I’m amazed at all the hype behind Detox Diets and the bold statement of being “Life changing.” My parents even went on a supposedly detoxing diet. I have many friends who talk about going on a detox for a couple weeks. I am also asked pretty frequently on my thoughts on detoxing.
So this is when I get straight to the point on my thought on Detox Diets instead of waiting until the end of this post. Here it is – I’ve never done a detoxing diet before and I never will because I think it’s not worth it.
But let me explain why it’s all hype, and not worth your time and money.
Most detoxing diets deal with increasing your intake of veggies, fruits, teas, nuts, seeds, and a bunch of water. There are some that send you a full supply of juices to drink on a daily basis for the program.
In contrast, detoxing diets ban wheat, dairy, processed foods, proteins, caffeine, salt, sugar, alcohol, and a bunch more on the laundry list of must-nots.
Martin Wiseman, a professor of human nutrition at the University of Southampton says,”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.”
MY BEEF WITH DETOXING
Many decide on detoxing for weight loss, doing a “restart”, or hopeful of passing a drug test.
I’ve heard of detox diets that promises you will lose 1 pound a day for 21 days. Too me, that doesn’t sound healthy. I recommend people to lose 1-2 pound a week depending on how overweight an individual is. I won’t deny that many people who do these sorts of diets lose the weight, but I’m sure it wasn’t easy or very fun.
When you lose weight at a fast weight which will mess with your hormonal balance, you are setting yourself up only to gain the weight and then some after the so called detox diet. No doubt you will feel lighter or look slimmer at the end of the detox program but what you should be really striving for is this feeling ALL DAMN DAY.
The majority of detox diets out there call you to take in a really small amount of calories, only consume smoothies, take this awful tasting concoction, and some other weird stuff. If you take in a small amount of calories that is especially below your BMR, basal metabolic rate, over a long period of time you will experience fatigue, nausea, headaches, and you will just be an grumpy ass person.
Do you know someone who was on a detox diet and was actually happy? The people I know to have done detox diets weren’t the happiest people to be around and they were constantly complaining about what they were only allowed to eat. It actually made me want to eat a donut or burger in front of them even more.
WHAT SHOULD YOU DO INSTEAD?
Detoxing is the idea of ridding away toxins in your body. Well you have to ask yourself, what are the toxins doing there in the first place. I’m not going to sit here and tell you I am toxin free. Hell, I just took part in a pretty toxic cheat day with pancakes, oreos, and a Pizza Hut Dinner Box.
Detox diets shouldn’t be used as a restart or a quick way to lose weight. If you are truly ready for make life changing habits to eat healthier then I may say it’ll be alright to do a quick detoxing, I guess. There are too many things that entice people because it comes off as some magic pill or diet. I see it every day on the cover of magazines, “Lose 20lbs in 14 days” “Drink Shit and You Will Get a Flat Tummy”, okay maybe I made up the last one. But you get the point.
Rather than feeling like you should do a detox, you should make a point to begin eating a healthier diet. Here are a few simple and effective ways to rid yourself of toxins that will still allow you to eat food:
- Eat more vegetables and fruits
- Drink more water, if you think you drink enough – drink more. Are you feeling thirsty while reading this? Yes, then you are dehydrated.
- Eat lean protein; fish, chicken breast, turkey breast.
- Drink green tea
- Cut out processed foods, sweets, and sodas
- Intake complex carbs; whole wheat and grain breads and pastas, sweet potatoes, brown rice.
That looks pretty simple to follow. The best thing is that this is a great start towards making eating healthier part of your lifestyle.
Would you rather do this or a detoxing diet that will only give you short term results rather than lasting? Now there are a few of these cleansing diets that I would say may be okay but like everything else, the bad always outweigh the good. If you do take part of a detox or cleansing diet then I would highly suggest a plan to what you will be doing after it all to make sure you don’t go back to bad habits to need to do another detox. It should be used as a jump start towards a healthier eating habit and lifestyle.
I love this! I never understood why people went on these “detox diets” that come with funky shakes and juices…to me your just putting more chemicals and toxins in your body by using products made in a factory instead of REAL food.
Exactly! Rather than relying on a detox diet, it’s best to change up your lifestyle to eat healthier food and exercise which in turn will detox your body on its own. Aloha!