Does spring time mean detox time?

Spring seems to bring out the urge to detox. The detox diets have been around for years, continually reinventing themselves. The lemon detox diet recently used by Beyonce resparked the interest in detox diets. They promote themselves as a means of getting rid of impurities and achieving fast weight loss. Sounds like the perfect answer, but are they?

Getting rid of toxins and impurities.

Our own body is the perfect tool for removing unwanted toxins. Our liver removes drugs and alcohol, kidneys excrete waste as urine, our intestines breakdown and excrete waste, lungs filter and remove particles and gas waste, our immune system is designed to destroy toxins and pathogens, and our skin perspires, excreting toxins. We are quite simply, brilliant at removing waste and unwanted toxins. If you think for some reason that your body is not performing these tasks correctly then see your doctor, avoid self diagnosis and treatment with a box bought over the counter. There is no scientific evidence to support that detox diets work.

Weight loss

The detox diets promote weight loss. And yes this does happen. It occurs due to extreme limitation in calorie intake. Some detox diets prevent you from eating solid foods; others severely limit the types of foods you can consume. All limit the calories you take in. When you do not supply your body with sufficient calories and carbohydrates, the body gets the required energy by breaking down the protein stores in our muscles. This energy form is stored with water, so the rapid weight loss occurs due to break down of precious protein and fluid loss. It is not targeting the fat stores that we are wishing to lose.

This rapid weight loss also has the negative effect of teaching our body that there could be future starvation periods. It slows the metabolism, creates rebound weight gain and makes any future weight loss attempts significantly harder. Further the huge fluid loss upsets our fluid and electrolyte balance leading to headaches, dehydration, gastro upsets, exhaustion, bad breath, fatigue and irritability – enter stage left, the personality from hell!

Limiting the nutrients

By carefully following the instructions on the box you are severely limiting the nutrients that you are eating, you are starving your body of essential nutrients.

So is there any good in a detox diet?

Rather than buying the detox in a box – create your own. A detox is a good way to get you thinking about healthy eating. But make it the start of a new healthy eating regime, and one that you can maintain rather than just a quick 1-2 week process. Use it as a way to start introducing eating more fruits and veges (getting that 5+ a day), reducing your alcohol intake, eating more whole grains and unprocessed foods, cutting down on salts and added sugars and drinking more water. These are all the things you know, simple but effective. Unfortunately there is no magic bullet in weight loss and flushing toxins, so put the box down and start with making a few healthy choices instead.