Shane Warne was on a 14-day detox diet before death: All you need to know about the liquid diet and why experts warn against it

The world was left shell-shocked last Friday when Shane Warne, the cricketing legend, passed away at the age of 52 .

Shane Warne was holidaying with friends on Thailand’s Koh Samui island when he died on 4 March. The 52-year-old cricket legend was found unresponsive in his room at the luxury Samujana Villa resort at around 5pm local time.

An autopsy concluded that the iconic Australian bowler had died of natural causes.

It was reported later that his manager James Erskine told The Sydney Morning Herald that the cricketing icon had finished a “ridiculous” 14-day liquid crash diet in the days before his death.

We take a look at what exactly this diet entails and why experts warn against adopting it.

Warne’s 14-day diet

On 28 February, Shane Warne, who is known to have struggled with his weight throughout his life and had previously followed extreme diets, shared on social media about being 10 days into “operation shred” on his Instagram account, revealing in the last post before his death he was determined to “get back” into shape.

This isn’t the first time that Warne turned to a crash diet to lose weight. In 2021, Warne had stated that he had benefited from a “traditional Chinese medicine”, which helped him lose 14 kgs of weight.

“I’ve dropped 14kg, I’m trying to lose another three or four more to get down to 80kg but I haven’t had any work done to my head. I haven’t had, whatever they call it, fillers, injections and all that sort of stuff!” Warne had told a media house in May last year.

Notably, the legendary cricketer was banned from playing for a year in 2003 after taking a slimming pill that resulted in him testing positive for banned diuretic drugs.

Erskine, his manager, described it as a “ridiculous” juice diet during an interview with Nine’s Weekend Today on Sunday.

So, what does it entail?

In this diet, one must avoid all solid foods and only restrict themselves to liquids — from juices to herbal teas.

The aim of this diet is to lose weight quickly by eating fewer calories. They range from fashionable fruit and vegetable juice drinks that promise to detox and cleanse the body to low-calorie shakes and soups.

What do experts say about these diets?

Sydney-based clinical nutritionist Leilani Finau told news.com.au that juice cleanses are meant for short-term use and if followed over a long period of time, could have “detrimental effects” on health.

“Juice cleanses are typically only used, or advised to be used, for 1-3 days,” she was quoted as saying, adding that juices lack in calories and macronutrients like carbohydrates, protein, fat etc, which the body needs. Juices also do not have vital fibres, a nutrient lacking in the modern diet.

A low-calorie diet can damage body metabolism because in the absence of sufficient calories, everything slows down for the body to cope.

Peta Carige, one of Australia’s leading sports dietitians, also warns against adopting “very low calorie” diets such as a juice cleanse, saying it could negatively impact the overall health.

“A juice cleanse is not sustainable because it creates yo-yo dieting habits,” she told news.com.au.

This means that while a juice diet would reduce a person’s weight almost immediately, a person risks piling on the kilos after stopping the diet.

According to Aisling Piggot, British Dietetic Association, juice diets appeal to people because results can be seen almost instantaneously.

Karen Inge, a leading dietician who’s worked with Australia’s most elite athletes, speaking to 9Now News, is also of the opinion that while these juice diets for small periods of time seem to have no negative effects, in the long-run such extreme dieting could not cause a bit of malnutrition but more importantly, dehydration.

Other than these adverse effects, fruit juices, which contain lots of natural acids, can also wear away enamel on teeth and a lack of calorie intake can make breath smell different.

Celebrities who have tried the detox diet

In 2006, Beyonce made all the news when she followed the Master Cleanse for her role in Dreamgirls. At that time, she had said that she had lost 20 pounds in two weeks. The cleanse, also referred to as the lemonade diet, is a juice fast that people do for 10 days, where they avoid eating any solid foods.

Gwyneth Paltrow in an interview with Women’s Health revealed that she had gone on a goat-milk-only cleanse for eight days straight.

With inputs from agencies

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