Pellau Magazine

WHO? Raw food guru Anya Ladra and her team of expert chefs - the Raw Fairies - have created a special menu of low-calorie botanical foods (including some delicious raw chocolate desserts) and juices made from organic plants. They claim that their diet delivery service can help customers to lose weight, reduce cellulite, balance hormones, clear the skin and increase mental alertness.

HOW? Raw Fairies say that the high concentration of enzymes, vitamins and minerals - as well as water - in the raw juice diets, maintained because they are not lost through cooking processes, keep the body hydrated, nourished and speed up the detoxing process: the natural process during which harmful toxins are removed from the body.

WHAT? The Glow Cleanse is a five-day juice fast, which combines six 500ml drinks (green juices, smoothies, nut milks and low-calorie lemonades), with one low-carb, raw meal - usually a small salad at lunchtime - a day. You are encouraged to drink one of the juices every two hours, together with a recommended 1.5L of water a day. The delivery service drops the juices and the salad to your door between 7am and 10am every morning.

HOW MUCH? $5000TTD. Yep.

On Monday, we ate/drank this:

Ginger Lemonade with Cayenne Pepper - 500ml

Green Juice (broccoli, romaine lettuce, spinach, courgette, watercress, cucumber, parsley, kale) - 500ml

Mango, Watercress, Parsley Smoothie with MSM powder and ground flack seed - 500ml

Green Salad with Citrus Dressing (Literally a handful of lettuce leaves with a lemon and olive oil dressing)

Pineapple, Apple, Mint, Lime and Spinach Juice - 500ml

Almond Mylk - 500ml

Mint Lemonade - 500ml

I also drank:

1.5L of water, as recommended by Raw Fairies.

PROS: The smoothies and juices are delicious and high in quality, as are the (albeit tiny) salads that accompany them. True to the Raw Fairies' word, they are rammed with organic ingredients, including rare superfoods and plant nutrients that can be hard to get hold of. The to-the-door delivery service is convenient - you don't have to lift a finger in the kitchen for five days, which is ideal for busy folks like us.

CONS: At $5000TTD for five days, it isn't the cheapest delivery diet on the market. The lack of solid food is a big shock to the system initially and left us feeling hungry, fatigued and finding it hard to concentrate. It did get easier as the week progressed, but attempting to do things that required a lot of energy, like exercise, was difficult. Also, the diet is extremely low in two of the major food groups - carbohydrates and protein -  and the amount of liquid we consumed (around 4.5L) made us feel a little bit sick initially. Oh, and expect to pee loads, too. But we guess that's the detoxing part.

OUR CONCLUSION: This diet is not for the faint hearted: we found motivating ourselves to stick to an almost entirely liquid menu for five days extremely difficult.  After the first day, we felt tired, grumpy, hungry and light-headed. We also found getting a good night's sleep a challenge. However, the diet did promise results, and it was results we got. Our skin was noticeably clearer, we felt lighter and our stomachs were certainly flatter after the cleanse. Whether we lost actual fat, or just a lot of retained water, we're not sure, but feel the latter is more likely. Our question is whether it was all worth it? If we were to try this again, we'd do it for one or two days at the very most, add a few scoops of protein powder, and eat something a little more substantial at lunchtime.

PROFESSIONAL OPINION: Dr Emma Williams, a nutritional scientist from the British Nutrition Foundation, says: "This 'detox' diet is based around fruit and vegetable intake, mostly in the form of smoothies or juices. Detox diets tend to involve restricting food intake to a limited number of foods and therefore cutting down on overall energy (calorie) intake. Although Vitamin C (the main component of this diet) is good for you up to a point, consuming more isn't necessarily any better for you. Also by drinking mostly fruit and vegetable juices, you're missing out on lots of other important nutrients such as protein, vitamin D, essential fats and fibre. Although you may lose weight in the short-term on this diet, this is due to reduced calorie intake, rather than any so-called 'detoxing' effects. It is also unlikely that this weight loss will be sustained once an individual returns to normal eating patterns. Sensible weight loss is based on long-term changes to diet and lifestyle, which will lead to permanent weight loss. One should try to lose weight gradually (ideally 0.5 -1.0kg (1-2 lbs) per week). This is much better for your health (as very low calorie diets can be deficient in essential nutrients and dangerous if followed for too long). It is also easier to stick to a more realistic weight loss regimen that is not too restrictive."