Anathema to the detox dieter: a burger with beef patties, bacon, cheese and sauce — 1,360 calories, 91g fat, 235mg cholesterol, 13g sugar and 1,830mg sodium. Picture: AFP Photo/Paul J. Richards Source: AFP
THEY promise to help you shed weight and purge your body of chemicals that are poisoning your body and mind.
But the only thing detox products will help you lose is money, a scientist has claimed.
From diets based on raw fruit and vegetables, to foot spas and colonic hydrotherapy, there are dozens of treatments and products that claim to boost health by cleansing the body of chemicals.
Marketing is likely to become particularly fierce in the next few weeks, as millions who over-indulge during the Christmas period make new Year’s resolutions to be healthier.
But detox diets and other treatments are not the answer, an expert has warned.
David Bender, an emeritus professor of nutritional biochemistry, said the body is capable of detoxing itself without extra help.
He says the claims made about detoxing are at best unfounded and more likely undeniably false.
Some detox methods may even be dangerous, he claims. in his article "the Detox Delusion", in Society of Biology magazine The Biologist, Professor Bender argues that the term detox has gone from being applied to a chemical reaction involved in the production of urine, to "a meaningless marketing term".
He picks apart the claims made by those promoting detox diets. such diets usually involve eating large amounts of fruit, vegetables and juices, while drinking large amounts of water.
They claim to boost health in ways such as, raising energy levels to allowing the body to focus on self-healing.
Prof Bender, of University College, London, writes: "I am not sure what `self-healing’ is and the idea of `raised energy levels’ is nonsense.
"the philosophy of detox is based on the premise that accumulated toxins cause a sluggish metabolism, weight gain … and so on. There is no magic shortcut for weight loss – you have to eat less and exercise more. It’s that simple."