If you’re always on the hunt for ways to improve your health and wellness regimen, then most likely you may have previously tried a detox.
You’ve heard about food and drinks that are going to help the body flush out toxins. But what does that mean?
What’s the reality and what’s the narrative that salespeople are trying to push? Below is a look at both in helping decide if a detox is right for you (but please always consult a doctor before changing your health and fitness routine.
I am not a medical professional and any health & wellness content on A Noted Life is posted merely to inspire.)
What detoxing is
If you’re talking about any kind of real scientific environment, then detoxing is only really used to talk about one thing.
As the word suggests, it means ridding the body of toxic influence, but it is used almost exclusively to talk about serious exposure to harmful materials.
If you’re poisoned or you’re suffering exposure to mercury, detoxification is the rapid treatment to ensure your body is getting rid of those harmful exposures.
What detoxing isn’t
The other kind of detoxing is the idea that you’re able to rid your body of all its ‘impurities’.
In the wellness industry, many will suggest that you have lots of these indistinct impurities that are making it hard for you to achieve your optimal health.
They will want to sell you things like detox teas. But these detox teas often include ingredients that make them more of a laxative than anything.
While that might sound like it would have a visceral effect in cleansing you, the truth is that it’s more likely to dehydrate you than anything.
In the end, not doing very much for you unless that was the effect you were seeking.
When realities collide
Then there are those who will take a mix of the two realities and create a whole new one for it. For instance, look at the ways that activated charcoal is sold.
Many will tell you that it’s a hangover cure or another way to do the same kind of thing that detoxing tea does.
Never Too Curious shows that charcoal does indeed have real use in detoxing, but mostly in the former definition, of helping people get rid of the effects of things like mercury exposure.
But many will try and sell it in the same way they try to sell the benefits of detox teas.
What detox teas are supposed to do
Our bodies do have a way to naturally filter out a lot of toxic presences. But there’s no immediate cure for it.
Rather, it’s about seeing ourselves properly supplied with the nutrients and vitamins that improve the function of organs like our liver and kidneys.
And while antioxidants are certainly helpful in preventing free radicals from doing damage to our cells, they don’t create a supposedly ‘pure body’.
Only a real dedication to better health through proper exercise and nutrition can do that.
Detoxing is a real and useful thing.
As is improving your body’s capability of using antioxidants and properly filtering out things like alcohol, process hormones and the like.
But too many people in the wellbeing industry want you to conflate those narratives. Keep your health kick on the straight and narrow by keeping the facts in mind and consulting your primary care physician.
