By Dayne Hudson
It seems you can't go anywhere on the internet without stumbling across some sort of ad for a detox.
Celebrities endorse it, all the girls with great bodies endorse it, so it must be good, right?!
So let's have a look at the evidence to see if it's actually worth your time and money.
WHAT IS A DETOX?
A detox is aimed at getting rid of toxins from your body.
As you'll learn, this is something that is actually possible without spending any money on detox products.
IS IT JUST ANOTHER CELEBRITY PROMOTED FAD?
A critical review of all the evidence connected to detox diets, concluded that there was no compelling evidence to support them when it comes to weight management or getting rid of toxins (1).
Researchers reviewed eight of the most popular detox diets; the long and short programs recommending fasting, supplements, food modification, and laxatives.
One of the researchers, Professor Hosen Kiat said: “Our biggest challenge was that commercial detox diets rarely identify the specific toxins they aim to remove, or the mechanisms by which they eliminate them, making it difficult to investigate their claims."
“To the best of our knowledge, no rigorous clinical investigations of detox diets have been conducted. The handful of studies that have been published suffer from significant methodological limitations including small sample sizes, sampling bias, lack of control groups, reliance on self-report and qualitative rather than quantitative measurements.”
So essentially, claims with no substance are made; no toxins that will be eliminated are even mentioned.
They're not banking on you asking any questions or asking what these toxins are.
Furthermore, one of the diets was found to not meet daily protein requirements; very important as you know for fat loss, health, and muscle growth.
“The detox industry founds itself on the notion that chemicals can be neatly divided into ‘good’ and ‘bad’ categories. In reality it is the ‘dose that makes the poison’,” Professor Kiat said.
For example, even water, the liquid of life can be poisonous in the right dosage (2).
So it makes the claims surrounding detox quite lacklustre.
Furthermore impurities are removed from your blood via the liver; the body's main detoxifying operator, whilst the lungs, skin, kidneys and intestines do the job nicely too (3).
IS IT A SCAM?
It certainly doesn't look good.
Now of course, eating fruit regularly and consuming vegetables should be part of your diet, which is what some of the detox programs give you in a juice form.
But you don't need a detox program for the benefits that arise from these foods if you're getting the nutrients via a good diet.
Essentially, I'm not convinced thata detox program is worth it; there's not enough scientific data to justify spending the money!
My advice currently is to eat a solid diet consisting of high protein, enough fibre, whilst focusing on a solid micronutriet intake - and save your money on the detox programs and put it towards the diet recommendations!
At this stage, the detox craze isn't worth the hype.
"Stay Fit, Stay Flexed!"
REFERENCES
(1) Klein A.V. & Kiat H. (2014) Detox diets for toxin elimination and weight magagement: a critical review of the evidence. J Hum Nutr Diet. doi: 10.1111/jhn.12286.
(2) Noakes TD, Speedy DB (July 2006). "Case Proven: exercise associatioed hyponatraemia is due to overdrinking. So why did it take 20 years before the original evidence was accepted? British Journal of Sports Medicine 40 (7): 567–72.
(3) The Dubious Practice of Detox. Harvard Health Publications.
