Detoxing detox

A lot has been said and sold about detoxing. It is a miraculous way of purging harmful toxins from the body, toxins that make you fat, make you age faster, and give you cancer. It is true that we are exposed to harmful carcinogens in our diet, our homes and even in our air. But will detoxing help us to cleanse our bodies or are we being taken for a ride?

The truth is that these detoxing fads are seldom if ever truly evaluated for their effectiveness. Nobody, not even the peddlers, can say how they work or how effective they are. Many times they are based on false assumptions and debunked myths. Here are some toxic detoxing methods.

Colon cleansing

In all the years of colonoscopies and surgically removing colons, sometimes for cancer, there has not been one report of so-called plaque of faeces sticking to the walls of the colon. The colon takes liquids from the small intestines and by absorbing most of the water, converts it to stool. The stool is passed freely if it has enough bulk and water content. It does not stick to the colon wall, as the colon produces mucus which lubricates the stool. It is thought that most gastrointestinal cancers arise in the colon because of the slower passage of concentrated toxins affecting the cells in the lining of the colon. This happens daily, so cleansing your colon every few months will not affect this risk. What is better is to eat less processed foods and include more water and fibre in your diet. This will result in a faster transit of stool through the colon, thus decreasing the amount of time any toxins consumed will stay inside the body.

Juicing

A new fad diet is using various concoctions of detox juices and teas to speed up your metabolism and clear your body of toxins that cause weight gain. Whereas drinking natural juices and water are good for you because of their overall health benefits, they do little to speed up your metabolism. Your metabolic rate is controlled by hormones and any manipulation of this may be harmful. Luckily these metabolism- boosting juices and teas do not interfere with your hormones by virtue of being frauds in that respect. As for detoxing, the only value may be in drinking a lot so as to flush your kidneys, one of the true detoxing agents in your body. Of course, a simpler and cheaper way is to just drink eight to 10 glasses of water a day.

Herbal supplements

Every now and again we hear of a new miracle potion that people in some far-flung region of the world have been using. The health and longevity of these people is explained by their use of these miracle supplements. Largely ignored are the low-fat high-fibre diets and lack of processed foods as well as the higher levels of physical activity in these cultures. The supplements are of course not evaluated for their ability to remove toxins from the body. Supplements may provide antioxidants that mop up free radicals, but these can be obtained from a well balanced diet. In fact, too much antioxidants in the diet may be harmful as the body needs some amount of free radicals to fight infection and cancer.

The true detoxers

Unfortunately for multilevel marketers, the real heroes in ridding the body of toxins are the liver and kidneys. The liver actively removes harmful chemicals from the blood where they end up after being absorbed from digested food. The bulk of filtering of the blood leaving the gastrointestinal tract occurs here, and this is why one of the most common toxins ingested, alcohol, leads to liver disease if consumed in large amounts over time. The kidneys filter the blood and excrete waste, drugs and various toxins in the urine. To optimise the built-in detoxing system in our bodies it is best to consume fewer toxins and drink more water. Unprocessed foods are better than foods loaded with artificial flavours and preservatives. Drinking water literally flushes the gastrointestinal and urinary systems and is the closest we can get to detoxing. So make a lifestyle change and don’t rely on quick fixes!

Dr Alfred Dawes is a consultant general, laparoscopic and obesity surgeon at Dunrobin Medical and Wellness Centre. Telephone: 755-3262. Contact him at alfred.dawes@gmail.com.