noon and for dinner I may have some cut up veggies and that’s it. Recently I started to eat my breakfast, lunch and dinner within an 8 hour period and fasted for 16 hours where I lost 3 KG in one week. My preference is towards a vegetarian food intake, and good fats. I do have an organic coffee with liquid Turmeric and stevia, Ashwaganda and Cinnamon every other day. This has helped my body with inflammation.
    I was wondering if the Alkaline Reset is something that I would be able to reverse my Rheumatoid Arthritis? Is there anything else you would suggest for me to do?
    Thank you for your time and info

    • ross Reply

      Hey Martina

      Lovely to hear from you – how have you been? Great to hear these early results and YES I have had so many students effectively reverse their RA using the Alkaline Reset Cleanse – absolutely.

      Did you see Denise’s case study last week here:

      This was psoriatic arthritis – also from an autoimmune background. And today, I just posted Juanita’s story which is her reversing Lupus (another autoimmune):

      Denise (psoriatic arthritis): https://liveenergized.clickfunnels.com/dbn-autoimmune-gone
      Juanita (lupus): https://liveenergized.clickfunnels.com/lupus-gone-jb1

      I think you’ll love it!

      Ross

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