Detox - do you need to do it regularly or are detox programs more of a threat?

Detox. A word that comes at us from many sides. Whether from the mouths of "experts" who say you need to detox to be healthy and lose weight. And then also very often as an advertisement for miracle products that cost a pretty penny. However, they promise literally miracles and just consuming them is enough to get you a healthy body, and that's worth it, isn't it?

Article content:

• What do you mean by detoxification?
• Juice cleansing and drinking vegetable juices
• A detoxifying cure for your liver
• Detox consisting of restriction of certain foods
• And the highlight at the end... detoxifying the intestines
• So how about this detox, is it helpful or not?
• What to take away from the article?

What do you mean by detoxification?

Detox, or also otherwise cleansing the body. In recent years, the popularity of detoxification or cleansing treatments has been on the rise, and their proponents and promoters claim that these "diets" help our body get rid of toxins and improve the health of the digestive tract. After a detox, they say, you'll feel younger, healthier, have more energy and God knows what else. But is this really true? Do we even need to undergo any such treatments?

We'll get to the answers later, but first, let's talk about what types or kinds of cleansing treatments there are. Basically, detoxification treatments can be divided into 3 groups:

• Liquid-based food replacement cures
• Bark based on "supposed" support of the natural cleansing (detoxification) mechanisms of the human body
• Bark based on restriction of certain foods or entire groups from the diet
• Bark based on intestinal lavage (enemas, laxatives)

Cleansing and detoxification cures are promoted as health-promoting procedures that rid the body of toxic substances, strengthen the immune system and restart metabolism. However, the truth is a little different. In fact, there is no evidence that detoxification cures are in any way beneficial, and because some of these "diets" are highly restrictive, they can do more harm than good.

Unfortunately, many "experts" take advantage of human ignorance and tout these cures using "technical terms" to explain their miraculous effects. They promote detox as an essential part of a healthy lifestyle that results in a healthy, vital and well-functioning body. Although some people claim that a detox is not the same as a cleanse, it is very difficult to tell them apart because there is no standard definition and the two methods have most things in common. Let's look at each method in more detail.

Juice cleansing and drinking vegetable juices

Detox treatments based on replacing solid food with liquids exclusively (usually various types of fruit or vegetable juices, juices or smoothies) are undoubtedly one of the most popular detox practices. They are also sometimes called juice fasting or juice detox. Such a cleanse then lasts 3-20 days, but some keep it much longer.

Cleanses based on drinking juices or juices from fruits or vegetables can be bought in health food stores or ordered online. Such products then cost a fortune and promise literally miracles. But you can also make them at home from fresh fruit or vegetables. Drinking juices made from natural fruits or vegetables (if they are made from fresh, natural foods) undoubtedly has many beneficial effects on our health and can be a healthy part of your diet, especially if you drink juices made from vegetables.

However, if you replace all your food with just drinking juices, juices or smoothies, it can be detrimental to your health, and therefore this form of detox is really inappropriate. This is because this type of detox severely restricts protein and fat from the diet, leading to an unbalanced diet resulting in hunger, fatigue, weight loss - be careful including muscle, as the body has nowhere to take energy so it has to tap into its own stores. This practice can also have other adverse effects on your health such as hypoglycaemia (lack of glucose in the blood), confusion, reduced work productivity and excessive fatigue.

So, no, drinking vegetable or other juices in place of solid food is not an appropriate choice, even though it looks like it. If you feel like juicing fruits or vegetables, make your own homemade juice for a snack and supplement it with a dairy product or other source of protein. But definitely don't follow any juice diet for an extended period of time, as it has no positive effect on your health or weight loss.

A detoxifying cure for your liver

Another hit is the liver cleanse. The liver is an amazing organ that is one of the essential components of our own "detox" system. The goal of such a liver detox is to improve the function of the liver, and thus strengthen its natural detoxification function. While at first glance this seems like a great idea, because eating in a way that doesn't damage the liver is always a good idea, in reality you don't need any targeted detoxification or cleansing, you just need to eat healthy.

As already mentioned, the liver is a very well functioning organ in healthy individuals, which ensures the fight against toxins and harmful substances that one normally encounters. If you want your liver to function well, you can safely forget about any detoxifying treatment for it - you just need to respect the principles of healthy eating, not drinking too much alcohol, not smoking and not taking drugs. Yes, drug addicts and alcoholics are the only group that needs a liver detox; the rest of the population, assuming full health of this organ, does not need any liver cleansing procedure. Include plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables in your diet, sources of water-soluble fiber such as beans, nuts and seeds, and your liver will take care of the rest.

Detox by restricting certain foods

Another popular form of detoxification is restricting or omitting certain types or groups of foods to rid the body of toxins and improve overall health. Restricting or completely eliminating certain foods from your diet can be beneficial to your health in certain circumstances, but you have to approach it the right way. It is true that some people may experience a reduction in digestive problems after a detox or cleanse, for example when eliminating foods with gluten or dairy (this can help people with gluten or milk sugar allergies - lactose intolerance).

