Need a detox? The best body cleansing program won’t cost you a cent

From pills to powders, enemas and juice cleanses, there are plenty of detox diets to spend your cash on. But is there any point?

Want to turn over a new leaf, or perhaps drop a few kilograms?

Then you might be considering one of the many detox diets that promise to leave you glowing in record time.

Supposed benefits include weight loss, healthier gut bacteria, more energy and the removal of toxins.

But is a paid detox really necessary, or are our own bodies perfectly capable of doing it for free?

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Our bodies are detox machines

“The thing I always tell my clients is that the human body is a detox system,” dietitian Chris Hughes says.

“We have lungs, liver, kidneys, our skin, our respiratory tract, all of these things detox substances that come into the body.”

He says we can also tolerate a certain amount of toxins.

“But if someone has been exposed to pollutants that are dangerous then they don’t need a detox diet – they need a doctor,” Chris, who runs meal planning app Mealzee, says.

A detox can represent a reset

Chris says we’re all sometimes guilty of letting our healthy lifestyles slip, and a detox can represent “a line in the sand”.

“I personally don’t mind my clients doing a little bit of a reset, because it can motivate them,” he says.

And if a detox involves cutting out junk foods, drinking more water and eating more plant-based foods, that’s a win.

“The thing that I’m usually dubious about is that if the detox involves paying for a lot of supplements or being overly restrictive in their diet, there’s just no evidence for it,” he says.

Read detox product claims carefully

Dietitian Dr Véronique Chachay says: “When we talk about a product that is going to make you detox more, this is where the alarm bells need to come.”

Dr Chachay, of the University of Queensland’s School of Nutrition Sciences, suggests reading labels carefully.

“Does it say it’s giving you vitamin C, because vitamin C helps to detox?” she says.

“OK, but if you had a healthy diet, you would do that all the time.”

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Can detox programs do more harm than good?

Chris says some detox diets or programs can inhibit the absorption of certain nutrients.

“I’m thinking of activated charcoal, which they actually use in an emergency (poisoning) situation,” he says.

Use it daily, and it will also take your vitamins and minerals with it, he says.

Restrictive juice cleansing diets can also be problematic.

“They’re normally full of spinach and beetroot which I’m trying to get my clients to eat most of the time,” Chris says.

“But the problem is they’re really high in oxalates, and if that’s all someone’s having, it can then lead to kidney problems and kidney stones.”

When we talk about a product that is going to make you detox more, this is where the alarm bells need to come.

How best to detox your body

Dr Chachay says you can do plenty of things to support your own detox system, such as cutting down on alcohol, a toxin.

She says our bodies use zinc, iron and B vitamins to detoxify alcohol, so giving up for a while can help.

“All these vitamins and minerals can now be saved for other functions, and the liver doesn’t have to work as hard,” she says.

Replacing highly processed foods with healthier options such as fruits and vegetables will also help you detox naturally, as can skipping a meal from time to time.

Chris says broccoli, cauliflower and milk thistle can also helps support the liver.

There is no magic pill for good health

Dr Chachay says any health goals – from weight loss to finding more energy or building muscle mass – can only be achieved over longer periods.

“So in exactly the same way that you don’t water the plants once a year, you do them regularly for them to grow,” she says.

“It’s not like one week will fix all the bad of the other 51 weeks of the year.”

Chris adds: “My warning would be more often than not the thing that gets detoxed is your wallet.”

• Try this: Pumpkin detox soup

Written by Larissa Ham.