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New year, new you. Right? With your innards still recovering from Christmas, the lure of adverts for detox plans in your inbox and on your Instagram feed might be too hard to ignore. But ignore them you should. From fasting to adding supplements to your food, these dodgy detoxes promise to rid your body of toxins. And the alcohol and rich food you’ve gorged on for weeks are, apparently, full of them.
The good news? The human body has a built-in system to eliminate toxins; the liver and kidneys naturally filter them from the blood and excrete them. “Detox is a myth,” says Steven Novella, a clinical neurologist at Yale University’s school of medicine. “Your liver and kidneys, if they are healthy, will detox fine. That’s what they are for.”
There is no legitimate detox treatment aside from the biological one, he continues – describing the detox methods sold online as “pseudoscientific” and made “snake oil”. To help you out, here’s a round-up of the most common detox methods on offer – and the science behind what they actually do to your body (if anything).
Fasting
If done safely and with medical guidance, intermittent fasting has a number of benefits such as weight loss – if necessary – and improved blood sugar control. But there is little to no scientific evidence that it can help detox the body.
What evidence does show, however, is that some diets that significantly limit calorie intake have the potential to be dangerous. The Master Cleanse diet, for instance, made famous by Beyonce who used it to lose weight for her role in Dreamgirls, is a liquid-only diet that should be followed for about ten days. It is based on a “Master Cleanse lemonade”, made of lemon juice, cayenne pepper, maple syrup and water. The diet? Replace all food and drink with the lemonade.
Rachael Link, a registered dietician based in New York, explains that crash diets like the Master Cleanse can be extremely unhealthy. “Not only can they slow your metabolism and make it even harder to lose weight,” she says, “but they often lead to weight regain once a normal diet is resumed.”
Herbal remedies
One of the complements often sold as a way to help your liver detox is a herb called milk thistle. It contains silybin, a chemical believed to improve liver function – and therefore, to boost the elimination of toxins.
This commonly held view comes from studies which have shown that silybin was a potentially promising component to develop therapies against liver disorders and cancer. “It may improve liver health in those with liver diseases, but it has not been well-studied for its effects on healthy individuals looking to simply improve their health,” says Link.
The success of remedies like milk thistle is based on anecdotal reports and insufficient evidence, she explains. And this belief can have grave consequences: in January 2017, a woman who detoxed on fluids and herbal remedies was admitted to hospital with a life-threatening illness.
Although doctors weren’t able to assess the exact cause of her condition, they suspected it was linked to valerian root contained in one of the remedies she was taking. “Anything you ingest is potentially risky, especially as the companies that make such dubious products are generally poorly regulated,” says Novella.
Ionic Foot Baths
In spas across the country, you may have seen this treatment on offer – or you could have noticed it being advertised as a DIY kit. Ionic foot baths claim to detox the body through the feet, by dragging the negatively charged toxins in your body to a positively charged ionised footbath. The water in the bath typically changes colour, which has been held by manufacturers as a proof of the treatment’s efficiency.
In reality, the water changes colour for a number of reasons that are not linked to the release of toxins – impurities in the ionised water may cause the magical transformation, for example. A study conducted on six healthy volunteers based on urine samples showed that ionic foot baths did not induce the release of any toxic element through the feet. You may as well stand with your feet in your own bath – at least that treatment is free.
Detox water
Cucumber, lemon, mint: you name it. Infusing water with fruit and vegetables, to get the flavour without the calories, is the latest trend on the detox scene. If you are not convinced, a quick scroll down Instagram should change your mind. Not the least since Kourtney Kardashian shared her very own “special detox water” last year, claiming that her cucumber, lemon and ginger-infused pitchers were sure to help “detox your body”.
Except they don’t. At all. Increasing water consumption comes, of course, with health benefits such as increasing metabolism. But adding flavour, while certainly making the beverage taste better, does little to assist your liver and kidneys. “You shouldn’t expect ‘detox water’ to instantly improve your health,” says Link. “It often does little more than flush out extra water to aid in temporary weight loss.”
And when it comes to water consumption, care should also be taken to not take it to the extreme. Hyponatremia is a severe medical condition that happens when the levels of sodium in the blood are too low, and which can occur if you drink more than one litre of water per hour.
Coffee enema
One of the most popular detox methods, advertised by Gwyneth Paltrow in her beauty and wellness detox guide and sold for $135 (£107), is a coffee enema. It has been claimed to remove toxins, and just as widely condemned by the scientific community as an ineffective and even harmful method.
“Coffee enemas are potentially dangerous,” says Novella. “They have caused perforations in rare cases.” Link describes similar consequences, such as anal tearing, bacterial infections and weakened bowel muscle from repeated use. And if that is not enough to put you off, keep in mind that some cases have even resulted in patient death.
So how can you detox?
Don’t. If your body is healthy, it will do the job itself. “Detox itself is a myth,” says Novella. Stay healthy by following basic rules such as avoiding overeating and over drinking, getting enough sleep and keeping hydrated. And when that is near-impossible, such as during the holiday season, Link recommends to get “back into the swing of things” by resuming a normal diet and an active lifestyle.
“Many detoxes leave you feeling drained and sluggish,” she says. “Following a healthy diet is the most effective way to supply your body with the nutrients it needs to detox all on its own.” You can ditch that liquid lunch, then – a full plate of vegetables, grains and healthy fats will do wonders.
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
