Everything you read and see has a bias and a slant. Sometimes, they’ll tell you up front or sometimes it’s obvious by the organization the writer or reporter represents. My slant is that detoxification is a dangerous way to lose weight and start anew.
You’ve likely gathered that if you’ve read my first few blogs on losing weight. I really think that for most people, it’s a matter of conquering the will–eating less junk and more fruits and vegetables, drinking more water, and exercising more. I don’t believe in a miracle cure nor do I think that a cleanse is really a cleanse at all. I think in many cases it does more harm than good.
What Is a Detoxification?
The theory is that our bodies are constantly being filled with impurities. We eat poorly and we’re just full of fat and junk hanging around inside of there. Of particular interest to some health specialists is the colon where some claim pounds of waste wait. I have even read some doctors claim that the key to all health is a health colon.
It does make sense that if the colon is the land fill of your body then you want to keep it processing garbage smoothly. But is detoxification the way to do it?
The Results of Detoxing
Detox diets, like the Master Cleanse (also called the Maple Syrup Diet, or the Lemonade Diet) often result in pretty severe diarrhea. That’s the ‘cleansing’ part. The diarrhea can be gut wrenching and painful, but not necessarily. Just the same, these diets will generally cause you to expel whatever was in your colon fairly rapidly.
But is that really what you want? Diarrhea is not a good thing–ever. It is a sign that all is not well with your body. It is a sign that you need to pay special attention to your gut and that something needs to be fixed. It is true that diarrhea is flushing out your system. But not everything in your system is bad–and diarrhea does not make the distinction between what is good and what is bad in your system.
In the second part of this blog (coming tomorrow), we will talk about other results of detoxification and why people do detox diets.