To detox or not…
… demystified in this post!
Most weight loss programs and nutritionists in India tell you that you need to “detox” your body before you begin losing weight.
So they sell you a weight loss program and give you a 10-day long detox program. You think –
“Wow, I’m going to get rid of all the toxins and lose weight faster! Amazing!”
Truth?
Bull ****!
That 10-day detox is nothing more than a fad (apart from being a scam). A fad that’s been borrowed from U.S. based companies which blatantly cheat and lie to their customers.
Their actual diet programs may or may not be effective, but certainly none of their detox programs is not readying you for your weight loss journey.
In fact, most mainstream consumers are not aware of this fact, but detoxing has been debunked by the scientific community long ago…
Here’s an anecdote from an article from The Guardian that tells how clueless the very companies that sell detox programs are about ‘detoxing’:
“In 2009, a network of scientists assembled by the UK charity Sense about Sciencecontacted the manufacturers of 15 products sold in pharmacies and supermarkets that claimed to detoxify. The products ranged from dietary supplements to smoothies and shampoos. When the scientists asked for evidence behind the claims, not one of the manufacturers could define what they meant by detoxification, let alone name the toxins.”
Let us tell you why we have been constantly referring to these detox programs as scams and baits –
- Lungs
- Kidneys
- Liver
The most important function of these guys is to keep your body free of alien substances which do not belong to your system.
Know what these substances are called?
Toxins!
Your lungs deal with air and oxygen without which we cannot live. There are chances that alien particles enter your body through your nose and mouth, and can travel right up to your lungs.
But they do not and cannot stay in your system for more than a few minutes. Those random sneezes and coughs are your body’s mechanism to get rid of these alien particles, toxins out quickly.
If these toxins stay in your body even for a few days, you’d probably die (depending upon what alien particles we are talking about).
Your kidneys and livers work the same way.
They have their own mechanisms to rid your body off alien particles or as they are fancily called – toxins.
Your body is completely capable of cleansing itself naturally and regularly. You need not put in any extra effort in this department.
At any given point in time, your body is almost always working towards being toxin-free.
examine.com says..
“The human body does accumulate low levels of noxious elements, such as heavy metals or certain fat-soluble substances, but it has mechanisms in place to eliminate them over time.”So what are those detox programs in the market all about?
You mean apart from luring you and burning a hole in your pocket?
Nothing but a way to fool you so well that you are convinced.
A quote from one of our favourite movies, The Prestige, says,
“The magician takes the ordinary something and makes it do something extraordinary. Now you’re looking for the secret… but you won’t find it, because of course you’re not really looking. You don’t really want to know. You want to be fooled.”
And it is true.
When you have paid for something, you start seeing results despite of their absence AKA the placebo effect.
If you tell your friend that you have purchased a week-long detox program, the stakes are suddenly high. You want to see effects not just for your own good, but to show off that you invested in something that was worth investing.
But it wasn’t.
Why?
When you complete a detox program, any detox program, you will find that your weight actually reduces by a couple of kilos within 8-10 days.
This is what companies use to lure unsuspecting clients.
“If they can make me weigh 2 kilos less in just a week, imagine what they can do in a couple of months!”
If these detox weight loss programs can reduce weight, why are we criticising them?
Because most of the weight lost during that “detox phase” is simply because you are eating at a caloric deficit.
The program probably asks you to go easy on grains, meat, dairy, etc. However, what that does is reduce your overall caloric intake and that’s why you see the scales move.
But…
… when you go back to your normal diet… *whooooshhhh*… all those lost kilos are back with a bang!
“If your goal is weight loss, a detox diet might help you drop a few pounds, but you’ll likely just gain it back. In the end, you haven’t accomplished anything, and it’s certainly not a healthy approach.”
WebMD
Permanent weight loss is a long journey; a journey that needs constant, relentless efforts. It’s all about following a set of simple habits which take time to show effects.
Remember this as a rule of thumb –
If something claims to make you lose weight in an insanely short amount of time, IT IS A SCAM. Period.
Even if it succeeds in delivering, it is not doing so without considerably harming your system. And of course, you will gain your weight faster than you managed to lose it once you stop doing what they ask you to do.
Whereas…
Clean Eating – The biggest open secret of nutrition and the best ‘detox’
It would be so, so wrong to close this blog post without giving you the solution to your weight woes, wouldn’t it?
But the fact is that you already know it!
9 out of 10 of us know the good foods from the bad, what you probably should or not eat…. We know that there is no magical ‘detox water’ or ‘detox drink!’
You know that starving will make you lose weight in 10 days, but make you gain the same amount or more in the next 5!
But we are humans. We have faults. And one fault that we have developed and honed over the years is – finding shortcuts.
Shortcuts work in the real world.
But in the world of nutrition and health, there are simply no shortcuts.
And the best detox you can probably give your body is – Clean Eating.
Clean Eating refers to eating all kinds of real, nutrition-packed foods – veggies, fruits, nuts, whole grains, protein rich foods like chicken, fish, eggs, dairy products etc.
Eating regularly (every 2-3 hours) is also prominent “Clean Eating” feature.