When it comes to being healthy, every generation has seen fads concerning the "best" way to achieve a stronger, faster, leaner body. From machines that roll and jiggle the excess girth on our frames to the newest fat-blasting pill, human beings always look to current trends in the health industry to improve their quality of life. With each shiny new fad comes a series of shiny new buzz-words that advertisers use to prove that their product will get the job done right. In the early 20th century, it was words like "tonic" and "nerve strength." The '50's brought us "brain food" and "burning calories" and in the '90's it was all about "cardio." Today, the magic word is "Detox."

 

 

 

The gist of this particular bandwagon is that inside your body, at any given time, there are dozens, hundreds, even thousands of substances that negatively affect your health, called "toxins." Everything from partially hydrogenated oils to heavy metals wreak havoc on your vascular, endocrine, and nervous systems on a daily basis, making it impossible for you to lose body fat, build muscle, and perform at optimal levels in day-to-day life. The only recourse you have in combating these foreign invaders is to "detox," which means going on a Spartan diet comprised of only a few types of foods or even no solid food at all, instead consuming only liquids in an effort to clear out the garbage.

 

Now, to be fair, this trend is not entirely wrong. The old saying that 'you are what you eat' still holds true and we certainly consume a great deal of junk-food that doesn't help us to look and feel our best. The problem is that many people accept the basic facts along with a host of half-truths and whole-lies; people who wind up taking on any detox program that promises positive results. And, just as there were in decades past, there are more than a few in the health and fitness industry who will gladly make those promises if the price is right, whether they're true or not.

 

While not attacking the validity of any detox program in particular, this article will examine the dogma and expose the drivel so that you can make a more informed decision as to whether you should take on a detox program at all (As with anything you do for your health, always check with your doctor first). To get closer to the truth, we have to examine several of the major detox claims and shine a light on which parts are more fiction than fact.

 

 

 

This is true, but misleading. Part of the ambiguity comes from people giving examples of toxins without defining what a toxin actually is. For simplicity's sake, we'll define a toxin as anything that is toxic (i.e. detrimental) to basic human health - meaning it inhibits the basic functions a body needs to survive and thrive. With that said, we all have things in our bodies that are doing us some degree of harm.

 

The trouble is, while some things are always toxic to the body (heavy metals, radioactive isotopes, heterocyclic amines [HCAs], etc.), there are plenty of substances that are typically beneficial to us but become toxic when taken in too high a quantity. From vitamin C to the iron in our blood, the nutrients we need to stay alive can be harmful and potentially deadly if we have too much in our systems for too long - even oxygen and water can be hazardous at high enough levels.

 

Luckily, most substances don't hang around long enough to become dangerous, which brings us to the next claim.

 

 

 

This one is only partially true. In fact, your body has a number of built-in detoxification systems, including your liver, colon, kidneys, and sweat glands. Many detox proponents say that the problem is not that the toxins can't be expelled from the body, but rather that there are so many toxins that the body can't keep up with the influx, which causes a build up.

 

While such build ups may happen, there are plenty of ways to eliminate the waste without having to starve yourself. This is an important piece of information because of the way different substances interact with one another in the body. The intake of some nutrients can diminish others. Coffee cleans out the liver (as do most bitters) but also removes calcium. We eliminate some waste materials (like those built up through excessive alcohol consumption) through our sweat glands, but sweating removes sodium and potassium as well.

 

Speaking of alcohol, reasonable amounts of wine, beer and even liquor have actually been shown to be healthy, giving us resveratol, ribo-flavonoids and flavones respectively, not to mention that they can act as a mild blood thinner to prevent stroke. The downside is that drinking too much alcohol can offset blood glucose levels, leading to lethargy and fat production, and deplete your body of vitamin B12 which is vital to a properly functioning nervous system.

 

This raises an important question: if a detox program rids the body of all excess waste, how do you know it doesn't purge the body of what it needs as well? So we come to the final claim.

