One of the more popular fads in the world of health and beauty are detoxes and/or cleanses. If you Google detox, 19,500,000 sites come up on this one topic! “6 Easy Ways to Detox…The Real Way to Do a Detox of Cleanse…The Best Detox Diets for Weight Loss…”the list goes on and on. So what is all the hype about and is there any basis in science to support their claims?
There are a number of different approaches to this detoxing of the body, and as some also claim, the mind. Fasting, juicing, commercially made concoctions with specific vitamins and supplements, ionic foot baths, colon cleanses, and vaginal steaming all fall into this group and I am sure that there are more being thought of as the days pass. It is a lucrative business and it is not a new thing. Purging and cleansing has been around for centuries but where today the bugaboos are chemicals and pollutants where once it was demons. (I guess there is always a reason for not feeling well enough, looking good enough, feeling pure enough.)
Let’s first discuss the science of the human body and how it detoxifies itself. Yes, I said that: it detoxifies itself and has done since we were still swinging in the trees. How bizarre; we do not need to anything but exist to remove waste from our bodies. So unless you have some underlying problem with your kidneys and/or your liver your body does not need a boost in this department. The two bean-shaped kidneys function to filter the body’s blood and liquids and excrete a number of waste products produced by metabolism into urine, as well as other processes including blood pressure regulation, acid-base regulation, hormone secretion, etc. These are very important organs indeed. The liver is the heaviest organ and largest gland in the human body. It is thought to handle over 500 separate functions, usually in cooperation with other bodily systems including detoxifying various metabolites (def.: the intermediate end product of metabolism.), synthesis of proteins, and is an accessory digestive gland. It is such an important organ that there is no artificial organ that can take its place and luckily it is the only internal organ that can regenerate its tissues. It can use as little as 25% of its original size to regenerate into a whole liver.
That being said, aren’t there chemicals everywhere that we need to take out of our bodies? There are chemicals everywhere. The world is made of chemical combinations that make up all matter. There is no way to get away from chemicals; there are chemicals in our bodies. Chemicals are not the same as pollutants. Pollutants are substances or energies introduced into the environment that has undesired results or adversely affect resources such as water, earth, or the air. Pollutants can have an effect on the health of humans but if you were to be poisoned but such substances, a simple juice fast would not be useful anyways. Decontamination from metal toxicity or radiation requires something more than a colon cleanse and the vast majority of people would not be exposed to these substances in the first place unless you are chewing on old painted window sills or consuming contaminated food or water. Pollution is a problem in this modern world but can be, for the most part, handled by our bodies without the assistance from detoxing.
There is very little science to back up the claims from many alternative health practices of cleansing and little evidence of them improving your health or removing toxins from your body. Of course if you are on a juice diet, you will have weight loss because of the reduced caloric intake. There may not be any evidence to say that they are helpful and many of these practices may be detrimental to your well-being. There have been many companies that sell cleanse/detox products that have been pulled off the market or had legal action taken against them for having illegal, potentially harmful substances in them; making false claims that they can treat serious diseases; or for using medical devices not designed for a particular action such as colon cleansing. Fasting can be cause fainting, headaches, dehydration. Drinking unpasteurized juices could lead to bacterial infection and some juices are very high in oxalates which can worsen problems for those with kidney disease. The colon cleans itself and does not store waste from months and years past; this thinking is preposterous. Colon cleansing can cause electrolyte imbalances; addiction to them where one cannot defecate without an enema; bowel perforation; and even cardiac issues. Then there is the whole fad of vaginal steaming promoted by a certain blonde actress with her own magazine who shall remain nameless. You can’t make this stuff up. The idea that your hooha needs to be steam cleaned is ridiculous and could cause burns to a very sensitive area of your anatomy (plus, the vagina is not an area that gets air so you would completely change its microbiome introducing air into it.)
So, there you have it; the basics of detoxing. If you have a week or so where you are eating less junk and taking care of yourself, you will most likely feel better because you are supplying your body with better fuel. It will make you feel good and be beneficial to reset yourself to good habits but if you are doing any of the things that have no proof of working, you may be just wasting your money and could be hurting the health you are trying to improve. If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.
–Janice Willson
Photo Source: Bert Kaufmann (Wikimedia Commons)