However, in the case of digestive difficulties, it is important to do the restriction strategically and rather than eliminating a large number of foods at once, try eliminating one food from your diet for a week and see if you feel better. This is called an elimination diet. If you feel better after a week, put the food back into your diet and watch for a week to see if symptoms of indigestion such as gas and bloating, diarrhoea, constipation, heartburn, etc. return. If so, remove the food from the diet permanently.

Detox programs of this type are often based on severely restricting a whole group of foods (such as fats) at once, which is not a good idea at all. For one thing, you'll have trouble sticking to such a diet long-term, because the body needs a variety of nutrients and a certain proportion of all macronutrients, but more importantly - there is no evidence to justify cutting out a whole group of foods that are supposedly harmful, unless we're talking about allergies, of course.

And the highlight at the end... gut detoxification.

Most methods used to detoxify the body are based on a change in diet to rid the body of toxins. However, there are also forms of more "drastic" bowel detoxification based on the use of laxatives or supplements or on bowel lavage (the so-called Hydrocolon therapy, sometimes abbreviated as bowel hydrotherapy, which is essentially an enema). The purpose of all these detoxification methods is to rid the colon of the accumulated undigested residues (and toxins) that don't pass away during normal bowel movements, thereby improving your health.

Bowel detoxes, whether with laxatives or lavage (various types of enemas or hydrocolon therapy) can be very dangerous and should only be performed under the supervision of a doctor. In addition, they are associated with a number of undesirable symptoms such as abdominal cramps, diarrhea or vomiting. The most serious side effects of bowel lavage include bacterial infection, rupture of the bowel and disturbance of acid-base and electrolyte balance, which can cause heart and kidney problems.

Therefore, it is best to avoid this bowel detoxification altogether, and if you want to remove accumulated waste from the intestines, eat a diet rich in soluble and insoluble fiber. These two types of fiber help to effectively rid the colon of any undigested residues that cause gas, constipation and painful bowel movements.

So how about this detox, is it helpful or not?

Detoxing the body may seem like a great idea - especially after reading some advertising for a product promising miracles when you buy and use it. However, in reality, detox is a completely useless affair. Our body is indeed a "magic machine", and if you have a healthy liver and kidneys, then we can congratulate you because you are detoxing 24 hours a day and you don't need any pills, juices or other miracle products to do it.

An organ called the liver, whose main function is to process toxic and harmful substances and convert them into harmless substances that our body can use or eliminate from the body without harming other organs. In other words, the liver does the biggest part of the job in the body in removing toxins and poisons, and actually the concentration of toxins and poisons is not as brutally high as you may read about in detox products.In fact, any food can be a poison if we can't regulate the amount of it. However, the substances that detox programs want to remove because they supposedly build up in the body, such as sweeteners and other additives in foods, are mostly compounds that are generally safe for humans in reasonable amounts. So as long as you don't poison your meat with insect poison, or drink gasoline at home in the evenings, then everything should be pretty good.

You're saying to yourself that detoxing must work if so many people are still doing it? It's true that detoxing the body can help with weight loss, at least at first. However, people often don't realize one very important detail. When you don't eat any food or take laxatives or various bowel washes while detoxifying your body, it's clear that you will lose weight. However, this "weight loss" is not permanent. Most of the time, it is just water loss due to not eating, so once you start eating, the chemical reactions necessary to provide enough energy for the body start again and you start retaining water again, so that your "dropped pounds" are nicely put back on.

But what about all those detox products like juices, teas and pills that promise miracles? Well, surely you have already understood that none of these products have any use for detoxifying the body. Do not believe everything that is written on the internet and do not take hasty steps. In fact, the only thing these things effectively detoxify is the contents of your wallet. So rather than investing in a product designed to detoxify, invest in a good quality healthy solid food, which is the real key to health.

What to take away from the article?

Detox cures are often very unpleasant, restrictive, and most importantly, completely unnecessary, sometimes even dangerous to your health. If you want to do something for your health, ditch some overpriced detox and cleanse cures and instead focus on a healthy lifestyle and invest in quality foods. Every healthy person has a very well-functioning self-detox system, and therefore does not need any miracle products, juice-based diets, or severe food restriction. Thus, if you want to ensure that everything works as it should without unnecessary detox programs, stick to the following rules:

• Drink plenty of clean water
• Eat a diet rich in soluble and insoluble fiber
• Keep added sugar intake to a minimum
• Include plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables in your diet, this will help improve digestion
• Avoid industrially processed foods
• Take time to rest and relax
• Make sure you get plenty of exercise
• Limit your alcohol intake and smoking

Sources:
https://www.mdedge.com/sites/default/files/Document/September-2017/6008JFP_Article1.pdf
https://nccih.nih.gov/health/detoxes-cleanses
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25522674