What are Detox Diets and Cleanses and Does Anyone Need Them?

[AussieNeil]

"In 2009, a group of early career scientists called The Voices of Young Science, created "The Detox Dossier." They went to the manufacturers of 15 representative detox products and asked what toxin their product targeted and what evidence they had to support that claim. They came to the following conclusion:

"No one we contacted was able to provide any evidence for their claims or give a comprehensive definition of what they meant by 'detox'. We concluded that 'detox' as used in product marketing is a myth. Many of the claims about how the body works were wrong and some were even dangerous."

Weight loss is often a secondary goal of detoxes or cleanses. All use a restrictive diet, often in conjunction with a variety of supplements (including herbs, vitamins, seasonings, and so on). For example, The Master Cleanse, also called the Lemonade Diet, is a liquid-only diet consisting of water, lemon juice, maple syrup, and cayenne pepper taken for 10 days. It is essentially a starvation diet. Unfortunately, most of the weight loss in a detox diet is water, and the weight returns just as quickly as it left as soon as a normal diet is resumed.

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"But the science behind the detox theory is deeply flawed," says Peter Pressman, MD, an internal medicine specialist at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. "The body already has multiple systems in place -- including the liver, kidneys, and gastrointestinal tract -- that do a perfectly good job of eliminating toxins from the body within hours of consumption."

Detox dieters often report a variety of benefits, but most of these improvements may be due to changes in the diet unrelated to any change in "toxin levels." For instance, a decrease in headaches could be related to elimination of caffeine or alcohol in the diet. Decreased bloating just from eating less. Clearer skin may be related to better hydration."

Full article from Medpage Today: medpagetoday.com/blogs/cele...

Neil

Photo: Oleander flower. From Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nerium "Oleander is one of the most poisonous commonly grown garden plants" and "toxic in all its parts". Naturally!

[Name-1]

Wonderful picture!

[Stretch1]

Thanks for the article - though not surprising - the other area of concern are alkaline diets - which are thankfully useless as the healthy body will maintain its proper pH no matter what you feed it -

There used to be oleander bushes growing along many of the major freeways in California. They were very draught resistant and had beautiful blooms no matter how little water they received - they’re pretty much gone but I’m not sure why -

[Cllcanada Top Poster CURE Hero]

A light look at Wellness and detox

medium.com/@gidmk/wellness-...