I bet you that cucumber smoothie that you don’t know what toxins are.
If you’re thinking of environmental contaminants and toxic substances collecting inside our bodies, poisoning us from within, you lost the bet. Those are called toxicants.
Toxins are naturally-occurring harmful substances produced by organisms. Snake venom is a type of toxin; lead isn’t.
(Some) Toxins Aren’t Real
Neither are the alleged “toxins” which are the focus of the “detox” craze. They are marketing gimmicks, playing on legitimate anxieties over the way we continue to pollute and damage the environment.
Even if those “toxins” were real, there is zero evidence either they or toxicants could be removed from our bodies by “therapies” such as:
- Detox diets
- Colonic cleansing
- Enemas
- Foot or oxygen detox
- Nasal irrigation
- Sweating detox
And that’s because:
Detox Therapies Are Scams!
Detoxification, in its strict medical sense, refers to protocols for the management of acute incidents of alcohol and substance abuse, poisonings and toxicological crises.
Unfortunately, alternative medicine advocates have misappropriated the term. Because most people associate “detox” with conventional life-saving medical procedures, they tend to extend legitimacy to the nonsense peddled as “detox therapies.”
Research supporting the alleged benefits of detox therapy is scarce and undermined by poor methodology.
Detox Therapies Are Unnecessary
Our bodies already benefit from highly-evolved detoxification systems for dealing with waste metabolites and contaminants:
- The skin
- The lungs
- The liver
- The kidneys
- The colon
- The immune system
Moreover, not every exposure to toxins and toxicants is harmful. The risk depends on the amount one is exposed to. Studies show that the levels of most pollutants in our bodies are usually small enough as to be inconsequential.
Detox Therapies Can Harm You
Detox diets, fasting, and colonic cleansing can cause nutritional deficiencies and electrolyte imbalances, with life-threatening consequences. Intestinal cleansing can physically damage the colon and adversely affect the intestinal flora. Some “detox” products contain ingredients harmful to the liver and kidneys. Those are just some examples.
The Bottom Line
While we should remain concerned about the health costs of pollution, we shouldn’t let our anxieties make us easy prey for charlatans.
The best detox regimen consists of a healthy diet, exercise and enough sleep. Any issues not improved by those measures should be discussed with a physician.
(Photo by Truong Dat on Unsplash)