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Cleansing and detox diets introduction

If you're looking for a way to lose weight quickly and feel better (and who isn't?), you might be tempted to try a fad "detox" diet or a "cleanse" method." These diets start with a fast, followed by a period of consuming only raw vegetables, fruit, juices and water.

Most nutritionists say, "Don't bother."

There is no scientific evidence that "detox" (short for detoxification) or "cleanse" diets result in rapid weight loss or have any health benefits, says Heather Mangieri, RDN, LDN, a spokeswoman for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and founder of Nutrition CheckUp in Pittsburgh.

Indeed, the opposite may be true: One study published in 2011 in the journal Obesity found that beginning a weight-loss diet with a fast or cleanse could be counterproductive.

For example, researchers at the University of Illinois divided mice into two diet groups. For 10 to 12 weeks, one group of mice was fed a low-fat diet (10 percent fat). The other group was fed a high-fat diet (60 percent fat). Not surprisingly, the group on a high-fat diet gained a lot of weight. Afterward, both groups were put on a 24-hour fast. The lean mice lost 18 percent of their body weight in those 24 hours, but the obese mice lost only 5 percent.

Cleansing diets aren't new. "They've been around for years and years," Mangieri says. But they seem to get a lot of press from magazines and talk show hosts. And celebrities make cleanse diets popular every time they claim to lose significant weight on them.

"The terms 'detox' and 'cleanse' have become almost interchangeable and are thrown around almost as much as the words 'calorie' and 'carbohydrate' these days," says Keri Glassman, RD, CDN, founder and president of A Nutritious Life, a nutrition practice based in New York City.

Proponents of cleansing diets believe it's important to rid your body of toxins that you get -- like it or not -- from food, water and the environment. "The mistake most people make is equating detoxes and cleanses with weight loss," Glassman says. They are not the same.

So if you're considering a cleanse diet as a way to lose weight, you could be outsmarting yourself. "Cleanse diets can set you up for failure by slowing your metabolism and making you crave everything you just gave up," Glassman says. Cleanse diets don't help you or your body develop healthy eating habits. And what's worse, they could deprive your body of essential nutrients, Mangieri agrees.

Medically Reviewed by a Doctor on 4/7/2015

Medical Editor:

Dr. Charles "Pat" Davis, MD, PhD, is a board certified Emergency Medicine doctor who currently practices as a consultant and staff member for hospitals. He has a PhD in Microbiology (UT at Austin), and the MD (Univ. Texas Medical Branch, Galveston). He is a Clinical Professor (retired) in the Division of Emergency Medicine, UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, and has been the Chief of Emergency Medicine at UT Medical Branch and at UTHSCSA with over 250 publications.

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Cleansing and Detox Diets: Learn How Cleanses Work

"regular food," early 13c., from Old French diete (13c.) "diet, pittance, fare," from Medieval Latin dieta "parliamentary assembly," also "a day's work, diet, daily food allowance," from Latin diaeta "prescribed way of life," from Greek diaita, originally "way of life, regimen, dwelling," related to diaitasthai "lead one's life," and from diaitan, originally "separate, select" (food and drink), frequentative of *diainysthai "take apart," from dia- "apart" + ainysthai "take," from PIE root *ai- "to give, allot." Often with a sense of restriction since 14c.; hence put (someone) on a diet (mid-15c.).

"assembly," mid-15c., from Medieval Latin dieta, variant of diaeta "daily office (of the Church), daily duty, assembly, meeting of counselors," from Greek diaita (see diet (n.1)), but associated with Latin dies "day" (see diurnal).

late 14c., "to regulate one's diet for the sake of health," from Old French dieter, from diete (see diet (n.1)); meaning "to regulate oneself as to food" (especially against fatness) is from 1650s. Related: Dieted; dieting. An obsolete word for this is banting. The adjective in this sense (Diet Coke, etc.) is from 1963, originally American English.

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Diet | Define Diet at Dictionary.com

What Dr. Michael Smith Says:

Does It Work?

If your goal is weight loss, a detox diet might help you drop a few pounds, but youll likely just gain it back. In the end, you havent accomplished anything, and its certainly not a healthy approach.

If your goal is to detox your system, dont waste your time or money. Your body is an expert at getting rid of toxins no matter what you eat. Toxins dont build up in your liver, kidneys, or any other part of your body, and youre not going to get rid of them with the latest detox wonder. Especially avoid diets that promise to detox your liver with supplements or cleanse whatever the diet determines needs washing out.

The only type of detox diet that is worthwhile is one that limits processed, high-fat, and sugary foods, and replaces them with more fruits and vegetables. That clean-eating approach is your best bet to getting your body in tip-top shape.

Is It Good for Certain Conditions?

Not only are detox diets not good for people with certain medical conditions, they could be harmful. They dont improve blood pressure or cholesterol. Detox diets have no positive effect on the heart. For people with diabetes, they may be quite dangerous. Any diet that severely restricts what you eat could lead to dangerously low blood sugar if you take medicine for diabetes.

