Weighing in on detox diets

Captain Jones felt tired, achy, and overweight — no way to be before the Army physical fitness test. She decided to follow a detox diet one month before the APFT to undo the damage caused by months of indulgence.

Following a three-day water fast, she put herself on a diet where she ate only one type of fruit at each meal. She ate grapes for breakfast, melon at lunch, freshly pressed orange juice at 3 p.m. and bananas for supper. It seemed like the perfect solution. It wasn’t. Instead of having more energy, she became light-headed, listless and irritable.

Why wasn’t this detox diet working for Captain Jones? After all, entertainer Beyonce made headlines when she reportedly lost 20 pounds in a matter of weeks to prepare for her role in “Dreamgirls.” Her meals consisted of a concoction of maple syrup mixed with water, lemon juice and cayenne pepper — also known as the lemon detox.

Introduced more than 30 years ago by naturopath Stanley Burroughs, the diet makes claims that it leads to weight loss, cleanses the body of toxins, improves concentration and increases energy.

Nowadays, you can find dozens of detox diet books on the market. A query on-line led to 231 books. Bloggers describe them with much detail. Health spas promote them. Celebrities including Angelina Jolie, Gwyneth Paltrow and Cate Blanchett reportedly use them. And a query on the Internet for “herbal detoxing” led to 33 products, some listed as “cocktails” to cleanse, detoxify and refortify.

Believers of detox diets say the human body is continually presented with toxins from such things as junk food, pollution, cigarette smoke, pesticides, food additives, alcohol and caffeine. They believe as these toxins build up in the bodys digestive, lymph and gastrointestinal systems, a person feels tired, experiences headaches, has dull skin and gains weight. They also believe a person is at increased risk for chronic diseases such as cancer.

The basic concept with detox diets centers around giving up foods thought to contain toxins and purging the system. Believers claim removing these toxins from the body leads to more energy, feeling good, glowing skin and weight loss. Not bad, if it were really true. 

Unfortunately, there isn’t any scientific evidence to back up these benefits.
Although detox diets vary, they often begin with some version of a fast — that is, giving up food for two or three days and then gradually reintroducing certain foods back into the diet, often fruits and vegetables.

They may also suggest a person perform colonic irrigations, a procedure similar to an enema, to clean out the colon. Some diets recommend taking herbal supplements to help with the cleansing process. Most eliminate alcohol, caffeine and processed foods and encourage drinking more water to help curb the appetite.

Certainly eating more fruits and vegetables, which are high in fiber, and drinking more water, may help move things through the GI tract. Fruits and vegetables also contain essential vitamins, minerals, and fiber that may help protect the body from chronic diseases, thus the government’s “Five A Day Program” encouraging Americans to eat five to nine servings every day. For more information, visit www.5aday.gov.

Less caffeine, alcohol and refined sugars may eliminate energy crashes often associated with these foods. And, following one of these diets might help a person realize how much junk food they really do eat, possibly leading to long-term healthy lifestyle changes.

People who fast for several days may drop pounds, but most of it will be water weight. Once the fast is over and a person begins eating again, the weight comes back on. Fasting for longer periods can also slow down a person’s metabolism, making it harder to keep the weight off or to lose weight later.
Eating lots of fruits and vegetables and drinking lots of water is not a bad idea, but the body needs nutrients from other foods, including protein from lean meats, poultry, fish or beans and calcium from low-fat or fat-free dairy products. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s food guide pyramid can help with choosing the foods in the right amounts, visit www.mypyramid.gov.
People who have provided testimonials to feeling better after following a detox diet may have been eating a poor diet with lots of junk food to begin with. Any improvements cited from such people only suggest the effectiveness of a detox diet over an unhealthy diet, and not that it is the ideal diet for well-being.

Beyonce recommends women not follow her maple syrup diet, stating, “As soon as it was over, I gained the weight back.” Instead, she urges women to follow a more sensible weight-loss program.

Basically, Beyonce drank sugared water for days on end. Of course, she lost weight as a result of limiting calories to less than 500 calories a day, but more importantly, these drinks contain no protein, fiber, vitamins or minerals needed for good health.

As Captain Jones found out, fasting and then following a severely restricted diet is not the best way to prepare for the APFT. She would have done better by consistently practicing healthy behaviors such as eating a variety of nutrient-rich foods, drinking plenty of fluids, getting adequate sleep and exercising regularly.

For more help, make an appointment with a registered dietician at your local medical treatment facility.