Detox is not the answer
IF I told you there was a magic bullet that could help you instantly lose weight, have more energy, boost your immune system, improve your skin, fight ageing and more, I’m sure you’d want to sign up for it, stat. But, truth is, there’s no such thing as a quick fix.
As boring as it sounds, the best way to get long-lasting results is to make small, sustainable changes to your lifestyle that build up over time. You see, there’s only so long you can last on ‘skinny tea’ or ‘raw food’ before your willpower will cave in.
To give you a little more clarity, here’s three reasons why I’d never go on a detox diet (or recommend you do one, either).
1. You have kidneys and a liver
There’s many different detox protocols, but the general idea of them is that you rid your diet of ‘nasties’, which helps your body remove all of the toxins apparently built up inside.
But – news flash – in a healthy body, your liver and your kidneys work hard to get rid of toxins 24 hours a day, seven days a week. And they don’t need a helping hand.
2. Detoxes cut out food groups
If there’s one pet peeve I have, it’s when unqualified people tell you that you don’t need carbs, that you shouldn’t eat dairy or that fruit has too much sugar.
Cutting out carbs and grainy foods (think: bread, quinoa, rice) will leave you lacking in energy as well as fibre for a healthy gut and energising B-group vitamins. Cutting out dairy could leave you low on bonestrengthening calcium and muscle-building protein. And cutting out fruit will reduce your intake of disease-fighting antioxidants, as well as a range of vitamins and minerals.
3. It’s a quick-fix diet
Just like Rome wasn’t built in a day, you can’t build a healthy body or lifestyle in the blink of an eye, either – it’s an ongoing commitment that takes a lot of time to come to fruition.
Of course, eating less saturated fat, added sugar or alcohol would do anyone a world of good, and it’s hardly surprising that results are seen with such diets. But, when detox diets are taken to the extreme (think: juice cleanses, lemon water or prolonged periods of fasting), it’s simply unsustainable.