The hazards and precautions of Detox Diets

Rate it!

Currently 3.222222 /5 Stars.
1
2
3
4
5

13 comments View Comments Post a Comment

References

By Poonam Vaswani
Sr. Dietitian NutritionVista.com

Dr Sunil Jhangiani, founder and Medical Director of NV was recently asked questions on detox diets by Shweta Taneja for Live Mint online- "Disguised as Detox"
http://www.livemint.com/2010/07/26205013/Disguised-as-detox.html

Here are some of his responses on Detox diets.
“Such long and intensive detox plans are actually marketing tools which disguise extreme weight-loss diets,” according to Sunil Jhangiani, US-based founder of Nutrition Vista (www.nutritionvista.com), an online consultant website for diets. “It’s more fashionable to say that one’s undergoing a detox than saying that one’s on a weight-loss diet,” he said in a phone interview. According to him, the celebrities on detox diets actually want rapid weight loss, which is unhealthy in its drastic measures. “Most of the people undertaking these diets become addicted to the weight loss they see in the initial period. However, the rapid loss of weight weakens your body systems and reduces your stamina drastically,” Dr Jhangiani adds.

The key thing to remember before embarking on a detox diet such as the Master Cleanse is that once you are back to your normal routine, the lost weight also comes back, which will make you want to go back on the detox diet. “This results in a yo-yo movement in which the diet soon becomes not about detoxification of the body, but about remaining thin,” explains Dr Jhangiani.

Occasional detox is a good thing
A good detox diet is not about starving oneself but eating things that will help clean your body’s filters. “Urban lifestyle puts the digestive system, liver, kidney and skin under a lot of stress so it’s a good thing to give them relief every now and then,” says Dr Jhangiani.

NutritionVista

User Comments

03 July, 2011 | growth-flexv | Reply

Cool Post! Very informative dude. I saw this site while browsing and think it may be relevant http://www.thegrowthflex.com/ keep up the good work!

16 November, 2010 | Naina Bhargava, Ossining, NY | Reply

Drinking these juices is plain dumb and dangerous. It is usually people who are overweight who try out these fads based on someones recommendation. A lot of people who are overweight quite often also have undiagnosed issues of high blood sugar or blood pressure and these kind of juices can cause major spikes or crashes in blood sugar levels that may prove to be dangerous.

This kind of pseudo cleansing puts a lot of stress on your body, hormones, metabolic rate etc as you are not providing the body the sustenance it is used to and needs. That's beside the fact that they taste disgusting and nauseating.
So, be careful. Dont mess with nature, eat sensibly and a little less quantity and exercise.

13 November, 2010 | Parimala Keremath | Reply

My mom fasts every Thursday and Saturday. She does not eat or drink anything from morning till evening. After the evening puja, by 7.00 pm she has a cup of poha or sabudana upma or usal with a glass of milk. Is this the right way of fasting. She does not even drink water between 6 am to 6 pm.

13 November, 2010 | Mrinal | Reply

Hi Parimala,
A few questions our dietitians might need from you -
Your mom's age, does she have any health conditions and how many years has she been doing this?
Also, is she doing this for religious reasons or as a way to cut back on what she is consuming.

15 November, 2010 | Parimala Keremath | Reply

My mom is 61 yrs old and a diabetic, but her sugar levels are always under control. Her weight is normal. She has been doing this for about 20 yrs now and does it for religious reasons.

03 August, 2010 | Vijayalakshmi Reddy | Reply

Hello,

First I would like to compliment your team for coming up with such great and helpful articles. They are very lay man friendly. I am a regular follower of your website.

I have three questions here :

1. Is consuming a balanced meal, more foods coming from fruits and vegetables, whole grains and pulses, low fat diary products and especially the Indian herbs and spices ( we South Indians cook specific preparations with specific spices) act as a detox diet - meaning cleansing the system everyday or keeping it clean

2. Is it necessary to use mild laxatives and diuretics along with fruits and vegetable, no grain diet to cleanse the system

3. Doesn't our system get cleansed on a daily basis by just including lots of water, green tea, fresh fruits and vegetable juices in our daily diet

03 August, 2010 | Geetanjali Kelkar | Reply

Dear Ms Reddy,
1. A balanced meal contains an appropriate proportion of all the six major nutrients protein, carbs, fats, vitamins and minerals and water. The addition of spices to various Indian foods have many medicinal properties and help to cleanse the system naturally without any hazards. Moreover, these spices also have certain therapeutic benefits as cholesterol lowering,glucose control and are anticarcinogenic.
2. If our daily diet is rich in fibre- whole grain cereals,sprouts, fruits and vegetables and adequate water. The cleansing and flushing out toxins is done routinely. So there is no need of a mild laxative to cleanse the system.
3. As mentioned in the article there is actually no need of a specialized diet to remove the toxins sludge.
Eat healthy, exercise and be fit. There is absolutely no need to go to a spa to detox.