 

 

 

Here's where we get into truly nebulous territory. Because some regimens involve things like a liquid diet for over a week, there's no way to tell if what you're getting rid of is only what's bad for you. While most people won't starve to death from not eating for a week, many people can wind up being deficient in a number of vital nutrients if they're not replenishing the good while flushing out the bad.

 

Some people argue that they know it's only bad things leaving their body because their waste looks oddly different and disgusting (not that it ever looked particularly appealing in the first place). This, however, is an emotional argument rather than a rational one. If anyone has ever taken too much vitamin B12, they know that the typical result is incredibly bright neon yellow urine the next morning. This, however, does not mean that B12 is bad for you because of how it looks on the way out.

 

In answer to this, some say that it's "re-calibrating your body" or "setting you back to zero" or even "balancing everything out." But this is not only hard to qualify (especially if you already had a deficiency), it's also too vague a statement to be true when considering everything that affects proper mental and physical health. Balance requires the proper addition of nutrients as well the subtraction of waste and this is especially important where your diet is concerned.

 

 

 

Now that we've addressed the main talking points, let's look at how and why people rationalize the decision to detox anyway. Many say that they want to detox as a way to jump-start a new healthy eating lifestyle, and that's a perfectly good intention. Strangely though, after going through a period of extreme deprivation, they often don't actually get around to the eating healthy part. Many folks go right back to whatever eating and exercise habits they started with.

 

This occurs because people often treat a detox program like a magic bullet of good health without examining (and slowly changing) their lifestyle habits to ensure long-term results. And thanks to a phenomenon called homeostasis, each time you try to make massive changes to a bunch of things all at once, you're body immediately goes into withdrawal until you snap back to what was "normal."

 

"BUT WAIT!" Someone exclaims. "I know someone who felt fantastic after doing [insert popular program]! It must work!"

 

The veracity of anecdotal evidence aside, it would be wise to look at how they were living to begin with. Was this a body-building health nut who already eats well and used the system almost like a short-term fast? Did this person already have healthy eating and exercise habits strongly ingrained so that once the detox was over, they were putting good things back into their body on a regular and consistent basis? Again, it's not simply about what you stop eating; it's about what you start eating to replace your former food choices.

 

 

Simply put, yes. Rather than cut everything out, you can begin replacing parts of your diet one-at-a-time. If you already have a healthy diet that suits your lifestyle, consider adding foods that are high in pectin to help clear things out once in a while. Pectin, the fibrous material found in the skins of fruits like apples, pears and cherries, has been shown to gently but effectively scrape the lining of the digestive system without any harmful effects.

 

Another alternative is plant foods that have a gelatin-like consistency. The inner flesh of an aloe leaf works incredibly well. Also, chia seeds, when exposed to water, create their own gelatin and will expand in the stomach to clear out anything that you don't want hanging around, all without having to forego a recovery meal.

 

 

If you still want to try a particular detox program, first consider several things:

 

1. Do you have any deficiencies that you should assess beforehand? A simple blood test can reveal what's lacking in your diet that may be a simpler answer to your problems.

 

2. Do you have a series of good eating habits to replace the previous ones? Remember: small changes over time produce longer lasting results.

 

3. Will it strengthen your will-power, or drain it? Short-term fasting can be a good exercise in discipline and will-power, but both are finite and prolonged deprivation typically leads to a yo-yo effect.

 

4. Can you do the program without drastically reducing nutrient intake? You could cut out only one type of food or include a type of food each day. Always consider ways to supplement your diet along the way.

 

5. How long does this program last? And at what point does not taking in the necessary nutrients for your body become unhealthy?

 

If you keep these things in mind, you should be able to navigate through all the rhetoric that comes your way. Remember that nothing is ever perfect from the start but once you've separated the wheat from the chaff, you'll be well on your way to the combination of healthy do's and don't's that works best for you.