Health | Detox, what is it and are there actually any benefits?
Detox. It’s a health and beauty buzzword, something that encourages you to restart and refresh your wellness, but does detoxing actually have any benefits?
Defined as a process or period time in which a person abstains from or rids the body of supposedly toxic or unhealthy substances, and in the world of wellness these can come in many forms. From high end detox resort trips to skincare and 3 day do- it- at- home diet detoxes, marketing surrounding detoxes often has us tempted to take up the challenge. The basic premise of the wellness detox is to improve diet and lifestyle and help a person feel healthier or lose weight and the promise of ‘fast weight loss’ and ‘quick energy bursts’ sounds great it theory, but when you read on and learn that you in fact can only drink detox smoothies and juices for the next week, they do sound slightly less appealing.
Temporarily removing certain food groups in an attempt to eliminate toxins, again sounds great in theory, but it actually has no scientific backing behind it! Our bodies actually do a good enough job of removing toxins on their own, without any extra help, meaning our bodies don’t actually need to be detoxed! In fact, our bodies have four major detoxification organs in the form of the liver, the kidneys, the colon and the lungs, which each help in removing toxins from your body in different ways.
So fad diet and juice detoxing is a no, but could there be a healthy way to detox? If using the term to refer to reducing general intake of junk/fast food, increasing your intake of plant-based foods and fresh fruit and vegetables then yes maybe. However, this should come as gradual lifestyle change, and considering just doing this for a week or a few days won’t actually make any real difference to your overall health.
Eating a healthy diet full of vitamins and minerals, as well as getting suitable exercise is the best proven way to improve your health, especially in the long term. But remember everything is ok in moderation and there is absolutely no need to cut out random food groups (that you enjoy eating) in the name of detox!
"I’m Aimee, Im an MSc Marketing student from Cardiff and I’m the Planthaya Social Media intern over on Twitter and Pinterest. I also run my own beauty blog peahesandgleam.com!"