The Dangers of Detoxes: Harmful Pseudoscience for Profit
Written by ‘Ai Pono Hawaii Staff Writer
In recent years, the vocabulary and ideology behind diet culture has changed from "skinny" to "healthy." Weight loss companies use pseudoscience to sell their products to unsuspecting individuals looking to "get healthy." A popular (and profitable) pseudo scientific concept right now is the "detox," also known as a "cleanse."
If you're considering this new fad, read to find out:
What exactly a detox or cleanse is
Why they're so popular right now
Popular detox products on the market
The research behind these products
Side effects of detoxing
The relationship between detoxes and eating disorders
While detoxing sounds harmless — beneficial, even — it's a dangerous practice that produces only temporary results, if they produce any at all.
What is a Detox or Cleanse?
Detoxes, also known as cleanses, are a form of diet or regime intended to remove toxins from your body and promote health. They are also heavily promoted as a way to lose weight, but in a "healthy" way.
There are a variety of detox diets and regimens out there right now, including:
Drinking only juices, usually sold by a weight loss company
Eating only certain foods, often sold as part of a meal plan by "health" companies
The use of dietary supplements, vitamins, herbal remedies, or other commercial products
"Colon cleanses" with enemas, laxatives, etc.
Detox teas promoting digestive stimulation, "removing toxins and waste," etc.
Popular Detox Products: What's out there and what are they Supposed to do?
Many detox products and practices are unregulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). They are not rigorously tested by qualified researchers. No one really investigates the long-term benefits and side effects of these (expensive) products. Most products are a jumble of chemicals that, in theory, are supposed to help you "flush out toxins" and "slim down fast."
So, what's out there right now?
Detox Teas and "Teatoxing" Plans
Detox teas, and the "teatoxing" plans that go with them, are taking social media platforms like Instagram by storm. "Skinny," "slimming," and "detoxifying" teas claim to help users lose weight, reduce bloat, get more energy, and, of course, "clean out your system." The active ingredient in many detox teas is senna, a strong herb that has a laxative effect.
Teatoxing plans usually involve a diuretic tea in the morning and a laxative tea at night. The main effect of detox teas is the loss of water weight, which is quickly replaced. There is no "fat burning," metabolism changes, or long-term benefits in general. Essentially, detox teas and plans cause very short-term weight loss, and dehydration.
Juice Cleanses
Juice cleanses are short-term fad diets which involve consuming only liquidized fruits and vegetables. The idea behind this diet is that fresh fruits and vegetables are high in vitamins and antioxidants, while other foods have "toxins."
If you only consume fruits and vegetables for a week, then the fruits and vegetables provide nutrients while the "toxic, processed foods" leave your system.
Do juice cleanses actually help with weight loss? In the short term, juice cleanses appear to help people lose weight, but this is because a diet consisting of only fruits and vegetables is a restrictive one, no matter how long a person is on this diet. Juice cleanses leave the body in a caloric deficit, But as soon as you go back to eating more normally, the weight will return.
Fasting and Extreme Diets
A third popular detox method is fasting or extreme dieting. The idea behind this scheme is that if you fast, you will "burn fat cells," which detox marketers say contain toxins.
Related: This is why fasting is so popular in the tech sector, and all the ways this new "health craze" is dangerous.
Why are Detoxes and Cleanses so Popular in Today's Diet Culture?
There are a few factors that, when combined, create the perfect market for detox diets and products.
As food has become more processed (in order to preserve it or enhance flavors), there are more artificial ingredients that diet culture has labeled "toxic."
Diet culture has rebranded itself as "healthy" as the idea of "getting skinny" became more negative.
Fitness "influencer" culture is on the rise. These influencers market detox products for commission or develop their own cleanse diets for profit.
As information is more widespread, so is misinformation and pseudoscience. This misinformation is often on posted social media and blogs as a way to get users to buy.
As always, many people are looking for a "quick fix" to lose weight and feel better.
In essence, people and companies with no formal education in biology or nutrition are marketing misinformation and then profiting off of it.
Related: Diet culture promotes detoxing as one way to deal with the "Quarantine 15." Read up on this fatphobic take on weight gain during COVID-19.
