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Debunking Detox| | Introduction
Detoxification diets are becoming more and more mainstream – a very alarming trend indeed. In an era where science, reason, and understanding of our world has grown so much, how can we ignore these very principles when it comes to what we put into our bodies? Of course there are very good reasons why. Most people want to live a healthy lifestyle and get the most out of life. We want to stay in good shape. We want to avoid pestilent diseases. We want to live as long as we possibly can, as well as we possibly can. And why wouldn’t we? Fear of death and disease has been around as long as humans walked the earth; it has allowed us to persevere and thrive for as long as we have.
However, we all know that there are certain unscrupulous individuals that prey on fear. People can and will twist facts and data to prove whatever point they are trying to make – this is all part of laissez faire business world. But before we delve into all of this… bottom line: detox diets are at best likely to be completely useless, and at worst will cause much more harm than good to your body depending on how much of a believer you become.The Detox DietSo what exactly is a detox diet? I must say I am no “expert” in the field so I had to do a bit of research. Since the motivation for writing this piece all came from watching a detox promo on Fox News, I’ll start with the woman who piqued my interest. Martha Vineyard’s Detox Diet[i] claims you can lose 21 lbs in 21 days while you “release toxins from your body in order to increase vitality, health and energy.”[ii] Sigh. Now, I’m no “certified dietician” but I know enough that drinking blends of fruits and vegetables is healthy for you. Any idiot can prescribe that and say you’re going to lose weight and be healthier. But this is on a whole ‘nother ballpark. Making claims of increasing vitality, health, energy… is this a video game where you can keep track of hit points and magic points or something? And what exactly is a toxin?Having browsed through several prominent detox diet sites and their authors, I noticed a few things in common with all of them.1) They all claim to remove toxins without describing what those toxins are and how they harm your body2) None keep track of any variables before and after detox3) All the evidence is from testimonials – there are no quantifiable benefits4) These prominent authors have “masters” and “PhD’s” in things like Natural Medicine, Holistic Healing, Natural Health, Alternative Medicine…Why should this bother you?ToxinsFirst and foremost, these detox people prey on the public’s general ignorance as to what a toxin is and the fear they have of them. They claim that there are toxins everywhere to the food we eat to the things we touch and air we breathe. Here I feel like I am most qualified to deliver a strong rebuttal. I am a B.S. Chemistry graduate (Magna Cum Laude if that matters) from Stony Brook University with a particular interest in health sciences and the way the world works. I work in a laboratory where we work with many “toxins” to improve your lives. I read many health and living articles daily, with a cautious eye of course. Most importantly, I have a fairly good understanding of how the body works, what toxins are out there in the world, and how the body deals with them.If you are not aware yet, everything in the world is made of “chemicals.” You should have learned in your high school chemistry class that everything is made of atoms and those atoms form compounds. Your body is a symphony of chemicals. What makes it play beautifully are chemicals. There are chemicals that give you fuel like food. There are chemicals that help maintain your body like water. And there are chemicals that screw around with your body, like carbon monoxide. You know carbon monoxide is a poison and a toxin, but why? Iron transports oxygen in the blood, but carbon monoxide binds to the iron and prevents oxygen from being transported in the blood. You suffer an oxygen deficiency and your muscles do not have enough energy to work properly, screwing up your heart, organs, brain, etc.At the moment I am eating an apple. There are probably hundreds of different chemicals in it but probably only about three are in any significant quantity: water, fructose, and fiber. Sure there are likely to be some toxins in the apple. There might be trace pesticides on the skin and maybe some bacteria or other compounds made by the apple that are harmful to humans. But these are either in too small a quantity to significantly affect us or humans have developed methods of minimizing the effect of these toxins. After all, we’ve been eating apples for how many thousands of years? Most nutritionists agree on eating large quantities of fruits, vegetables, and wheat products. Do they know