Can Detox Diets Do More Harm Than Good?

Walking to the break room at work, Michelle realizes she needs to squeeze into that size six bridesmaid's dress in less than a month. Slowly backing away from the standard mid-afternoon doughnut, she wonders what she can do, and quickly, to slim down and feel her best. After venting to a co-worker, Michelle learns about "detox diets." A way of flushing extra pounds in a short period of time, detox diets usually call for cutting out most food groups and surviving on certain vegetables or drinking fluids and broths. Sounds easy enough to keep up for a few weeks, right? But, are they safe?

The act of detoxing certainly sounds like something that could be healthy and worthwhile. And, her parents were always harping about eating more vegetables. But, any diet plan that tells you to forgo food groups and stick to a liquid menu should be looked at with a skeptical eye.

Lemon juice, maple syrup and cayenne pepper isn't delicious or nutritious, but these are the ingredients that make up the master cleanse. Helping its followers lose weight rapidly, the master cleanse is one of the most popular detox diets circulating society recently. Consuming this concoction, and others like it, helps to flush toxins that have entered your body in the form of alcohol, food additives, medications, cigarette smoke and other pollutants. Ridding toxins is great, and, if performed for only a few days, beneficial to your overall health. However, it's when the detox turns into a regular eating pattern that things become unhealthy.

What started out as a step toward immunity boosting and purer living has turned into another disordered eating epidemic. Most of these diets are done without the supervision of a doctor. No one is there to tell proponents of the detox diets what can go wrong.

Potential electrolyte imbalances can occur as a result of these diets. Overtime, heart problems and organ damage can occur. Another facet of the purification process, colonics attempt to clean out the intestines. Regular enemas can reduce the amount of necessary bacteria to a dangerously low level. As a result, the immune system, nerves, and muscle response are damaged. Most importantly, to dieters at least, is the effect that all extreme starvation diets have on the metabolism.

After detoxing the entire month before the wedding, Michelle is finally ready to let loose. She hits the buffet line three times before she realizes she has eaten to excess. Three weeks later, she's gained all the pre-wedding weight back along with a few extra pounds. Michelle has learned the hard truth about extreme dieting - quick, unhealthy weight loss throws off the normal fat burning process. Tricked into thinking it was experiencing a famine, the body retains any caloric intake it gets as fat.

The human body is all about balance. Cutting out any nutrient that is needed for proper functioning will throw this balance off. If you are interested in reevaluating what you've been eating and would like to fill your cabinets with foods that enhance overall health, contact a registered dietician or nutritionist.

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