Do Detox Diets and Cleanses Really Work?

Doing a detox is less about getting into your skinny jeans — although of course it’s wonderful when that happens. A true detox means ridding our bodies of the chemicals and toxins that keep us addicted to certain kinds of foods, make us gain weight, and trigger inflammation in the body.

So detox emphasizes on “cleansing” the bad, but in a way that corroborates the good with sustainable, lifelong habits.  You may need it to abate diseases or to fight existing medications for being diabetic or overweight.

The American diet is full of literally thousands of processed “ingredients,” chemicals and additives that didn’t even exist 50 years ago, when the FDA last revamped their food regulations. The processed food industry has formulated and engineered these ingredients to invent food-like substances that drive sales and maximize profit.

The typical detox smoothie recipe is full of vitamins, antioxidants, fiber, and other healthful nutrients giving your body a detoxifying flush. They also contain large amounts of water, which helps to hydrate your body and boost metabolism. Thus, detox diets do help to flush out toxins from your body.

BENEFITS:

A detox is not a starvation diet. Smoothies can act as a full meal replacement and are made with leafy greens, fruits and healthy proteins

You will generally consume less calories with a smoothie detox diet because you are filling your body with nutrient dense foods rather high calorie sugar and carbohydrate foods. The green smoothie calories that you do consume are healthy and can be processed by the body more efficiently which can lead to healthy, sustainable weight loss.

The green detox smoothies use certain fruits and vegetables full of antioxidants and other nutrients that support better detoxification in the body.

Most detox plans have you drink up to 3 smoothies a day for your 3 meals. Apart from weight loss, you’ll have better sleep, clearer skin shaprer mind stabilized blood sugar and more!

SIDE EFFECTS:

Many detox diets involve severely limiting your calories and not eating nutrient rich foods for days or weeks. This is definitely not healthy and there is usually no medical evidence supporting these restrictive detox diets. They don’t result in lasting weight loss and can be risky to your health.

Initial tiredness and low energy is a common side effect that people experience when starting a g detox diet. These withdrawal symptoms result from cutting out processed sugars and caffeine and eating a clean diet. Once you get past the first couple days you will see a rebound in energy and no longer feel sluggish.

Other symptoms like bloating, constipation, headaches, and diarrhea can also occur the first couple days as your gets used to the clean diet. Generally, it helps to follow a proven  detox plan with balanced recipes so that you are getting enough calories and nutrition.