A mono-diet is a diet that consists of eating only one food for at least 3 days. The most common mono-diet is an apple diet (but it’s possible with other foods such as grapes, rice, bananas, carrots…).
The principle is extremely simple: for three days, the only food you can consume will be apples and water. What is less well known is that this mono-diet is dangerous…
The principle of the mono-diet
According to its proponents: “Our bodies are subjected to numerous aggressions every day, some unconsciously (pollution, food additives*, etc.) and others more consciously (alcohol, tobacco, diet, etc.).” The mono-diet is therefore supposed to “eliminate the accumulation of toxins present in the body,” these toxins which are (and I quote) “toxins for which our DNA is not programmed.”
* In my opinion, the additives are absolutely not ingested without our knowledge.
Expectations related to practicing a mono-diet
Most people who follow a mono-diet hope for weight loss results. Through health-focused rhetoric, this is actually what mono-diet gurus are selling you: quick and easy weight loss.
The utopian messaging surrounding diets never bodes well. Indeed, all the major weight-loss companies advertise rapid, simple, and easy weight loss. On the surface, the mono-diet may seem similar. But fundamentally, it promotes false claims to an uninformed public.
This treatment promises a flat stomach, improved digestion, complete toxin elimination, and, I quote, “will permanently rid you of your past mistakes.” A well-crafted pitch, a few “complicated” words to boost credibility, enticing promises… It’s the perfect recipe for a scam!
The real results
As is my custom, I will use a very telling comparison. A mono-diet is dangerous, but it clearly resembles a confession used to reassure oneself of one’s own sins.
I drive at 200km/h on the motorway for 87 days, then for 3 days I drive at 50 to compensate for my excesses of the last 3 months!
Does that seem insane to you? It’s completely ludicrous, and only a few ignorant people could believe in such an incoherent concept!
And yet…
I eat ultra-processed foods, smoke and drink alcohol for 87 days, then for 3 days I eat only apples to compensate for my excesses of the last 3 months!
So, have you got it?
Well done! The mono-diet is a huge scam. Consciously destroying your body all year round and thinking you can “detoxify” it in a few days demonstrates profound ignorance. But the consumer isn’t to blame, certainly not! As I regularly explain in my articles, the unscrupulous gurus who sell their scams specifically target uninformed or discouraged buyers who have already tried numerous diets without success.
Believing and making others believe that a detox diet over a limited period of time will allow you to live a healthy life is linked to a serious lack of knowledge and lucidity.
A healthy diet should be part of a healthy lifestyle and contribute to overall good health. Mistreating your body (or anything else) for several years and then giving it a few days of respite will not bring any improvement.
A mono-diet can even be dangerous
50% of fruits and vegetables are contaminated
Apples receive an average of 35 chemical treatments before ending up in your mouth. The idea is that these same apples help you eliminate toxins? I’d like to remind you that agricultural pesticides are endocrine disruptors… which literally upset our hormonal balance.
For 3 apples a week, there are no major risks, but 1kg a day, over 3 or even 5 days: I wouldn’t risk it.
One might then think that it is enough to eat organic apples, or grapes for example.
Grapes are not spared from chemical treatments and also end up on the shelves with pesticide residues.
As for organic fruit, it has the advantage of being less affected by chemical treatments, making it ideal for consuming one apple a day. However, during a mono-diet, consuming 12 apples from the same batch will not protect you from pesticides. Cross-contamination and the presence of even a small amount of a single pesticide in that batch will expose you to them.
Risks of dietary restrictions
Salespeople who sell you their mono-diet add at the end that it is better not to go back to your old diet after this treatment and to turn to a healthy diet… Easier said than done!
Our body wants one thing: survival. Play a trick on it for three days by giving it only apples, which are low in calories and nutrients. Then suddenly it’s over, you give it access to calories again… Do you really think for a moment that the survival instinct so deeply ingrained in us will think “DETOX”? At that precise moment, the body’s sole purpose is to fill itself up as much as possible to prepare for your next mono-diet. So it will store fat. The cycle begins again… This is the principle behind the infamous yo-yo effect: weight regain after a diet.
Increased stress
In the same vein as the previous point, your psychological state could be severely tested. Living in frustration for three days won’t improve your situation…
Diet, tobacco, alcohol, and pollution are indeed harmful to the body. But the latest culprit is not mentioned by our friendly purveyors of dreams: stress. We already know the effects of stress on health (it also promotes the production of free radicals, yet that’s precisely what the mono-diet is supposed to combat).
My opinion: a contradictory ideology
Mono-diets are dangerous and have no legitimate benefit.
Its primary function, which is to eliminate all toxins, is obsolete. Toxins are continuously eliminated by the body; you don’t need to be a genius to understand that. Your body doesn’t wait for you to eat apples to eliminate free radicals, heavy metals, etc. A basic pharmacology textbook will teach you this (perhaps even a biology textbook for a 6th-grade student).
Lipids and proteins are essential for our survival, while our bodies can easily function without carbohydrates. An apple contains 0.3g of protein and 0.2g of fat… No need for a diagram to understand the absurdity of this diet.
” In short, proteins are the building blocks of the body. They make up our outer layers: bones, muscles, hair, nails, skin, but also hormones, enzymes, and antibodies of the immune system, which defend us against infections. They participate directly in the production of some of our essential hormones, such as sex hormones.”
Lipids serve as vehicles for fat-soluble vitamins (vitamins A, D, E, and K are therefore soluble in fats). Lipids form the structure of our cell membranes, and thus determine their proper functioning (neurons, brain, thymus). They play an essential role in transporting certain proteins and hormones in the blood.
It is therefore essential not to eliminate them from our diet, but rather to ensure we receive a sufficient intake of fats, and above all, quality fats.
Excerpt from the book: The Modern Guide to Nutrition
NO MORE THAN 3 OR 4 TREATMENTS PER YEAR! This is completely absurd. Promoting a diet that’s good for the body and helps you eliminate toxins, and then justifying its benefits by claiming that nobody takes care of their body the rest of the time? That’s the business model of a well-orchestrated scam.
But of course, why limit yourself to a balanced lifestyle all year round (no smoking, little alcohol, and a healthy diet) when you can make up for all those excesses in just three 3-day periods! They had to think of it: they did. Mono-diets are dangerous, yet they’re a foolproof excuse to mistreat your body all year long without feeling guilty.
Rapid weight loss and a flatter stomach: it’s incredible!
NO, it’s normal—less water retention, a calorie deficit, and just apples to digest. You’ve lost water and you have less to digest, so where’s the miracle of weight loss and a flat stomach?
Conclusion: Instead, review your bad habits
This diet won’t kill you, but in my opinion, it won’t do you much good either. Diets don’t exist. I’ve said this several times before: you have to change your eating habits and make that change a long-term commitment.
Exercising, having an appropriate calorie intake, consuming enough micronutrients, respecting my body… I don’t follow a mono-diet and yet I have a flat stomach, optimal digestion, I haven’t been sick for 3 years, I’m constantly in good shape…
My coaching clients don’t follow a mono-diet either, but they’re also in great shape. Don’t try to lose weight quickly. Don’t try to cleanse your body for a limited time.
Learn to eat properly, to exercise, and to have a healthy lifestyle.
Always take a step back from the information you’re given. Always try to determine if the person giving you this information isn’t trying to sell you something… I’m not blaming anyone or anything; I’m helping people become aware of certain things.
