What Is the UltraSimple Diet? Foods, Rules, Risks & Alternatives

The ultrasimple diet is Mark Hyman’s seven-day elimination program, marketed as an anti-inflammatory detox reset.

Restrictive risk band. Explaining the UltraSimple Diet is not an endorsement. It comes from his 2007 book, The UltraSimple Diet, and later public write-ups. The week removes a long list of everyday foods, centers a protein shake and a vegetable broth, and is framed as a way to lower inflammation and “toxicity.” This site is not affiliated with the author, the book, or any supplement sold beside the plan.

Disclaimer

Educational only. Not medical advice. This page describes a named book program so readers can recognize it. The pattern can be unsafe in pregnancy, in childhood, with many medicines, with gallbladder, kidney, or bowel disease, and with a history of disordered eating. Do not stop a prescribed medicine because a diet book lists a symptom next to a food. Consult a qualified clinician before starting, and a registered dietitian nutritionist (RDN) for help with ordinary meals. No results are guaranteed. Shake formulas, bath recipes, laxative steps, and day-by-day menus stay out of this article.

Quick facts

What it is	A one-week elimination program from The UltraSimple Diet, framed as anti-inflammatory and “detox”
Risk band	Restrictive — strong caution; explain ≠ endorse
Two shapes	Basic: food rules, a shake, a broth, a bath, a journal. Enhanced: that week plus supplements, a lemon-and-oil drink, and light activity
Marketed length	About 7 days, sometimes after a preparation week. Continuing past the week deepens the restriction
Weight claim	Book marketing has said up to 10 pounds in 7 days. That is an advertisement, and a large change in a short time
“Detox” claim	A program slogan. The liver, kidneys, lungs, and gut already clear waste
Directory slot	One named program under the letter U
Nearby pages	Clinician-led elimination and detox. This page does not restate either guide
Safer baseline	A balanced plate you can keep after the week ends

What the UltraSimple Diet is

Mark Hyman, a physician writing in a functional-medicine frame, has described the plan in the book, on his site, and in a later magazine slimdown. Details differ slightly. The lists below are his published rules.

The week drops foods he calls inflammatory or “toxic,” keeps a narrower set of whole foods, and anchors the day with a shake and a broth. Enhanced adds products he ties to liver “detoxification.” Many foods leave at once, so a better day cannot be traced to one of them. Supervised elimination is a different tool (elimination diet). How marketing uses “detox” is on the detox page.

How it works

Basic and Enhanced

Basic uses the food rules plus a protein shake (UltraShake), a vegetable broth (UltraBroth), a nightly bath with Epsom salt and baking soda framed as detox, and a short journal.

Enhanced keeps those rules and adds a morning lemon-and-olive-oil drink framed as liver support and “bile flow”; supplements (vitamin C, magnesium citrate, probiotics, herbs marketed for liver support, and a stimulant laxative such as senna or cascara); rice protein and flax; and, in some write-ups, walking and relaxation exercises.

Supervision by a clinician is absent from both shapes. This page names the categories and skips doses, brands, and a daily schedule.

Some public versions open with a preparation week that drops caffeine (green tea is the stated exception), sugar, alcohol, trans fats, and highly processed foods. That lead-in is still restriction. Stopping caffeine abruptly can bring headache and fatigue.

Foods removed and foods kept

Avoid lists commonly include sugar and syrups; artificial sweeteners in the magazine version; alcohol; caffeine other than green tea; gluten and flour; dairy; eggs; corn; peanuts; yeast and some fermented foods, including vinegar; citrus other than lemon; nightshades (tomatoes, potatoes, eggplant, peppers); beef, pork, and lamb; refined and hydrogenated fats; and ultra-processed foods. The magazine list also sets stimulant drugs — decongestants, diet pills, ephedra — beside foods. Starting or stopping a medicine belongs with the prescriber.

Enjoy lists keep other vegetables, non-citrus fruit (berries are emphasized), lemon, brown rice, beans, fish, chicken, and some nuts and seeds such as almonds and pumpkin seeds. Peanuts stay off. Brown rice and beans stay, so a grain and legumes remain. The week is still narrow: several major food groups leave together, and many eating occasions are a shake or a broth.

