Great article on the detoxing craze currently prevalent. From the BBC:
What's the point of detoxing?
The body is well capable of getting rid of toxins - that's what the liver, lungs, kidneys and skin do. So what's the point of detoxing?
If celebrities such as Carol Vorderman are to be believed, a detox diet can be a life-changing experience.
It can reportedly help people lose weight, beat cellulite, banish bloating and make your skin glow.
The theory behind the diet is that bodies are continually overloaded with toxins, which build up in a person's system and cause problems.
Clearing the system by detoxing promises all kinds of results and is now a multi-million pound industry, with products and supplements to help expel unwanted toxins. But making dietary changes is at the core of most.
A bit more:
The British Dietetic Association says detox diets are marketing myths rather than nutritional reality.
"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 has worked or if it hasn't," says a spokesman.
"The body is set up to deal with the chemicals it doesn't want, and excrete them."
A recent study by American researchers also concluded that detox diets do no more than the body's own natural system to get rid of toxins. They said most modern books and detox kits serve up "empty promises".
Scientists and dieticians argue that the benefits people feel are not due to their body getting rid of excessive toxins but are due to changing from what is likely to have been a "poor" diet.
Fewer headaches, for example, is probably the result of being fully hydrated due to drinking so much water and better skin may be due to eating more antioxidant-packed fruit and vegetables.
Same goes for enemas and 'high colonics' -- utter bilge and snake oil; the body cleanses itself naturally, unless you are eating a wretched diet, nothing that you do to detox will aid your body's functioning. As for the mega-vitamin craze, we excrete any vitamins that are surplus, we do not store them for later use. These people have the most expensive pee on the planet.
