If there’s something that keeps coming up over and over again in the daily feedback I receive from visitors, it’s this whole “detox” thing. And it’s not surprising really, since detox diets and detoxing are a pretty popular fad. You can find detox diet books on Amazon, and pills on the Internet and in your local health food store. Everywhere you look, everyone — including several high profile Hollywood celebrities — is “detoxing” or doing a “cleanse” or some such thing to “rid their body of toxins.”

But is there really anything to this whole fad?

Having just finished reviewing a product that contained a detox element, and due to the sheer volume of e-mails pertaining to this subject, I figured it was high time I compiled all the relevant information into a blog post for easy access.

So here we go.

Depending on which detox product you’re investigating, the claims justifying its usage may vary…

  1. Toxins and environmental poisons are keeping you both ill and fat.
  2. People who don’t experience regular bowel movements risk illness, obesity and a whole string of maladies as the “trapped waste rots inside.” (This is based on the popular misconception that regular, daily bowel movements are an indicator of perfect health. Fact is, bowel movements are a very individual thing — it’s perfectly healthy to have one every other day or even every couple of days).
  3. Regular “detoxes”, including fasting and occasionally some rather bizarre eating habits can help your body function more efficiently.
  4. Your body is being overrun by a nasty array of creepy-crawlies that are keeping you fat and unhealthy (this outrageous and unsubstantiated claim is addressed by Elissa in this blog post).

Considering how dire the situation appears, you’d think medical professionals would be encouraging detoxing as both a general health solution and an option for losing weight (if detoxing is really so effective in this regard). And are they? Hardly. Check some of these quotations from this Sense About Science Detox Press Release…

“The body’s own detoxification systems are remarkably sophisticated and versatile. They have to be, as the natural environment that we evolved in is hostile. It is remarkable that people are prepared to risk seriously disrupting these systems with unproven ‘detox’ diets, which could well do more harm than good.” (Professor Alan Boobis OBE, Toxicologist, Division of Medicine, Imperial College London).

“The only thing that loses weight on a detox diet is your wallet.”
(Dr John Hoskins, Environmental Toxicologist, Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry)

“The concept of ‘detox’ is a marketing myth rather than a physiological entity. The idea that an avalanche of vitamins, minerals, and laxatives taken over a 2 to 7 day period can have a long-lasting benefit for the body is also a marketing myth.” (DR Catherine Collins, Chief Dietician, St George’s Hospital Medical School, London)

“‘Detox’ is a meaningless term that is used all the time. And because it hasn’t been defined, it’s impossible to say if it’s worked or if it hasn’t.” (Ursula Arens, Registered Dietician, British Dietetic Association)

“Detox diets and products may not do harm, except, perhaps, to your wallet, but neither do they do you much good. Your natural bodily functions are effective at clearing out harmful substances and there is little you can do to enhance these. Patience and a proper diet are more valuable than detox products and supplements.” (DR Paul Illing, Chartered Scientist, Registered Toxicologist and Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry)

“The detox fad – or fads, as there are many methods – is an example of the capacity of people to believe in (and pay for) magic despite the lack of any sound evidence. This is a trend that should worry us all.” (Professor Martin Wiseman, Visiting Professor of Human Nutrition, University of Southampton).

Also of interest is this video of a study performed by the BBC,where the effectiveness of various popular “detox” diets were tested on the liver and kidney function of a group of healthy young women. The results? Nien. Nyet. Nada. Nothing.

In fact, there isn’t a single piece of real scientific evidence validating any of the detox claims, or even the detox diets (Dr. Ed Zimney, M.D., calls one popular diet, “the Master Cleanse Diet” a “Master Scam”).

Sure, if you eat too much tuna, there’s little doubt you could end up suffering from mercury toxicity. But as Dr. Zimney says in his review of The Master Cleanse Diet…

“And if you think the Master Cleanse or any other cleansing procedure is going to remove mercury from your body, you are 100 percent wrong.”

So there’s no evidence of any sort — anywhere — that “detoxes,” “cleanses”, or detox diets do anything useful.

In my opinion, the retailers of detox products are using scare tactics (eg. our world is polluted and getting more so, your body has become a repository for nasty, cancer causing chemicals and so on) to coerce you into using their products. And while it’s true that our world is becoming more polluted and our bodies are certainly becoming more poisoned (from mercury and arsenic from fish like tuna, for example), there’s no evidence that adopting a rigorous “cleansing” program, drinking lemon-flavored water for 7 days, or swallowing pills that contain an indiscriminate amount of natural ingredients will do anything to help eliminate the sort of toxins that typically concentrate in liver and tissues.

Sure, some of the detox diets I’ve looked briefly at will certainly help you lose weight. But it ain’t magic at work, or the miraculous healing abilities of the assorted, included ingredients. It’s simple caloric restriction — starvation, more like. And starvation diets are to be avoided as they tend to compromise lean muscle tissue (which is metabolically active tissue) as much as they do fat. Since the loss of lean tissue compromises your metabolism, it’s much easier to regain weight — and then some — once you go off the program.

Yes, I have heard of people who claim to have had great results from detox products. Are these claims genuine? Probably some of them are. However, there’s no discounting the placebo effect. Additionally, I have no doubt that anyone adopting the eating habits of one of the more sensible detox programs — in lieu of the high-fat, high-carb North American diet — is going to feel better. A LOT better. But is this something that can be attributed to some miraculous detoxing effect, or simply the fact that you’ve switched from an “all-crap” diet, and actually started eating fruits, veggies and drinking a ton of water?

Don’t get me wrong… to be able to cleanse our systems of all the “nasties” would be lovely. But so far, there’s no evidence any of the detox products on the market are anything but a complete hoax. Until then, I’ll stick to the basics; smart diet, lots of water, plenty of exercise. Ahhh…

That’s my kind of detox!