2024-04-30 14:22:47
Detox diets have become very popular. These diets claim to cleanse the blood and remove harmful toxins from the body. Are they really beneficial and effective?
Detox diets are generally short-term nutritional interventions designed to remove toxins from the body, according to the Healthline website. A typical detox diet includes a period of fasting, followed by a strict diet consisting of fruits, vegetables, fruit juices and water.
Sometimes detoxification also includes herbs, teas, nutritional supplements, colon cleansing or enemas.
Supporters of this diet claim that it contributes to “resting the body’s organs, stimulating the liver to eliminate toxins, promoting the elimination of toxins through feces, urine, and sweat, improving blood circulation, and providing the body with healthy nutrients.”
Detox treatments are usually recommended due to potential exposure to toxic chemicals in the environment or in your diet. These include pollutants, synthetic chemicals, heavy metals and other harmful compounds.
However, there is no human research on detox diets, and the few available studies are severely flawed, according to Healthline.
There are many ways to do a detox diet, from completely fasting to making simpler food modifications.
What toxins are eliminated? These diets rarely specify the toxins they aim to remove.
In fact, there is little evidence that detox diets remove any toxins from the body.
The body is able to cleanse itself through the liver, feces, urine, and sweat, and the liver makes toxic substances harmless, then ensures that they are released outside the human body, according to the site.
However, there are a few chemicals that may not be easily removed through these physical processes, including persistent organic pollutants (POPs), phthalates, bisphenol A (BPA), and heavy metals.
These tend to accumulate in fatty tissue or blood and can take a very long time, up to years, for the body to get rid of them.
However, these compounds are generally removed from commercial products or their use is restricted today.
Overall, the site says there’s little evidence that detox diets help get rid of any of these compounds.
How effective are these diets?
Some people report feeling more focused and energetic during and after a detox diet.
However, this improvement in health may simply result from eliminating processed foods, alcohol, and other unhealthy substances from your diet, according to Healthline.
However, many people also report feeling extremely unwell during the detox.
Weight loss? The website notes that very few scientific studies have examined how detox diets affect weight loss.
While some people may lose a lot of weight quickly, this effect appears to be due to loss of fluid and carbohydrate stores rather than fat. This weight is usually regained quickly once the cleanse is over.
If a detox diet includes severe calorie restriction, it usually results in weight loss and improved metabolic health.
But this is unlikely to help maintain weight in the long term, according to the same site.
Research shows that detox diets can lead to increased stress and binge eating.
side effects? Possible side effects of the detox diet include “severe calorie restriction.”
“Short-term fasting and limited calorie intake can lead to fatigue, irritability, and bad breath.”
Long-term fasting can lead to a lack of energy, vitamins and minerals, and an imbalance of electrolytes in the body, which are “substances that have the ability to generate a small electrical charge when dissolved in water.” “The human body needs electrolytes to survive,” and this may also lead to death.
Colon cleansing methods, which are sometimes recommended during a detox, can cause dehydration, cramping, bloating, nausea and vomiting, according to the site.
overdose?
Some detox diets may pose the risk of overdosing on supplements, laxatives, diuretics, and even water. In the worst cases, detox product ingredient labels may be inaccurate, and this can increase the risk of overdose, which could lead to serious and even fatal effects, according to Healthline.
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2024-04-30 14:22:47