for sure there are no toxins in them? Or that eating these foods reduces quantities of the other toxins you have in your body? Without any reliable data, how can you possibly make a claim like that! Here's a hint guys, instead of using the word toxin, try giving us actual compounds that are traceable in the body in and out.Bottom line, ask any of these nutritionists what a toxin is and how they affect us and you’ll probably get either a vague or bullcrap answer. Large scale studies of food toxicology to humans is very expensive, expansive, and often inconclusive. We just plain eat too much damn food and too many kinds of foods to know the exact benefits foods have. Milk does your body good? Why then is there no correlation between drinking milk and hip fractures[iii]? This article is not meant to give anyone dietary advice, but in my opinion the biggest reason these detox diets work is because people eat too much food and too much of that is junk (duh). Once you quit eating these foods, it doesn’t matter that you’re eating from the Garden of Eden or a moderately healthy diet recommended by your doctor , you’re going to get better regardless[iv].This may be sobering, but there is no evidence that humans are supposed to live for a hundred years or more. Without the advent of modern medicine, our average lifespan was like 50-60 years max right? If you look at nature around us, nothing lives all that long (Except plants. Damned plants). Most animals live long enough to reproduce and that’s about that (Female praying mantis eats male praying mantis after sex[v]. And they don’t even cuddle). Evolution dictates that for a species to survive, we need to reproduce. That’s it. Nothing about it says we’re supposed to live a long time. Our enormous lifespan is due to human ingenuity. That’s all. Fact of the matter is that everything is toxic to us. We’re all on the verge of dying no matter what we do; nothing can stop, slow down, or turn back the aging process. We can do healthy things that will likely make us live longer, but there’s no guarantee to that is there? Think about that before sticking a colonic in your a-hole, as if you needed this reminder.Science?As someone on the verge of devoting his life to science, I believe proper science is extremely important before judgments are made. There are many difference from one person to the next, but everyone’s body functions in more or less the same way. So if I hear a claim that eating something will improve my health or reduce toxins, I’d like to know that there’s a study done to prove it and keep track of variables. Did the people that were tested have similar diets before and afterwards? Are any of the people exposed to any particular toxins before? Is there a change in lifestyle, sleep, illnesses, etc? I could make a product and advertise that it’s a cureall and either make up random people who attest how well product worked for them or have friends or acquaintances do the same. Notice: Super Prunes! These are not your grandmother’s prunes. Infused with leptons and heptons, these omega-3 boosting, fat burning, muscle building, body toning, cancer curing, life saving fruit snacks are all you need to stay in shape, lift 500 pounds, live forever, figure out the meaning of life, and prevent unwanted pregnancies. This superfood contain thousands of antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, and magic that protect your body and will remove toxins from you body by acting as microscopic sponges collecting poisons and heavy metals from your bloodstream and organs! These testimonials will prove their worth*!“My name is Gulla Bull and I’ve tried your product everyday for 5 weeks. Ever since then I’ve been feeling more energetic and vibrant. These products make me run 3 miles a day and I get like 20 bowel movements a week. I feel so clean inside. I had AIDS and leukemia but Super Prunes helped me get over these “incurable diseases.” They really are super! Thanks a lot!” -Gulla*This statement has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. You idiot.Hey, do you notice the same buzz words being thrown around over and over when it comes to healthiness? Antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, omega-3, energy, weight loss, toxins, metabolism… I could go on. Is there any product, supplement, or diet that doesn’t give you all of these things? It’s pretty amazing so all these things are so easy to accomplish and do so much isn’t it? Come on, I’m sure there are health benefits to having vitamins and minerals and antioxidants and all that, and if you’re lacking in any of them it’s certainly a bad thing, but don’t you think that there might be a point where you have too much of a good thing? If vitamins are so great for you, why aren’t we gulping down vitamin pills by the truckload? That’s because our body only needs small