Why you don’t need a detox to reset your body

What does a detox entail?

“Commercially available detoxes run the gamut, from elimination diets and juice cleanses to bottles of supplements or even enemas,” Nielsen says. While ingredients can vary from item to item, some crop up again and again: “Milk thistle is a popular herb in detox supplements, as it has been traditionally used to support liver function,” she notes. Meanwhile, “some supplements or detox kits may include laxatives or diuretics.”

Whatever the methodology, detoxing is meant to flush out a wide range of contaminants both in- and extrinsic: allergens (like mould, dust and pollen), pathogens (like bacteria, viruses and parasites), chemicals (like pesticides and herbicides), heavy metals (like mercury, arsenic and lead), certain food ingredients (like trans fats, caffeine, alcohol and high fructose corn syrup), chemical byproducts (like nitrogen, carbon dioxide, bile, urea and stool) and excess or superfluous medication. With these bad actors banished, the thinking goes, your health (physical and emotional) will improve. You might notice positive changes in sleep, digestion, concentration, energy and mood, to name a few areas.

Detoxes can span a few days to several weeks and often involve subsisting on juices or liquid mixtures. To be clear, we don’t endorse these regimens; we’re simply outlining the many forms a ‘detox’ can take.

Do detoxes actually work?

While it’s true that modern life exposes us to potential toxins like household chemicals and air pollutants, Nielsen says that detoxification theory is based on a fundamental misunderstanding of human biology and critically flawed as a result. Our bodies are hardly helpless in the face of the offensive we encounter on a daily basis. Rather, we’re naturally “equipped with ways to metabolise toxins to protect us and our cells from damage,” Nielsen explains. “Detoxification never stops; it’s actually a critical part of our normal metabolism.”

In fact, pretty much every system in your body has a way to filter out bad stuff. “Our bowels remove waste from the gut, which includes a lot of spent gut bacteria,” Nielsen says. “Our lungs maintain acid-base balance in our blood as we exhale carbon dioxide. And our livers” (which process alcohol, medication and metabolic waste like spent haemoglobin, the primary protein in red blood cells) “are essentially a waste management facility for our bodies.”

Need a more in-depth example? Take your kidneys. When your body breaks down protein (which contains nitrogen) during digestion, “that nitrogen contributes to something called blood urea nitrogen,” a waste product that can result in health problems like anaemia and high blood pressure in significant amounts, Dada says. In healthy people, that urea nitrogen will be expunged from your body by the kidneys in the form of urine, so as long as your kidneys are working properly, it shouldn’t be a problem.

On top of the fact that your body doesn’t need outside support to eradicate waste in the first place, commercial detoxes generally aren’t performed frequently enough to have any significant benefit, according to Nielsen. Many detox guides suggest detoxing once or twice per year, but anything that “isn’t actually going to have a major impact on our health, particularly when we return to the same conditions that contributed to our ‘toxic load’ in the first place, is not of much use,” Nielsen says. At the same time, detoxing more regularly isn’t advisable either, as it could raise your risk of a range of health issues (more on that in a bit).

Meaning, all those commercial detox products—the juices, the supplements, the enemas? Basically a waste of money. “Things that you can purchase to cleanse your system are not necessary,” Dada says. For “somebody who’s otherwise healthy, who doesn’t have something specific going on with them, there’s nothing that we need to do to intervene. Our bodies have basically got it under control.”

Do detoxes pose any health risks?

Not only are commercial detox products ineffective, they could potentially even be harmful. Various authorities have even taken action against several companies selling detox or cleanse products for this reason. While the list of side effects and health hazards is long, we’ll dig into some of the most pertinent here.

First, an elimination diet or a liquid diet (like a water fast or juice cleanse) can deprive you of necessary fuel and result in rapid weight loss, triggering issues like fatigue and dizziness, according to Dada. If you’re running on fumes, you’re naturally going to feel tired and low-energy, after all. Juice cleanses in particular are “very low in calories” and “don’t represent a balanced approach to nutrition,” Dada says. (And ironically, she notes, our bodies tend to store toxic persistent organic pollutants in fat cells, so rapid weight loss can actually release these into your bloodstream.)

Subsisting on juice alone for a sustained period of time also raises another set of issues, according to Dada. Some detox juices are raw (unpasteurised), meaning they could contain bacteria that could make you sick and some may be high in oxalate, a compound primarily found in leafy green vegetables that can stress the kidneys. In addition, juices could also trigger major fluctuations in your blood sugar, contributing to that overall sense of lethargy. Unlike smoothies, juice typically doesn’t contain fibre, so “that means that we’ll digest it really quickly” (especially in the absence of other nutrients like protein and fats), cueing a vicious cycle of dramatic ups and downs, Dada says.

Then there’s the supplements and detox kits. Supplements as a whole can be dubious because they’re not reviewed for safety or effectiveness and detox supplements specifically “can put a strain on kidney and liver function, as well as alter electrolyte balance in the body,” Nielsen says. Laxatives and diuretics, for example, can promote “fluid loss in the kidneys” and “be quite dangerous.”

Finally, there’s enemas and colonics: procedures that involve injecting liquid into the rectum to relieve constipation or boost digestion. Performed incorrectly, they can do a lot of damage, according to Nielsen. To be specific, they can introduce harmful bacteria, hurt the delicate gut microbiome or even perforate your bowel (a life-threatening condition), she says. Outside of colonoscopy prep, they shouldn’t be on your radar at all.

What should you do instead?

“Detoxes are a good example of how wellness culture really leads us astray from actual wellness,” Nielsen says. While the promise of a magic bullet for your health is always enticing, small behaviour changes like exercising, managing stress and getting enough sleep will really make the biggest difference in how you feel and function. Here are five other healthy habits to adopt as an alternative to a detox:

• Eat more colourful plant foods. Brightly hued fruits and veggies “contain natural antioxidant compounds that help squelch free radicals that can otherwise damage cells,” as well as boost your liver’s filtration abilities, Nielsen says.
• Increase your fibre intake. Odds are you probably need more of this critical carb, which is key to gut health. Starting slow, work your way up to the 25 to 38 grams. Fibre “helps improve elimination so waste isn’t sitting around in your system for longer than it needs to be,” Nielsen says.
• Drink more water. Your kidneys will thank you. “Excess sodium, if not medically necessary, just stresses your kidneys out,” Nielsen says.
• Practice deep breathing. “If you notice you tend to hold your breath or your breath is shallow during the day, take deep breathing breaks to help relieve stress and let your lungs do their pH-balancing job,” Nielsen says.
• Tune out the online noise. Social media is awash in dubious nutrition takes. “Ignore the misinformation we see online about gluten, seed oils or nonorganic food,” Nielsen says. Instead, “focus on decreasing exposure to actual toxins [by] drinking less alcohol, switching to non-plastic food containers or using air filters if you live in areas with pollution.”