They only want to detox your wallet

How many times have you been told or read in a magazine that you have to detox to be healthy? Would you believe me if I were to tell you that cleansing and detoxifying are just a marketing terms to help detox your wallet?

The detox fad has gained a lot of ground lately and the list of products, plans and treatments you can buy is astounding, considering none of them are based on actual science. There is a medical term 'detoxification' which describes the treatments to rid the body of actual life threatening toxins such as lead and other heavy metals for example. The detox advocates would have you believe that you need to periodically cleanse your liver, kidneys and gut for optimal health.

Your body encounters all kinds of chemicals, both naturally occurring and synthetic. It does an excellent job of processing these chemicals, separating beneficial chemicals from the harmful ones. Your body then eliminates anything it doesn't want or need via the liver, kidneys, bowel and skin. Nothing gets stored for periodic cleansing by you. If you eat a balanced diet, don't over-do the booze and obviously don't smoke, your body will work fine. When you constantly barrage it with junk, your digestive organs need to work hard to process the food. Which is why cleanses and detoxes appear to work, for a week or more you live a virtuous life of pure detox water, detox treatments and other wallet lightening procedures. In turn for laying off the junk, your body responds by working normally. Two weeks after your detox, and you are eating the same junk as before, you feel like you need to detox again.

You will notice that the detox advocates and salesmen warn about all the harmful toxins that collect in your body, but fail to mention what these toxins are called. They just make sure that you know you shouldn't have them, because they have been linked with illness and cancer. If you do some research into detox therapy, you won't find a single clinical study that shows a link between a detox system, specific toxins and links to clinically demonstrable effects. It is all just the placebo effect. I'm not saying that this isn't good, we humans have an inbuilt belief that we accumulate badness in whatever form and need to make amends for it. The cleanse is just another way we 'pay' for our unhealthy lifestyle.

Try this free 'detox' system; for the next 10 days, you are only allowed to eat food in the following ratio. 50% vegetables, 25% carbohydrates and 25% protein. There are no bad carbs, no bad protein and no bad fats. You cannot drink alcohol for the next 10 days and limit your coffee and tea to just 2 cups, which can only be drunk before 6pm. For the rest of the time just drink water or sugar free soft drinks (without caffeine). If you still need to snack between meals, follow the same 50-25-25 rule, so if you have to eat that snickers, balance it out with some fruit or veg. Restaurants are off limits, without exception, they will add salt, fat and other unnecessary ingredients to your food to make it taste 'nice'. (Also avoid diet meals from supermarkets like the plague, low fat does not equal healthy, when they add sugar and salt to compensate for the flavour lost from removing the fat).  

After 10 days your digestive system will feel just as good, if not better then after your detox. Your wallet will not have lost weight, but you might have.