Dietary cleanses rise in popularity, but there are risks

To the rational mind, the notion of willingly depriving oneself of food for days on end seems illogical, at best. Basic biology, after all, dictates that calories are necessary to sustain everyday functioning and that low levels of, say, iron or potassium could throw off our physical health, possibly even dangerously so.

By Jessica P. Ogilvie, Special to the Los Angeles Times

June 9, 2012