Many of us have been a victim of trying a detox or cleanse with promises of weight loss. Then, immediately after completing the horrible cleanse you end up gaining all your weight back plus a bit more.
The one thing that most people won’t tell you is most detoxes and cleanses are dangerous to your health. Many doctors and dietitians warn people not to try them, but for some reason, the marketers behind them are extraordinarily exceptional selling you that this is the missing piece to all your problems.
The idea behind detoxes and cleanses is to remove certain foods, eat a specific food or supplement, to help eliminate toxins that build up in our bodies and ultimately lose weight.
Despite the fact that many of these detoxes have no scientific backing should be a huge red flag to most but so many of us are desperate to lose weight, and again marketers know they can manipulate people’s emotions to sell.
A concern is the central promise of detox diets and cleanses. Apparently, these marketers think our bodies are not capable of naturally detoxing on our own.
Our bodies are designed to be able to clear waste materials such as toxins, chemicals and old hormones to prevent an accumulation of potentially toxic and harmful byproducts building up in our systems. We have a natural detox system which is made up of our liver, kidneys, gastrointestinal tract, and lungs. These organs can remove any harmful substances that should not be in our bodies. Generally speaking, our bodies are in a constant state of detoxing and cleansing, which means, detoxes and cleanses can actually do more harm than good.
If you focus on a diet full of fiber-rich vegetables, lean protein, and fresh whole foods, limit the amount of junk food, alcohol, eliminate drugs, and cigarettes, then there is no need to go on a detox to help get rid of toxins in the body.
There is no scientific research that indicates detox diets and cleanses work. The idea that we need to follow a specific diet to help our body eliminate toxins is not supported by any nutritional science.
Detox and cleanse diets are very restrictive which causes the initial weight loss. Usually, the diet consists of restricting calories, certain foods, eliminating sodium, etc. which are all factors to manipulate water weight. With the combination of low calories, your muscle mass ends up withering away which gives you another false sense of weight loss success.
The next part is the worst. You finish the detox or cleanse and go back to your regular eating, and after a couple of weeks, you notice your weight creeping back up. Your body is designed for survival; the fact that you took it into a zone of starvation your body’s next steps are to ensure that never happens again. With the influx of calories, your body will now replace your muscle mass you lost during the detox with more fat.
When you take the time to evaluate the pros and cons of a detox there really isn’t any benefit. Other than the immediate gratification of a number of the scale going down, then ultimately coming back again, it’s not worth the time and mental agony to go through it.
Weight loss takes time, patience and consistency. There are no shortcuts or “hacks” to make it easier.
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