amounts of these things to keep us going. Also, we have kidneys and other organs to regulate the amount of vitamins and minerals we have. Sure we’re constantly using them up, but as long as we’re eating even moderately fortified food, we’ll replenish them up in no time. By the way, antioxidants are not as amazing as you’d think. Sure our body gets damaging free radicals from UV radiation and some “toxins” but our body relies on free radicals in many necessary enzymatic mechanisms! Plus our body has mechanisms to prevent or reverse the damage caused by free radicals, which explains why we don’t get cancer all the time.There is no need to have a diet excessively filled with this health junk, and buying expensive supplements is probably even more unnecessary. The most important thing to realize is you’re a human being and we like choices and we are swayed by the kinds of food around us and available to us. I like basically all fast food and I eat it like once or twice a week, but I don’t go overboard and get 3 big macs and jumbo fries every time I go. I get like a small chicken sandwich and some nuggets or a double cheeseburger and chili. Mmmm. Something that’s filling but not excessively bad for you. The key to eating well and being healthy is moderation in everything you do. Eat the foods you like, do the things you like to do, but keep in mind what you think and know is healthy and don’t go overboard with eating or doing any one particular thing. That’s how the human body regulates itself, so just don’t mess yourself up, easy as that. The human body was meant to regulate itself, and is pretty damned good at it.While we’re talking about that, let me say a thing or two about colonics and enemas. First of all, if you’re dumb enough to put water or coffee or whatever in through your butt, you deserve whatever is coming to you. This isn’t South Park – food is meant to go through your mouth and out your ass. Duh. Why do we even have a colon anyway? If it were up to these people, humans would have the colon replaced with a duct that allows poop to just shoot out of your body. The colon is a very important organ folks – reabsorption of water, vitamins and minerals occurs there. That’s why the colon is so long and winding and why it takes several hours for poop to come out of there. If poop really has so many toxins, do you not think the body would want to expel it as fast as possible? The body releases poop at its own rate, it doesn’t need laxatives or, god bless you, liquids forced in there to get it out. Don’t you think that might do damage to the colon or liver or even your anus?CredibilityIf you ask 10 different people how to live a healthy lifestyle, you’ll probably get 10 different answers. It’s hard to know what’s healthy and eating what foods and exercising how much correlates to good health. How about genetic or environmental factors? If well trained and qualified scientists can’t figure this stuff out, what makes you believe that when a person with a PhD in “natural health” will know any better? I’m not saying getting a chemistry degree is any harder or more prestigious (though I think that) but look at the qualifications of these people telling you what will remove toxins and enrich your life. What are the standards of these school that teach natural health. What do you learn from natural health or the American Holistic College of Nutrition? Do I even have to say it. Step 1: Pay money. Step 2: Maybe take some B.S. classes that any Joe Numbskull can pass. Step 3: Degree. Step 4: Write a book that incorporates all the best of the junk you learned, and don’t forget your buzzwords! Toxins! Step 5: Appear on various new programs and articles and make yourself seem like you know what you’re talking about. Step 6: Profit!Don’t believe me? Look at her brothersulking FAQs! “I’ve changed my mind, and want to return the products for a refund, Can I?Sorry, all sales are final.”[vi]Gee, I wonder why.I’m almost sorry I picked on Ms. Martha Vineyard so much, but I could have just as easily picked anyone. Please, when in doubt, just remember, if it doesn’t seem to make sense, but you see other people doing it, it’s very likely these people are idiots and that shouldn’t sway you to do it yourself. Just, please, say no to these stupid detox diets. Don’t even throw a dime their way. It’s a business! Don’t support it, let it die, and the fad will die. End of story. Thank you very much.Here's to your health.i) Fox
ii) http://mvdietdetox.com/aboutiii) http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/abstract/77/2/504iv) http://www.bbc.co.uk/sn/humanbody/truthaboutfood/young/detox.shtmlv) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYp_Xi4AtAQvi) http://mvdietdetox.com/faqs | | | Posted 6/8/2008 10:19 PM - 342 Views - 6 eProps - 3 comments
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