The long holiday weekend is over and by now you are probably back into your normal routine. But how many of you over indulged over the holiday? All those backyard parties, food, drinks, etc…. I know that as hard as I tried not to, I’m guilty of indulging. And what was the first thing I thought of on Monday night? “I need to start a detox tomorrow to ‘get rid of all the garbage I just ingested”.
But then I thought about it and wondered, what do I need to really “detox” from?
This is a question that I remember my husband asking me a few years ago when I told him that I/we were going to “reset” our metabolism and detoxify our bodies by following a specific detox diet for 21 days.
At the time I just ignored his question and did the diet. I must admit, that I hated following the diet. I had to purchase special ingredients at special stores…. I had to make specials meals and there was A LOT of food preparation involved everyday. By day 10, I couldn’t wait for it to be over!
But this special detox diet really does raise the question, what do we really need to detox? We already know that the human body can do amazing things and one of the things that it can do is “detox” itself. Our liver and kidneys are a natural part of detoxification system. There are specific pathways and chemical reactions occurring automatically that breakdown any toxins that we consume and then eliminate them from our body. Our digestive system is a miracle worker- (of course toxins that we absorb through our skin is a completely different story for another time).
We need to remember though, that just because our bodies already have a detoxification process in place, we can definitely help the process by eating clean, healthy food…but you already knew that, right? 😉
Cleaning up our diet and going back to our usual, healthy way of eating will very quickly make us feel better. Not just because we know we are eating the right way, but also because our bodies physically feel better: we aren’t as lethargic… our thinking is sharper and clearer…and we aren’t craving junk food. It’s magic!
Like you, I’ve seen the advertisements for detox diets that promise weight loss and yes, it does promote weight loss. How could eating clean, healthy food not cause weight loss, assuming you normally don’t eat this way? Any weight loss that occurs in the first few days of a detox diet is most likely water and any further weight loss that occurs is likely due to the calorie restriction. Your weight goes down, but it is not likely to be a sustained weight loss. If you continue on a calorie restricted diet, your body will eventually rebel.
Which really brings me back to my main point that the body doesn’t need any kind of short term detox diet… it needs a long term healthy living lifestyle that includes drinking lots of water, eating lots of healthy whole foods and a consistent exercise program. There are no short cuts.