Shakes, baths, and the exit

In public examples the shake is a protein powder (often rice), fruit, flax, and water. The broth is strained vegetables. The bath is sold as a way to “release toxins.” This page does not print formulas. A copied shake is not a medical protocol. A bath does not detoxify the liver. Hot baths fit poorly in pregnancy, with unstable blood pressure, or with heart disease. Kidney disease is a reason to ask before any magnesium salt, in the tub or in a pill.

The author offers two exits: bring foods back in phases, or continue about three more weeks. A longer ban is more restriction. A return is informative when one food comes back at a time; sleep, stress, and caffeine withdrawal also change a day. This page does not copy his calendar. A real trial belongs with a clinician and an RDN (elimination diets).

Evidence snapshot

Author pages treat inflammation and “toxicity” as roots a food week can shift. They name allergies, asthma, reflux, irritable bowel, fatigue, joint pain, diabetes, autoimmune disease, and heart disease as conditions that might improve, and they call weight change a side effect, including up to 10 pounds in 7 days. Those stories come from the person promoting the plan.

Major clinical guidelines do not list this diet as treatment for those conditions. Those illnesses need clinical care. Food can sit inside that care. A self-run week is a weak substitute, and a dangerous reason to stop an inhaler or any other prescription.

With no invented trials, the snapshot is:

• The named plan. This draft attaches no study results to it. Challenges and sales pages are distribution, and a poor stand-in for a clinical result.
• “Detox.” Major-center patient education describes the liver, kidneys, lungs, and gut as the systems that already clear waste, and finds little support for commercial detox weeks as an upgrade. See detox.
• The scale. A sudden drop in refined carbohydrates, restaurant food, and salt often moves water and stored carbohydrate. A 10-pound week is the advertisement. Fast loss of that size is a known setting for gallstones.
• Elimination logic. Pulling gluten, dairy, eggs, corn, peanuts, nightshades, citrus, yeast, caffeine, and alcohol at once makes one blended change. A better afternoon cannot be pinned on one food. Celiac blood tests are done while gluten is still in the diet. Cutting gluten first can muddy the result.

Vegetables, beans, fish, and fewer sugary drinks already sit in longer-studied patterns. Anti-inflammatory eating covers that idea without this countdown.

Potential benefits

A closed menu is an understandable want, and a weak basis for a medical result. Dropping sugary drinks, alcohol, and packaged foods overlaps ordinary advice and can happen while eggs, dairy, and grains stay. Careful reintroduction with a clinician is a real method for some suspected intolerances. This week is a blunt version of that wish. Energy, skin, and disease relief remain marketing promises.

Risks & who should avoid

Restrictive is the right label. Explain ≠ endorse. Many food groups leave at once, the scale is part of the pitch, and detox language can hide side effects.

Seven days can miss calcium, varied fiber, and enough energy when shakes and broth replace meals. Stretching the week raises that cost. Headache and fatigue often follow a caffeine stop. Calling that “toxins leaving” is a sales frame. It can also be illness.

Some public versions tell readers to force a daily bowel movement with stimulant laxatives and, if that fails, a magnesium-citrate bowel prep or an enema — including people who were not constipated. The same pages call those laxatives habit-forming. They can cause cramps, diarrhea, and shifts in body salts. Bowel preps and enemas are medical products, and a poor idea with kidney disease, bowel disease, a possible blockage, or recent surgery. This page does not repeat the steps.

Magnesium, vitamin C, probiotics, and “liver” herbs can interact with medicines and with kidney disease. A drink meant to increase bile flow can worsen biliary pain when gallstones are present. Fast loss is itself a setting for gallstones. A sudden menu change can make insulin and other glucose-lowering drugs too strong. Warfarin, blood-pressure drugs, thyroid hormone, and lithium belong in the same prescriber conversation. This article will not adjust a dose.

A long forbidden list can harden fear of ordinary food, especially after disordered eating. Orthorexia vs healthy eating covers that line. The week is also a poor stand-in for care of unexplained weight loss, bleeding, trouble swallowing, chest pain, or trouble breathing.

