Anne Hathaway is just one of many famous faces who can’t get enough of The Clarity Cleanse.
Watch out, Deepak Chopra! There’s another, newer, mind-body medical doctor of Central/South Asian descent in town, and his name is Habib Sadeghi! In all seriousness, I’m normally quite skeptical of celebrity-endorsed doctors, especially those who charge exorbitant sums of money to attend their workshops as Dr. Chopra is wont to do around NYC. I’m a firm believer that you don’t need a transcendence workshop at abc Home that costs thousands of dollars, crazy tools that beam at you at certain frequencies, or a doctor wearing rhinestone-studded glasses in order to live your best life. (I’m a firm believer that medical doctors shouldn’t wear rhinestone-studded glasses in the first place–call me old-fashioned).
Dr. Habib Sadeghi
Dr. Habib Sadeghi’s reputation is similarly glitzy and New Age-y. His most famous client might be Gwyneth Paltrow–to whom he actually introduced the term “conscious uncoupling” for her divorce. It’s stunning to think of how our idea of marriage itself has completely changed because of this one mind-body guru. Gwyneth Paltrow has said “he took my healing to another level.” She’s praised him for his “intravenous therapy full of vitamins,” “lymphatic massage treatment,” (“they wrap you in a blanket and you sweat out impurities”) and allergy testing and food. Is this sounding so frou-frou to you or just me?
It’s not just Gwyn Pal who is breathlessly singing his praises, however–practically everyone in La-La Land are under his sway. When I saw Anne Hathaway’s endorsement I was like, “okaaaay,” but then Jessica Chastain chirped he helped her “understand a path of clarity” in her life! And say what you will but I trust Jessica Chastain even though we’ve never met. She’s a vegan goddess!! (Also on the list of devotees: Stella McCartney, Emily Blunt, and Rihanna, who loves his IV drip of vitamins B, C, Zinc, and chromium that is said to cure major hangovers. Of course.)
Okay Jessica Chastain, I’m listening.
These celebs and more are currently freaking out about his new book, The Clarity Cleanse: 12 Steps to Finding Renewed Energy, Spiritual Fulfillment, and Emotional Healing. In it, he lays out a 12-step “journey of self-discovery to unlock the unresolved emotional issues that hold us back.” It teaches you how to:
- Create a clear intention.
- Purge negative emotions.
- Practice self-forgiveness.
The Clarity Cleanse also includes his trademark Intentional Unsaturation Diet, which supports emotional cleansing by removing repressed emotions stored in liver, gallblader, lungs, kidneys, and pancreas.
So how do you do it? You start by sticking to a 4-day monodiet that is heavy on just 3 foods: apples, brown rice, and sardines. So I’m not sure how vegan Jessica Chastain could have done this part (maybe she ate just brown rice and apples? That doesn’t sound delicious). The 3 foods are all high in B vitamins, which he says are great for “mental plasticity” and are easy on the digestive system. B vitamins indeed are critical for mood stability, which is why I crave nutritional yeast when I’m having a rough day. For a vegan-friendly alternative, try nutritional yeast with your brown rice.
Brown Rice Beet Miso Stir Fry–try with extra nutritional yeast!
After the 4 days, you start adding more foods especially fruits and vegetables–but still restrict dairy (obvi), nuts, legumes, alcohol, and caffeine.
As you are going through the cleanse, Dr. Sadeghi prescribes a 12 minutes of emotional writing a day to purge all those toxic thoughts. Now *this*, I can do!! This is how you get your body and mind to synchronize their detox. But there *is* a cult-y part to this ritual as well: he asks that you do this next to a burning white candle and then set the purge-writing on fire; he says, “fire is transformative and cleansing because it changes the chemical composition of things.” Oh and 12 minutes because it has “great spiritual significance” in nearly all major religions. Huh.
Here’s an important take-away even for vegans like myself: Dr. Sadeghi believes that it’s the feelings or the energy we are holding while we eat that is far more important than the nutritional content of the food we consume. I totally get this: for example, my body is sooo happy when I eat broccoli–I can eat it for every meal and it will energize and nourish at the same time. It’s like my GI system chooses broccoli as its main energy source. Mary has told me that the equivalent for her is onions, in any preparation. So even if a food has the “perfect” nutritional profile and reputation, it could be not the right food for you. On the other hand, some foods can just make you feel great, and that self-awareness is more important.
My overall verdict is that if 1) you struggle with deep-seated emotional burden that needs to be unpacked and 2) if you don’t mind the slightly out-there aspects, this plan might be worth checking out. I always recommend though that you customize your plan and not do anything that feels emotionally “not right” to you–which is kind of what Dr. Sadeghi himself is saying in the first place. I *am* curious about certain elements like eating (vegan) vitamin B-rich foods only for a short period of time, combined with daily emotional journaling. But I just can’t burn said writing, even if a Hollywood doctor tells me to–it seems a bit too emo and unsafe for my taste.
What do you think of The Clarity Cleanse? Would you try it?
Also see: Jenna Dewan Swears By This Superfood Breakfast For Insane Glow & Energy
Bonnie Wright Says Muggles, Not Magic, Will Fix Plastic Crisis & Save The World
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Photo: Anne Hathaway via Instagram, Dr. Habib Sadeghi, Jessica Chastain via Instagram, Mary Hood Luttrell, Kelsi Barr via Flickr
