The 21-Day Program that Supports Gut Health

I will admit that I have tried more than my fair share of detox programs. (If I could give my younger self a piece of advice, it would probably be to chill a little.) I would not do most of them again.

The detox I can still get behind is, perhaps unsurprisingly, the classic Clean Program by Alejandro Junger, MD, who I met about a decade ago when I first started working at goop. Since then, I’ve done his 21-day detoxification and gut health reset and his newer 7-day reset a handful of times. I decided to revisit Clean 21 this year—my primary goal is to support gut health, the core of vitality and wellness. Here’s what the program is like—and why I still like it.

It’s straightforward.

The Clean program guide is simple to follow. Inside the Clean 21 box, you get hydration powder sticks, nutritional shake packets, and supplements. And for 21 days, you follow the same formula.

In the morning, you mix one of the hydration powder sticks into water. And you add a shake packet to a smoothie. (There are 10 grams of fermented plant-based proteins and 10 billion CFUs of probiotics in a shake packet.)

At lunchtime, you take two of the Digest capsules (plant-based enzymes designed to support your digestion). And you have a meal consisting of Clean-friendly foods. I made a lot of bowls with roasted vegetables, brown rice, chicken or salmon, greens, avocado, and copious amounts of EVOO.

In the evening, you take the supplement packet (milk thistle, glutathione, and a blend of CoQ10 and magnesium). You can make another smoothie or a blended soup. I vote soup, and to drink your second shake packet of the day with water or an alt milk.

I had snacks when I wanted to but usually wasn’t hungry between meals. (I like to pack a lot of protein and fats into my smoothies, which probably helps.) I got used to Clean’s recommended 12-hour fasting window—for example, if I finished dinner at 7:30 p.m., I didn’t eat breakfast before 7:30 a.m.

The kit comes with a clear list of foods to eat and foods to avoid. The gist is that you aren’t having: gluten, dairy, refined sugar, corn, eggs, soy, nightshades, red meat, coffee, or alcohol. The basic idea is to give your gut and body a break by avoiding processed foods and other potentially inflammatory ingredients. I never ran out of foods to eat. The thing I missed eating the most was peanut butter. I’m eating peanut butter as I write this. I’m a dork for peanut butter. (I missed coffee a lot, too. But it’s nice, in a way, to feel less dependent on it throughout the day.)

If you do have questions before, during, or after Clean 21, or want help personalizing the program, you have access to a one-on-one session with a health coach.

It feels like a real reset, for the gut and the whole body.

I feel better within the first week of starting the Clean program—and things trend upward from there. In my experience, it’s nearly everything everyone else says: I have more energy. I fall asleep within 15 minutes or so, and wake up roughly 8 hours later, feeling like I slept for all 8 hours. Skin looks its sweetest. It feels easy to digest meals. I’m going to the bathroom regularly, daily. I feel like I have more bandwidth. And many more slogans re: gut health being the foundation of your overall health.

It would be reductive to attribute this to any one element of the program. I believe the Clean supplements are one differentiating factor here. Dr. Junger and his team designed the formulas to support detoxification, gut health, your body’s metabolic processes, and nutrient absorption. For me, the Clean digestive enzymes seem to work particularly well—I don’t feel bloated when I take them with my bigger midday meal.

It tastes good.

With other detox programs, I’ve struggled through some meals. I genuinely like the flavor of the Clean shake packets, and I would drink them in regular life. The chocolate flavor is probably my favorite, but I usually opt for a mix when I’m ordering the kit. I also appreciate that the hydration powder with electrolytes is now stevia-free because the taste of stevia irks me.

It compels me to rest.

You can still be social while you’re doing the program. If you want to, go out to dinner—have a smoothie for lunch and eat your bigger meal in the evening instead. I generally relish doing less for a few weeks, especially in the winter. It’s nice to get into bed at 9 p.m. During the 21 days, I’d go on walks and do some yoga and Pilates but nothing crazy. I was slower. I rested more.

It sticks with me after the 21 days.

Three weeks is a solid amount of time to settle into a new routine or be reminded of a small pleasure worthy of your time. Every time I’ve done Clean 21, there’s been an element that I’ve held onto post-detox, or something I’ve learned afterward during the Clean re-introductory week when starting to eat certain foods again. For example, I realize that my gut tolerates a lot of sources of dairy well. Half and half in my coffee. Goat cheese in a wrap. A bowl of yogurt. Groundbreaking.

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This article is for informational purposes only, even if and regardless of whether it features the advice of physicians and medical practitioners. This article is not, nor is it intended to be, a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment and should never be relied upon for specific medical advice. The views expressed in this article are the views of the expert and do not necessarily represent the views of goop.