The word ‘detox’ was originally used to describe a treatment for drug addictions but is now used to mean ‘cleanse’, and in nutrition to describe one of three typical diet regimes. A liquid diet of specifi ed juices, teas, smoothies, or soups, usually with supplements thrown in. A restrictive diet that cuts out alcohol, caffeine, sugar, red meat, processed foods, fatty foods, wheat and dairy, and includes only certain types of fruit, veg and water. A suite of supplements and products to promote bowel movements that will ‘clear out’ your bowels.
“Extreme calorie restriction can leave you nutritionally unbalanced. GO EASY!
Cleaning out your bowel via detoxing can also remove healthy gut bacteria”
Why do people detox?
The promise of health benefits is certainly alluring. For some it’s an attempt to kick-start a healthy life or to ‘fix’ unhealthy habits and some people do feel better initially, particularly if their diet previously was poor. But more likely, the quick results that detox promises can be the main reason we try it: we want results now!
Can detoxing be harmful?
- Yes, it can be. Depending on the method, detoxing can initially cause nausea, headaches, fatigue, hunger and dehydration to the point where you may get ‘hangry.’
- A detox regime based on extreme calorie restriction can leave your body nutritionally unbalanced and feeling starved.
- Too long on such a regime and you will miss out on important nutrients, which can put you at risk of extreme fatigue and even malnutrition. Prolonged detoxing can also increase problems such as constipation and interfere with hair growth.
- Some popular detoxes may actually suppress natural detoxification pathways in certain people. Colonic ‘cleansing’ has been shown to have several adverse effects. Continually cleaning out the bowel could potentially remove the healthy bacteria that live there the very bacteria that play a role in immune health, gut health, metabolism and our nutrient absorption.
Lasting benefits?
Many detox regimes don’t teach us about how to make positive, sustainable changes to our diet: they may make food the enemy and create unnecessary anxiety about it. They can also set some people up to ‘yo-yo’ diet, and trigger disordered eating in others. Importantly, while the scales may go down, it’s probably not body fat you’re losing, but fluid, digested food matter, stored carbohydrates and important electrolytes that make your body function optimally. Once you go back to your normal way of eating, you will put this weight back on. If you’re after long-term lasting benefits, it’s highly unlikely that a detox will provide them for you.
Do we need to detox?
- Many detox regimes still remain popular, despite any convincing evidence that a detox will actually remove toxins from your body or improve your health.
- The good news is that your body naturally detoxes itself every single day without you even having to think about it!
- Your liver, kidney, your lungs, your gastrointestinal tract and immune system are constantly breaking down and excreting multiple waste products within hours of eating. Through bowel movements, sweating and even breathing, your body is constantly getting rid of waste products. If it didn’t, toxins would be sitting around in your blood for weeks, making you very ill indeed!