Talk with a clinician first if you are pregnant, breastfeeding, planning pregnancy, or under 18; living with disordered eating, rigid food rules, underweight, or frailty; living with diabetes, kidney, gallbladder, liver, or inflammatory bowel disease, gallstones, or pancreatitis; taking prescription medicines; about to drop gluten before a celiac test; or planning laxatives, enemas, or a supplement kit for the week.

If you feel faint, confused, or in severe pain, stop, eat a familiar meal you tolerate, and contact a clinician.

Safer alternatives

Fewer packaged foods, more vegetables, and a simpler routine are available without the countdown.

1. Balanced plate. Vegetables and fruit, protein, and satisfying carbohydrates, with fats in a supporting role. A smoothie can be one item beside meals you chew.
2. Mediterranean diet. Vegetables, fruit, legumes, whole grains, olive oil, and fish, with room for dairy, eggs, and shared meals.
3. DASH. An inclusive pattern used in blood-pressure education, with no detox week and no shake quota.
4. Elimination diet, clinician-led. When a specific food reaction is the question, supervised elimination and a planned return of foods is the tool built for it. This book’s list, started alone, is a poor match.

An RDN can turn “less packaged food, enough to eat” into a repeatable grocery list. A large, fast loss is a clinical topic. This article offers no reset protocol.

FAQ

What is the ultrasimple diet?

Mark Hyman’s seven-day elimination program: a long food ban, a protein shake, a vegetable broth, and anti-inflammatory and detox marketing. Enhanced adds supplements and a lemon-and-oil drink. The description is for recognition.

How do Basic and Enhanced differ?

Basic is the food rules, shake, broth, bath, and journal. Enhanced adds supplements (including a stimulant laxative in public write-ups), a morning lemon-and-olive-oil drink, and light activity. Both are restrictive. This page does not dose them.

Which foods does it remove?

Public versions commonly remove sugar, alcohol, caffeine other than green tea, gluten, dairy, eggs, corn, peanuts, yeast, citrus other than lemon, nightshades, and meats other than poultry, plus ultra-processed foods. Fish, chicken, beans, brown rice, other vegetables, and some nuts stay. Lists vary slightly by write-up.

Is it a detox, and will it drop 10 pounds in 7 days?

The program uses “detox.” The liver and kidneys already clear waste. “Up to 10 pounds in 7 days” is the book’s marketing line, often including water, and fast loss of that size needs caution. No result is guaranteed. Flu-like feelings are weak evidence of toxins leaving. See detox.

How is this different from clinician-led elimination?

A clinician-led elimination diet has a reason, a plan for foods to return, and someone watching nutrition and tests, including celiac testing before gluten comes out. UltraSimple removes many triggers at once and sells the week as a general reset.

Who should skip it?

Pregnancy, childhood, eating disorders, diabetes medicines, kidney disease, gallbladder disease, bowel disease, and serious unexplained symptoms are reasons to skip a self-start. Ask the prescriber before a sudden menu change or a supplement stack.

Related

• Balanced plate — meals you can keep, without a seven-day ban
• Mediterranean diet — lifestyle-band pattern
• DASH diet — lifestyle-band pattern
• Elimination diet — clinician-led tool; this page does not restate the method
• Detox — what the marketing word does and does not mean
• Anti-inflammatory diet — food-pattern idea without this reset
• Orthorexia vs healthy eating — when food rules harden
• Diets directory — A–Z encyclopedia hub

Article URL for this entry: /diets/ultrasimple/ only.

Sources

[SOURCES TBD — author and publisher pages for program description only, including the 2007 book and later public slimdown write-ups; patient-education pages from major medical centers on detox diets, stimulant laxatives, and celiac testing while eating gluten; clinical guidance on supervised elimination diets and on rapid weight loss and gallstones. No invented citations, no doses, and no reprinted shake or day-menu recipes in this draft.]

Last reviewed

2026-09-25

Copy-reviewed. SEO pass pending. Educational only — not medical advice.