This episode of DNews is brought to you by HARRY’S
When you hear the word "detox" or "cleanse" do you get irrationally angry?
Well c'mon get happy!
Let's break this down like the digestive system!
Detoxes tell us on our diet is filled with "toxins" and "chemicals," that need to be
cleaned out.
Their solution is to eat raw things, or only drink juice, or whatever…
Detoxing is a huge industry that has been completely debunked by medical science, but
that doesn't stop us doing it.
If you are a drug addict, medical science can help clear your system with a detox, but
if not -- buying dime-store online direct-to-consumer health fad detox is not going to do anything
helpful.
Pills and potions to improve the body have been sold for centuries; and every time science
looks into it, it's obvious they're selling snake oil.
The human body is an incredible thing -- it can take in any number of edible, drinkable
and breathable things which are low-level poisons, and process them.
You're probably thinking sugar!
alcohol!
fast food!
But, oxygen, salt, and water are poisons!
In high enough quantities, each of those can kill.
It's all in the dosage.
Everything in moderation, is a great way to look at it.
For example, alcohol got its moniker as a poison from the Women's Christian Temperance
Union, The Anti-Saloon League and the KKK[1] to get people to stop consuming.
Sure, in massive quantities alcohol will poison us, but so will salt or oxygen!
Plus, popular "detox" foods like tomatoes and broccoli contain cyanide!
And drinking nothing but fructose -- the sugar which makes fruit juice sweet -- does not
go over well in humans.
In reality, the human body comes with structures designed specifically to clean and filter
the blood and digestive systems -- the liver and the kidneys[2].
They do a great job keeping us clean.
When we consume anything, the kidneys and liver filter out any "toxins" and send them
out of the body as waste.
*hands* done.
A "detox diet" doesn't help the kidneys do this job any better.
According to the Guardian[3] and Harvard Medical School[4], detox kits are often designed to
make you FEEL like you're getting something for your money, even if you're not.
For example, there are no little bits of poop stuck in your colon that need to be cleansed,
but some colon-cleansing tablets claim to have a polymerising agent that makes your
poop stick together in a single piece; so you can then admire it and feel accomplished--
actually, that sounds pretty awesome.
BUT IT'S NOT HEALTHIER.
Even though the detoxing itself isn't doing anything helpful, the act often has people
reporting they feel healthier or have more energy, or even have weight loss!
All these things are possible, some might be a placebo…
But in the end, it could also be down to the highly restrictive forms of many of these
diets.
Intermittent fasting has shown some benefits[5]… and if you're restricting nutrients you're
essentially fasting.
During a fast, your metabolism drops, and your body puts more resources into your brain
power to help you find food.
In modern society that means more energy flow for your neurons[6]!
The reason people keep doing it is a mystery, maybe it's because we want to believe we have
control over our bodies, or because we feel like we have to make up for eating badly,
or because we hear about pollution and toxins in our environment[7], or because taking a
pill seems easier than exercise… or something else…
Who knows.
The best way to "detox" your body, is not to drink only juice for a week, that's for
SURE; but rather to eat healthily, exercise outside.
We couldn't have made this episode of DNews without support from Harry's.
Valentines Day is just around the corner and Harry's is offering a special Winston shave
kit that comes with three blades, a personalized chrome razor and really awesome smelling shaving
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The kit makes a great v-day gift and DNewsers get 15 bucks off with the coupon code dnewsvalentine.
If you want to change how you shave check out Harry's.com and stop paying a ton of money
for razors and blades.
Do you have friends who "cleanse" what do you tell them?
Did you do one?
Do you care about the science?!