TO DETOX OR NOT TO DETOX?
By Karolina Kramplova
It’s spring again and post-winter depression is emerging. The very familiar pattern of crying over the amount of food we have all eaten, all the late-night junk food we have ordered, and especially regretting all the shots of tequila and bottles of wine we have chugged. Well, put a stop to this pity party and let’s all look forward to spring - the season of rejuvenating. Our generation is known to be lazy in every way and we cut corners whenever we can. Even when it comes to getting fit and healthy again. The phenomenon of ‘detoxing’ is perfect for us, as all we need to do is drink tea and the weight will miraculously disappear. At least this is what the banners and leaflets say. For a couple of years, detoxes have been heavily promoted by marketing companies that promise you will lose weight quickly and efficiently. But is it really the case? Doctors, personal trainers, nutritionists; everyone has their own stand on this topic.
Before purchasing the £19.99 package for a 14-day
teatox programme that’s designed to help you to get rid of all the toxins you have ingested, be sure to educate yourself about what it means to detox.
There is no doubt that the world suddenly started to endorse different products claiming the effects of detoxification. The Mintel Global New Products Database found a significant increase in the amount of detoxifying products between the years 2007 and 2009. The number of food products making detox claims increased by 168% and beverages by 19%.
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Each detox and teatox programme explains what their particular set of natural ingredients and herbal teas will do to your body. The most popular teatox programme BOOTEA states ‘teatox is a fancy word we use to describe the way the body goes through a natural process of elimination by removing unwanted ‘toxins’ & built up waste matter, from your body via the lungs, kidneys, bowels and skin’. Whilst Artisan Raw Food, NAMA, based in London’s Notting Hill, wants to help you achieve ‘your optimal health’ by ‘helping to eliminate toxins from within your body’. The premium juice detox programme, The London Detox, also says they are ‘one of the most effective ways to eliminate toxic waste from the body’. So by reading these ‘what we do’ paragraphs it makes you believe your body really is full of toxins and makes you want to invest in a detox programme. It is up to you now to choose between a raw food detox, juice fast or herbal tea cleansing teatox.
For all the first-timers thinking about going on a detox, you may ask: is this the right way to achieve ultimate health? For anything that may concern our bodies, doctors are the people to ask for help. Dr. Elson Haas is a physician and author of many self-health books. He argues: “Detox can be a way of life, by living a clean conscious lifestyle with good food choices. What’s important is to avoid toxins in foods.” However Dr. Haas does not say why detox is the way to go. He uses very vague language and fails to define what it means to ‘detox’ as well as all the detox programmes’ websites. This is the first red flag one may come across.
There are hardly any companies endorsing detox products that define the term ‘to detox’. They present it as a way of eliminating the toxins from your body, but it stands for something very different. Scott Gavura, author for the website Science-Based Medicine, explores the true definition: “Detox is a legitimate medical term that has been turned into a marketing strategy - all designed to treat a non-existent condition.” He says: “‘The actual detoxification is provided in hospitals under life-threatening circumstances, usually when there are dangerous levels of drugs, alcohol or other poisons in the body.” In other words, the detox and teatox programmes use scientific terminology to create the illusion of selling you products that will benefit your body.
The popularity of detoxes and detoxing with herbal teas is all based on language and wording used by companies, and the naivety of desperate people wanting to lose weight no matter what it takes. Peter Ayton, a psychology professor at City University London, looks into how words can affect our behaviour in the buying-selling scenario. At first, he points out: “It’s not about the illusion of understanding but about how people respond to suggestions in advertisements.” When Ayton was asked about the particular language marketing companies use when they are endorsing detoxifying products he responded with: “They don’t tell me what the words mean, they don't want me to know what they mean. The commercials are created as if you already have a PhD in biochemistry. Why are they doing that? Because they are trying to bamboozle you. If they were really using simple language to explain things then they wouldn’t be able to tell lies.”
What Peter Ayton is hinting at, is the unreliability of the marketing strategies that are used to promote detoxes, teatoxes and other detoxifying products. Many unofficial websites like science and medicine blogs feature people’s opinion on this subject. The UK ‘Stat Guy’, otherwise known as Adam Jacobs, runs a medicine blog and pointed out a very interesting fact.
He emphasises: “There is no scientific evidence whatsoever that any detox product will provide even the slightest improvement on your liver and kidneys.”
Jacobs challenges all customers to demand a simple answer from these detox programmes by asking “what specific toxins it helps to remove”. Everyone is focusing on the single aspect of removing toxins. But if we look again, there is no mention of a specific toxin. This is all superficial information that is very well marketed to us. If we really want to detox our bodies from all the toxins, or simply get healthy after winter, going to heavily advertised products with no scientific evidence may not be the way to go.
"Our bodies are smart enough to figure this out on their own," as intuitive coach and holistic health practitioner, Dean Griffiths says: “Your body has it’s own built-in detox system. Most people trying to detox have a sluggish system so get short-term results.” Instead of making you buy his books or pay him to give you advice, he simply states the alternative to a detox is, “teaching people to eat healthy seasonally” so your body can “detox efficiently all year round and on its own”. Alan Harte, a personal trainer also touches upon food education: “Teach them how to eat a balanced, moderated and educated diet. That’s where real change occurs.” Harte points out that the key to teatoxes’ success is product endorsement: “With enough money backing your product you could pay just about anyone to push teatoxes.”
Despite all the red flags that have appeared during this investigation into why detoxes are popular and if they are worth our money and health, there are still some people who have had a positive detox experience. Barbora Smolkova, a 21-year-old student, talked us through her experience on being on the Master Cleanse Lemonade Detox. She says: “Before actually trying the cleanse, I read about the concept so I wouldn't damage my body. It lasted 10 days and because the cleanse allowed me to drink maple syrup, I had enough energy to last.” Smolkova explains: “During the ten days I lost 10 kilograms. After the cleanse, I only gained three kilograms back and the rest of my weight stayed the same and I was able to eat everything I wanted and have not gained any weight since.”
Chloe Thompson, another student, tried Skinny Teatox and also had a pleasant experience. However she agrees that to achieve a healthy body it is a combination of things: “The tea helped with energy, bloat, and appetite control. If you want to lose weight you have to be willing to eat healthy and exercise, the tea itself will not make you lose weight. It all has to work together.”
We have only one chance with our bodies. Trying products without scientific evidence proving they work is simply not worth it. Going on a detox - in the sense of eating only certain types of food for few days - is completely healthy. However, purchasing overly expensive packages of herbal tea, that will only make you spend more time in the bathroom than usual due to all the laxatives, is not what you should be signing up for.
What's in a detox?
"Your body has its own built-in detox system"