Are Detox Diets Just Another Fad?

Detox diets promise to rid your body of all its dreadful toxins. There are numerous detox diets to choose from along with supplemental pills or herbal concoctions. These diets can also cause rapid weight loss but they usually advertise specifically about body cleansing. Body cleansing flushes your body of poisons and toxins that have accumulated in our bodies. Detox diets can consist of a regimen that can be harmful. Detox diets, like fad diets deliver a lot of empty promises. A detox diet sometimes involves fasting which can have dangerous side effects.

Fad diets why are they bad is because they advertise as a healthy detox method, when they can be harmful. The premise of detoxifying is that we must rid our bodies of toxins from the manufactured foods that we eat. Some detox diets even claim anti-aging benefits. Detox diets are often associated with the rich and famous who go to exotic spas to detoxify. What they are really doing is dropping weight fast.

History reveals that Hipocrates promoted fasting to cleanse the body. Fasting has been around for centuries. Fasting was done for religious reasons, in part to purify the body.

Detox diets or Cleansing diets often consist of some period of fasting. There are juice detoxifying diets and colon detoxifying diets. Other detox diets include lemonade detox, maple syrup detox, or a diet that only allows fruits and vegetables or a certain fruit or vegetable.

There are no proven medical benefits to detoxifying the body. There are not enough studies done to test the safety of detox dieting. The medical experts do say that many people should avoid them such as children, pregnant women, people with liver disease and diabetes. Anyone with a chronic medical disorder should avoid them.

Everyone should avoid detox dieting. Medical experts say that our own body detoxifies all by itself if you have a healthy, liver, lymph system, kidneys and hormone levels. The human body has this amazing capability and detox diets are not necessary or promoted by medicine.

Detox dieting has the same ingredients of any other fad diet. The signs of a fad diet include: they are meant to be short term, drastic calorie restriction, diet promises are not met, they focus on one food type or group over another, cause rapid weight loss and do not teach you anything about how to eat a healthy balanced diet.

More than three days of detoxifying or fasting can decrease the bodys supply of vitamins and minerals. One scientific study showed there was no difference in the blood chemistry of the detox dieters than those on a normal diet. Blood chemistry can be tested to monitor how the liver and kidneys are functioning.

Fad diets why are they bad is because a detox diet is just another fad diet and an unhealthy way to lose weight. There are no medical benefits and to many harmful risks such nutritional deficiencies, dehydration, electrolyte imbalance and weakness.

The only way to lose weight is on a healthy balanced plan with exercise, which can than guide you into a healthy way to eat for the rest of your life. Detox diets are not necessary and can be harmful. Our bodies detoxify themselves.

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What can I use the fruit/vegetable stuff for that’s left over when doing a juice fast?

I’m doing a month-long detox program, that includes one week of a liquid-juice fast, as well as drinking fresh juices everyday for a month. I’m also trying to go as organic as possible, which means that for each glass of juice I make, I’ve got a cup or more of the left-over fibrous vegetable matter in the juicer…relatively expensive vegetable matter since it’s all supposed to be organic! I’ve never been one to just throw out useful things, so I’m wondering if there is anything I can do with this stuff! I know I can use the applesauce to substitute in baking, but what about carrots, spinach, beets, oranges, tomatoes, etc? My mom suggested that I make soup, but it ends up acting like a thickening agent, and regardless, if I made it all into soup, I’d have a cupboard full of it!

For carrots I like to make it into a carrot cake, or even a carrot bread, If you do a zuchinni you could also make that into bread. Really any fruit or veg you can make into a bread.

Soup is a great idea. And it would be tastey too.

You could also put the left over grounds into a compost pile and use it to fertalize your garden. You arent eating it, but at least you would be putting it to use.

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