Detox Diets: What You Need to Know

Detox diets have been around for years but have seen a surge in popularity recently in part due to celebrity promotion. Beyonce’ reportedly used a detox diet to prepare for the movie Dreamgirls. It’s the cool and hip thing to do. Classy spas and retreats invite you to spend thousands of dollars to travel to an exotic locale to detox. But are you really just starving yourself and making frequent unpleasant trips to the bathroom? The idea behind detox or cleansing diets is that your body gets polluted and is not performing at its best. After all, you’re eating all types of less-than-healthy food and you need to clean your body of those burgers, fries and Philly cheese steaks, right? In other words, food supposedly contains various harmful substances which accumulate in the body along with toxins from pollution and pesticides, even sugar and alcohol causing a variety of health issues including headaches, fatigue and even some diseases. Followers of detox diets tout results which include feeling better, more energy, better digestion, and weight loss.

Here’s what you need to know about detox diets. It’s not going to be hip or sexy and is probably going to make you mad, particularly if you truly believe in them. Sometimes the effect of believing in something is far more powerful in your mind than the true effect of whatever it is, in this case the detox diet. Most medical experts say that detox diets are based on junk science instead of the science of how the human body actually works and are ineffective at best and dangerous at worst. Why? Detox diets are not designed from evidence-based research so the claims for better health cannot be substantiated. But medicine can provide you with a laundry list of reasons you probably want to think about it before following one.

Most detox diets follow the basic premise that you change the way you eat and eliminate food groups such as meat, dairy, some grains and usually sugar and caffeine all of which supposedly contain “toxins”. A detox diet typically begins with a fast followed by a very strict and limited diet of fruit juice and fruit and some vegetables along with water. Some diets also include the use of herbal laxatives and enemas also known as colon cleansers along with colonic irrigation. These enemas are supposed to clean out the intestine and liver. The average length of a detox diet is 7-10 days, some shorter and some much longer.

The reason that detox diets are all hype is that you have your own personal built in detox-system that is very sophisticated and yet versatile. Most toxins which are ingested are effectively removed from the body by the liver, kidneys, lungs and the gastrointestinal tract. These toxins are excreted in bowel movements or thru urine within hours of consuming them. In the case of heavy metal poisoning or exposure to radioactivity, medical attention may be needed but not with exposure to eating food, even if you consider it crappy. I can hear you saying…‘but you hear so much about everyone feeling better or losing weight or having energy.’ One of the main reasons that many people report feeling better and supposedly ‘cleaner’ is that they are typically switching from a diet high in sugar, caffeine, refined foods and unhealthy fat to a healthier one. It’s not the detox diet, it’s the detox to a better diet which follows and the positive changes that eating healthy can have on your body.

What else should you know? Besides multiple unpleasant trips to the bathroom, the use of laxatives can cause severe dehydration upsetting the balance of sodium and potassium in the body with the potential for colon and heart damage. Colonic irrigation can result in bowel infection even perforation or a hole, both which can end in death.

Fasting for many people gives them a major headache. Prolonged fasting which means no calories or severe caloric restriction leads to not only headaches but irritability, low blood sugar, irregular heartbeat, anemia, and muscle wasting which is the loss of muscle mass or protein from the body. Think about this. These symptoms happen to the body when you detox and fast. They do not include increased energy and better health.

And why we’re looking at detox diets, guess why these diets don’t work for real weight loss? Remember that fasting leads to a loss of protein and muscle mass from your body. Muscle mass is the metabolically active tissue. Ladies, this active tissue is what burns calories and helps keep your weight down. Muscle mass is the calorie burning machine. It’s the packman for calories…it burns them up. Why would you want to give up any of your muscle mass?

And instead of bolstering your immune system, detox diets actually weaken the body’s ability to fight infection and inflammation. Anti-inflammation diets have become very popular since inflammation is now tied to a number of illnesses from arthritis and immune health to heart disease. A detox diet is the opposite of an anti-inflammatory diet. It’s pro-inflammation. As you flush out so called toxins, you may also flush out the good bacteria  (probiotics) that keep the intestines healthy. One of the reasons that probiotics have becomes so popular in yogurt drinks and yogurt is the benefit to the digestive tract. Detox and you may destroy these good healthy bacteria. You’re potentially breaking down your body instead of building better health.

There are certain groups of people who should never follow a detox diet including children and teenagers, pregnant or breastfeeding women, or those with diabetes, heart disease or other chronic diseases. Why? Because of the risk for intestinal and cardiac problems stemming from going without food or is too great.

There’s a grain of truth in detox diets and that is that most people do not eat near enough fruits and vegetables nor drink enough water which are part of this diet regimen. But that’s it. If you want a healthy body, strong immune system, lots of energy and focus, try a diet that is built around vegetables and fruit but also includes whole grains, lean protein sources, and healthy unsaturated fat. Your body’s personal detox system will take care of the rest. It’s not sexy or hip but it’s healthy and truly good for you.

Dr. Susan

Dr. Mitchell is co-author of Fat is Not Your Fate, Eat to Stay Young and I’d Kill for a Cookie.

Listen to her weekly Internet Show on AM580 WDBO http://580wdbo.com/healthcenter/

Visit her websites: http://www.susanmitchell.org and http://www.fatisnotyourfate.com