David Root, a physician and senior research associate with the Foundation for Advancements in Science and Education, a California-based research and advocacy group with historical ties to the Scientology movement, had a different theory as to why the regimen worked. He argued that while 15 percent to 20 percent of fat-soluble toxins were released in sweat, 80 percent to 85 percent passed directly from the bloodstream into the lumen of the small intestine and could ultimately be expelled in feces. (He added that ingested oil blocked the reabsorption of toxins along the GI tract.)

This theory is odd, however, since direct passage from the bloodstream into the small intestine is not a known route of elimination by the body. As Dr. Dillard says: "No one anywhere talks about that being a major mechanism. It just does not compute. … They're making multiple claims that actually have no science behind them."

Dillard suggested that small amounts of fat-soluble toxins may enter the GI tract in bile and ultimately be expelled from the body. When I ran this possibility by Dr. Root, he first argued against it, though he later conceded, "We just don't know."