03 August, 2010 | Mrinal | Reply

Thank you Ms. Reddy.
Our efforts only matter when we are able to connect with our readers such as yourself and get positive feedback.

Regarding your query's, I will let our dietetic team answer your questions.

02 August, 2010 | Mohit_B | Reply

These detox diets are crap - why would you want to drink these green concoctions and green pills with unknown stuff and get unstoppable diarrhea.
Nuts!
I believe in high intensity exercise to sweat toxins out daily and drink plenty of fluids specially water to cleans my system.

02 August, 2010 | Ila Mansukhani, Seattle, WA | Reply

I visit a facility for 10 days every year in Chennai- where they offer yoga twice a day with a detox ayurveda meal plan. Each meal is 1/3 smaller in serving size. also quite liquidy- very little grain if at all.

I do lose weight religiously every single year (about 3 kg)- but also do feel the diarrhea is a contributing factor to my weight loss.
Those 10 days I spend a lot of timein the bathroom as well. Yes, my skin feels good at the end.

there are also some juices we drink that are bitter with aftertaste but they help clean my digestive tract.

I have asked what the ingredients are but was politely informed not to ask again.
But, I do wonder if I should be doing this or not.

03 August, 2010 | Poonam Vaswani | Reply

Hello Ms Mansukhani,
A lot of people believe in taking detox programmes to rid their bodies of toxins.
Like you have mentioned, the number of calories are restricted. Also, the amount of carbs given are much lower than the body is accustomed to eating. A large amount of fluid is lost from the body when cleansers, laxatives and diuretics are administered to flush out the toxins. All these are together bound to lead to weight loss.
The body has an excellent mechanism of flushing out toxins and it is not really necessary to go through these processes, as long as you lead a healthy lifestyle and eat a balanced diet.

02 August, 2010 | Aparajitha | Reply

As far as I remember our traditional methods also work on the same principle. Just so that we follow a system, fasting is attached to religious programs, Some times a days fast, sometimes fruit and diary or sometimes only fruits are permitted. So coming to think of it is a kind of Detox don't you think?

03 August, 2010 | Poonam Vaswani | Reply

Yes you are absolutely right. Fasts are a kind of detoxification of the body, but only if carried out according to traditional principles. Have you noticed the way people fast these days? It appears to be more like a "feast". They eat all kinds of fried and fatty savouries & sweets which probably add to the load of toxins in the body .

Post Comments

Contact Name:

E-mail:

(Will show your Gravatar icon)

Comments:

Notify me when new comments are added

User Rules

Dear User,

This is to inform you that this part of the site is moderated, and your comments will be published after the approval of the moderators. Your text comments can be modified or deleted at any time. All comments that are posted are moderated by paid employees to ensure appropriate behavior and monitor and prevent abuse and disrespect of users and readers. The moderators also ensure that all questions asked are forwarded to and responded by employees in a timely manner and by the appropriate and qualified employees. The moderators are the dietitians listed under "The NV Dietetic Team"

All users are by default considered as non medical professionals, unless explicitly stated. If you are a health professional giving medical information as a platform user, please list your status as a medical professional so as to be clearly identified.

Please note - We recommend you not include any personal data and will remove all advertising for a site or product.

All platform users and moderators must behave at all times with respect and honesty. If comments are inappropriate moderators may intervene and if a platform users is banned they will be warned or notified before being banned.

Please note regarding response time - The moderator’s is notified automatically with details the instant a comment is posted.

'The information provided on the NutritionVista.com website is designed to complement, not replace, the relationship between a patient and his/her own physician.' The minimum age for the use or participation in these platforms is 18 years of age and is strictly adhered to. By posting a comment all users of this platform undertake to disseminate only information that is true and correct in light of their knowledge.

Tags: Antioxidants - Anti Aging, Diet, Eat Healthy, Food Fads, Health Hazards, Healthy Foods, Nutritional Myths, Obesity / Weight Loss

© 2007 - 2024 NutritionVista.com. All rights reserved. A single copy of these materials may be reprinted for noncommercial personal use only. All articles and content written by the Nutritionvista.com team for NutritionVista.com are the sole property of J.L.S Healthcare Pvt. Ltd. Content may not be copied without express permission to do so. If you want to link back to an article, please ensure a working link to the article title is used and is functioning at all times.