Detox Diets Revealed: Pros and Cons of Detox

We’ve all heard of our fair share of fad diets and quick fixes that are meant to improve our minds, bodies, and souls. Most of us have even tried a few as well.  But do you have any natural detox info? Do you know anything about the detox diets available out there?

The purpose of a detox diet is to remove toxins from your body. Therefore, a moderate detox diet involves eating pure and natural foods and avoiding packaged and processed foods which are believed to have in them damaging toxins.

Many dieters out there like to kick start their diet plans with appetite suppressants such as Phentermine or Xenical, or take a natural approach with diet aids like the Acai Effect. Similarly, many detox diets utilize more radical methods including colon hydrotherapy, body cleansing juice fasting, and sweat lodges to “jump start” the body’s detoxification. It is these more aggressive detox diets which have captured the attention of many and become controversial in the media.

Those who support detox diets claim that while the body does naturally detox through the liver and kidneys, our diets of processed foods and sugars and fats can slow down the body’s detox function. Many believe that common complaints like fatigue, gas, bloating, constipation, headaches, troubled and not so clear skin, and even weight gain are a result of a build-up of toxins in the colon.

Those against detox diets argue that the body’s detox function actually works just fine, and that a detox diet does not improve its functioning. Furthermore, because of the extreme nature of these diets, many fear that like any fad diet, it will be good while it lasts, but then impossible to maintain. While people on detox diets have been known to benefit from fewer headaches, clearer skin, and less bloating and gas, these improvements can simply be a result of consuming less alcohol and caffeine, drinking more water, and eating less in general. All of these changes can be made without going on a strict detox diet. People of this school of thought would say that you should buy Retin-A to clear up your skin, or take Prevacid to get rid of reflux, not got on a fad detox diet.