Scam called "DETOX"

Any diet promising a quick fix is always too good to be true. Good health takes time and dedication. Yet, more and more often, we see fad diets and marketers with miracle advertising. One of these is a cleanse or "detox" diet to cleanse our bodies.

What exactly does cleanse mean?

We'd be hard pressed to find a specific definition. We can assume that cleanse means to remove harmful substances from the body, through a combination of calorie restriction and the intake of only liquid diet food. Many detox diets are said to cleanse specific parts of the body, whether it be the liver, the colon, or the almighty whole body detox.

Cleansing diets often involve severe food restrictions, usually allowing only fruit and vegetable juices or other beverages. While there are small fashion differences in detox diets, it's not worth breaking them down in detail because a new one will be around the corner claiming to be more effective than the others.

Simply put, detox and cleansing depend on the premise that the human body accumulates "toxins" as a result of exposure to pesticides, pollutants, food additives, or simply from not flushing out metabolic waste enough. Just...

Need to cleanse your body?

It's important to understand that the human body is remarkably resilient. The liver, kidneys, lungs, and several other organs work around the clock to remove harmful substances and excrete metabolic wastes. They need no help from detox diets and other nonsense. In addition, there is evidence that commercial detox diets are not based on facts. A 2009 investigation found that there is not a single company that can name the toxins targeted by diets based on their processing or even provide proof that their products work.

To scientifically determine the effectiveness of a treatment, toxins must first be identified and then measured for their accumulation in the body. Then researchers can examine the effects of drugs or supplements on the toxins. Finally, researchers begin to investigate the hypothesis of why the toxin is affected by a particular drug or supplement. But this never happens.

However, this does not mean that the human body does not accumulate low levels of toxic substances such as heavy metals or certain fat-soluble substances. The problem is that detox diets have no demonstrable effect on the removal or excretion of these toxic substances.

How to explain some of the benefits of detoxification?

A cleanse involves calorie restriction and temporary weight loss is often the result. This is due to the loss of glycogen from the liver and muscles, not fat burning. Under calorie restriction, the body's glycogen stores drop within 24-48 hours, resulting in weight loss of several pounds (both from the glycogen burned and from the water loss associated with it). Once we start eating regularly again, the glycogen and water will come back and so will the kilos. However, this temporary weight loss leads many people to believe that the cleanse had some positive health effects.

Conclusion

Instead of a New Year's detox of your body, focus on long-term health habits such as eating nutritious and healthy food every day. Leafy greens, plenty of protein, and vitamin-rich foods will be a real benefit to your body all year round.