What Does the Research say About Detoxing?
First, let's define what a "toxin" is, in terms of health science. A toxin is a poison produced through biological processes. Things like air pollution, nicotine, arsenic in unfiltered water, and waste from natural metabolic waste your cells produce. But research shows that juices and teas won't help your body remove these toxins any faster than it already does. Why?
Because the body has its own natural, built-in detox system! The main organs involved in removing toxins from your body are:
The liver, which turns potentially harmful substances into water-soluble chemicals that can be sweated or excreted through the body
The colon, which houses microbes (or "good bacteria") that help us digest food, get nutrients, and ward off gastrointestinal diseases
The kidneys, which rid the body of unwanted byproducts of natural metabolic processes
And, when it comes to toxins in fat cells, research shows that fat cells, and especially removing them, are not related to the detoxification process.
The Dangers of Detoxing: Physical Side Effects
While detox products and practices are marketed as natural and holistic, in reality they can be very dangerous.
Laxative Abuse
There is a physical and a mental factor of laxative abuse. Physically, laxatives do appear to help you lose weight, but as soon as you stop using them, the stomach actually holds in food, digests it, and extracts nutrients normally. This means that the "flat stomach" so many detox dieters crave goes away once they stop using laxatives.
On the other hand, there is a psychological craving for the sensation of "emptiness" and "purity." Some companies and influencers even associate laxative use with a spiritual cleansing, which makes the desire to abuse laxatives even stronger.
Dehydration
Diuretics and laxatives, which are found in detox teas, pills, and supplements, have a dehydration effect. They cause users to urinate and defecate more, so they spend most of their time in a state of dehydration.
Electrolyte Imbalances
Dehydration on its own causes decreased blood flow throughout the body. Less blood flow can cause fatigue, brain fog, irritability, a rapid heart rate, fainting, and muscle weakness, as well as a host of other symptoms. But there's another really important function of water in your body — electrolyte balancing.
Electrolytes are minerals such as potassium and sodium. Electrolytes regulate your heart rate, retain acid-base balance in the body, and maintain a correct ratio of water and salt. If your electrolytes are unbalanced, you could have a seizure, heart arrhythmia, brain swelling, muscle weakness and paralysis — you could even die.
Gastrointestinal Problems
The chronic use of diuretics and laxatives:
Puts a strain on your gastrointestinal system
Can cause constipation, as chronic artificial bowel stimulation damages nerves in the large intestine
Causes a combination of diarrhea, gas, and constipation, which may result in sores and bleeding from the rectal area
Weakens the colon, which causes your body to rely on these substances to excrete waste (also known as "lazy colon")
Can cause infections, as laxatives strip away the intestine's protective wall of mucus and its store of bacteria, which are necessary for immune health
Malnutrition
Chronic diuretic and laxative abuse causes food and water to pass through without giving the body a chance to strip food of important nutrients and to use water for rehydration.
Juice cleanses also restrict proteins and fats needed to properly fuel the muscles, brain, and digestive system. Fasting and low-calorie diets are restrictive in general, which leaves the body susceptible to malnutrition.
Detoxing and Eating Disorders
According to research, detoxing and "cleanses" are highly associated with the development of eating disorders. The most observed eating disorders that arise from these fad diets are the following:
Bulimia/ Purging Disorders
Detox products are so easy to get. They are online, in "health stores," even sitting on shelves at the grocery store. It's easy to buy and use these products as a form of purging. And they're easy to get addicted to, which can lead to a full-blown eating disorder.
Orthorexia
Diet culture perpetuates the idea that the substances in processed food can kill you, so you have to "eat clean," "detoxify," and in the case of Juice cleanses, eat only fresh produce. But "clean" diets and cutting out food groups often leads to orthorexia.
This life-threatening restrictive eating disorder is characterized by the obsession over the quality of food. Orthorexia can also cause malnutrition and shift into anorexia nervosa.
Your body knows how to take care of itself.
It has a natural detoxification system. So trust your body, not "health" companies trying to profit from pseudoscience.
If you or someone you love is suffering from an eating disorder, take the first step today and talk to someone about recovery, or simply learn more about the holistic eating disorder recovery programs we offer.