The exception would be a detox diet that just focuses on clean-eating. This approach would be great for anyone living with high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes, and even heart disease.

The Final Word

Weve heard a great deal about detox diets in recent years. But its all hype with no health benefits. There are many ways to get your body clean and healthy. This isnt one of them.

SOURCES:

Frank Sacks, MD, professor of cardiovascular disease prevention, Harvard School of Public Health.

Christine Gerbstadt, MD, RD, spokeswoman, Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics; author, Doctors Detox Diet.

Connie Diekman, MEd, RD, nutrition director, Washington University, St. Louis; author, The Everything Mediterranean Diet Book; past president, Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

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Detox Diets: Do They Work? Are They Healthy? - WebMD

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If you are looking to learn more about the paleo lifestyle and what it is all about then youve come to the right place!

The paleo diet/lifestyle/movement, whatever you want to call it is a way of eating for your lifestyle. Delicious, highest nutrient, easy eating foods are chosen above commercialised, modified or hard to process options.

The premise of the movement is that we are more suited to eating certain foods which havent been the product of big business or agriculture. Grains, sugary foods and modified fats are all guilty of causing harm to our bodies, and the aim is to get back on track by eating foods our bodies recognise and know what to do with.

We should be eating morehealthy fats, nutrient rich vegetablesand should be eatinglessgrains (wheat, rice, gluten based foods), carbohydrates and genetically modified or processed foods.

Paleo shouldnt be thought of as a diet but more as a lifestyle blueprint for health. There is no point in making changes to your eating habits with the goal of getting rid of some weight, only to revert to bad eating habits and put it all back on again. This is the difference between diet and lifestyle decisions, and Paleo is best used long term. Crash diets dont work because they dont allow you to really benefit from healthy dietary changes. They leave you wondering exactly why you are eating the foods you are eating and end up working against you, ultimatelyhurting your body and preventing you from losing weight.

Ultimately, you should approach weight loss as a side effect of getting your diet on track because there are so many benefitsto be enjoyed such as improved energy, sleep, mood, disease prevention and injury recovery. Crash diets dont allow your body to get to the point where it is healthy enough to recover from decades of eating the wrong foods, living a sedentary lifestyle and coping with medicines, drugs and treatments. Paleo is a low stress, low carb diet lifestyle that works for anyone who tries it and can be tailored to every family member.

More:
The Paleo Diet: Low Carb Diet Lifestyle - ThePaleoDiet.co.za

Spring is right around the corner, and as I glance around my home, I see that a thorough cleaning is in order. Dust bunnies are multiplying under my bed, spider webs are glistening on my chandelier, and a layer of dust has settled on all places too difficult to comfortably reach.

As I strategically plan my upcoming cleaning project, I start to wonder if my body is also in need of a cleaning, so to speak.

Like many of you, I tend to go into hibernation mode during the winter months. With less daylight hours and physical work to do outside, along with an influx of sugary treats and comfort foods, my body has been insulated by an added layer of fat. I'm surely not alone in feeling this way, judging from the number of questions we field on the site about detox diets this time of year.

While the idea of cleaning out harmful toxins in your body or removing body fat quickly may sound tempting and even beneficial, is a detox the answer?

What is a detox? Around since the 1970s, the Master Cleanse, also known as the Lemonade Diet, is probably the most popular detox diet. Followers of this detox spend 10 days drinking a concoction of lemon juice, maple syrup, water and cayenne pepper. Side effects include tiredness, irritability, hot bowel movements, and headaches, but those are touted as signs of the beneficial detoxification process. Other detox programs can last for several days to weeks and involve drinking little more than fruit and vegetable juices. Still other programs involve drinking water and consuming no food for several days at a time.

But does the body need detoxification? If you've been exposed to high amounts of heavy metals, poisons, or radiation, you might require an actual medical detoxification. However, typical day-to-day living does not bring about a need to detox with concoctions and laxatives. The body is perfectly capable of cleaning itself. Think about all your wonderfully complex body systems involved in the removal of toxins: your circulatory (blood) system, respiratory (lungs) system, urinary (kidneys) system, and digestive (liver and intestines) system. It makes no sense that a little lemon juice, vegetable juice, or gut rest is actually going to make a difference in your health. There are no published, peer-reviewed, or well-designed research studies on detoxing that indicate any health benefit or weight loss.

Detoxing and weight loss Of course you will usually lose weight when following a detox program. The diet is very restrictive, and the daily calorie intake is much less than what you would typically consume. A person could lose several pounds weekly while detoxing. Some of the weight will be body fat, but most will be water loss and some muscle tissue loss. Since the detoxer has not learned to change his or her eating habits and food environment, the weight will quickly be regained. Overall, there is no sustainable benefitand the loss of muscle mass due to fast weight loss is harmful.

Detoxing and increased energy Many people who "detox" report a decrease in food cravings, increased energy, and a feeling of overall well-being. "Whats up with that?" you might be asking.

I definitely do not spring clean with a detox! Instead, I have a simple, 2-step plan that will work for anyone:

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Do Detox Diets Work? Are They Safe? | SparkPeople