You’ve no doubt heard about weight loss detoxes, also known as cleanses. Celebrities pop up online and in magazines all of the time, claiming that they lost a significant amount of weight in a short period of time simply by going through a detox. The real question is: do these detoxes work for everyone? Are they something that you should try or are they a bad idea?
Read on to learn everything that you need to know about losing weight via detoxing… and more!
What Is a Weight Loss Detox?
Sometimes called weight loss cleanses, a weight loss detox is a very restrictive diet plan that is designed to last for a short time.
These diets often consist of eating very little (sometimes nothing at all) or drinking yourmeals in the form of special juices, teas, and beverages to help clean out your digestive system. Some detoxes are designed to remove certain toxins from your body to promote a healthy diet.
Since you don’t ingest a lot of calories during a detox, you lose weight. Not only do you avoid certain foods and consume mostly beverages, but some detoxes include enemas,supplements, and even laxatives to further help clean out your body.
Other detoxifying eating plans are focused on eating and drinking antioxidant-rich whole food ingredients like berries, greens, green tea, apple cider vinegar, and lemon water. These are meant to beat cravings, cut bloating, and increase your dietary fiber intake.
All of these help you quickly drop belly fat as well, which is why some people turn to wellness detoxes in order to get ready for bikini season or a special event.
Weight Loss Detox or Cleanse Diet?
Both terms — weight loss detox and weight loss cleanse — tend to be tossed around indiscriminately. These diets have a few things in common, but they also feature several differences.
What Is a Detox?
A detox is designed to help you rid your system of toxins that are attached to the foods you eat. These can include everything from heavy metals, allergens, chemicals, and pesticides that can interfere with healthy eating and weight management.
In addition, detoxes tend to be aimed at specific organs. For example, the liver, colon, pancreas, and kidneys are the most targeted organs when people are planning a detox. However, the digestive system as a whole can be the target of the detox as well. It all depends on the specific detoxification plan and where you think these toxins are lurking in your body.
What Is a Weight Loss Cleanse?
Weight loss cleanses are meant to help you clean out your digestive system as a whole to remove the influence of a particular food that may be causing you problems.
Cleanses often target a build-up of problematic compounds that could be sabotaging your energy levels, messing with your fat-burning abilities, or even subconsciously changing your eating habits.
For example, some cleanses cut out gluten, while others eliminate soy, dairy, or sugar. By following a very restrictive diet for a few days to a week, you not only lose weight but also remove any influence that these foods have had on your gut health and body as a whole.
What Do Weight Loss Detox and Cleanse Diet Have in Common?
Both detoxes and cleanses are designed to solve problems that you may be having and offer specific health benefits. If you’re sensitive to soy or gluten and don’t realize it, then a cleanse that allows these foods to work their way out of your system may be in order. If you have migraines or are dealing with perceived hormonal imbalances, then a detox might be the solution.
Do Weight Loss Detoxes Really Work?
This is where things get a bit tricky. A weight loss detox can do exactly what its name implies: help you lose weight. If you’re five pounds away from your ideal wedding dress fit or you’re about to go on vacation and want to look your best in a bikini, then a detox will help.
However, it’s not a magic solution. A detox won’t make you drop half of your body weight in a week. In addition, whether or not it truly cleanses your body of these toxins is up for debate. A very low-calorie diet for a short period of time or a diet plan where you fast every other day can accomplish the same thing just as a fast.
Detoxing According to the Experts
As you can imagine, the experts have a few issues with weight loss detoxes. For one, they state that the body cleanses itself of toxins naturally, without having to resort to such drastic measures.
Whether those toxins get in through the foods that you eat, your skin when you touch something, or the air you breathe, your body can take care of them. Your body’s cleansing of the kidneys, colon, and liver, is a decent enough job on its own.
In addition, many of the things that people claim detoxes remove from your system aren’t really causing problems. Sure, your migraines could be caused by environmental factors like chemical exposure, but they might have another cause, such as hormonal issues due to perimenopause.
Also, aluminum and other metals tend to not cluster in the body. If they do end up getting ingested in any way, shape or form, then your system will deal with them in their own way.
Adding to this, very low-calorie diets aren’t sustainable for long periods of time. It simply isn’t healthy to eat so few calories for so long. You can go on a week-long weight loss detox, but any longer than that and your body will think it’s starving and begin to cling to every calorie that you eat. It’s best to only follow these diets for very short periods of time.
The Potential Dangers of a Detox
If you follow a weight loss detox properly and for a short period of time, you might be just fine. However, there are some potential dangers that you need to look out for, such as dehydration.
Since you’ll only be drinking very specific beverages, you run the risk of getting dehydrated, especially if you add laxatives and other supplements to the mix. Make sure to drink plenty of water while undergoing your detox.
In addition, following a restrictive detox for too long a time can lead to a number of health problems. You could suffer from low blood pressure or low blood sugar, among other things. Both of these can have very serious consequences. If you feel faint, start by having asnack, and then see a medical professional.
Another danger? You’ll put that weight back on once you finish your detox, unless you make some drastic changes to your usual diet plan. Going from one extreme to the other isn’t the best for your body.
If You Really Want To Try a Detox
For those who want to attempt a weight loss detox, there are some points that you should keep in mind:
Follow a Plan
There are numerous detoxes out there, from the Master Cleanse (where you drink water with maple syrup, lemon juice and cayenne pepper) to the juice cleanse, which involves drinking nothing but specialized juices for a week. As long as there’s a plan in place, you have some general instructions to follow.
Check With Your Doctor
If you plan on doing a weight loss detox, it’s always a good idea to check with your doctor first. You don’t want to attempt one of these diets if you’re at any risk for adverse health effects, like low blood sugar or high or low blood pressure.
The extreme status of a detox diet might make your health worse. No one wants to end up in the hospital from a detox.
Drink Plenty of Water
Although the point of a weight loss detox is to drink specialized liquids and eat certain, low-calorie foods for a week, you still need to stay hydrated. Going from eating whatever you desire to a very restrictive diet plan can make you very dehydrated, very quickly. Dehydration can land you in the hospital if you’re not careful.
Do Light Exercises
If you plan on detoxing, you won’t be eating enough to sustain a full workout. This is not the time to begin an extreme cardio and weightlifting routine.
Your body will rebel, and you could end up in the hospital suffering from exhaustion, among other things. If you really want to exercise while going through a weight loss detox, keep it simple and only do some low impact workouts. Yoga is a excellent option.
These are just a few examples of what you should do if you want to try aweight loss detox plan. It’s important to do it right, because a lot of things might go wrong.
Making It Through a Weight Loss Detox
A detox of any kind can be tough to get through, due to how restrictive it is. You need a lot of willpower. By the end of the first day, you might be so hungry that you’re willing to break your detox plan.
If you do take a detour from your plan, that is okay. It could mean that you need to modify your detox plan or choose another way to lose weight. Everyone is different. We all have to find what works best for us.
Even if you choose not to do a detox plan and just want to eat healthy that’s okay too. My Fit Foods can help you on your fitness journey with healthy food options that will keep you satisified and full.
Sources:
Weight Loss Cleanses: Do They Work? | Healthline
Dehydration: Causes, Symptoms, Treatment, and More | Healthline
4 Things You Should Know About Cleanses, Detoxes, and Fasts | MD Anderson Cancer Center