“Honestly, if I could go back in time, I would never have done it. A detox juice regimen is like any fad diet. You might lose those six pounds you need to shed to fit into your gown, but you gain it back plus interest. I really think that I’d be healthier today if I hadn’t detoxed so often to lose weight when I was single.”
Every now and then, for periods of two weeks at a time, Rachel would drink but not eat. She owned a juicer, and she would make all her own drinks.
“Did you feel that you had enough energy when you were doing it?”
“When I was single, yes. I’d juice grapefruits, oranges and pineapple. All that produce cost a fortune but the juice was delicious. I got my carbs and sugar; it wasn’t like I was drinking only kale. But now that I have children life is much more strenuous. I wouldn’t be able to do it today.”
“Do you think there were any health benefits to what you did?”
“No. Don’t get me wrong. Juice is healthy. If you’re currently eating pancakes for breakfast, it’s definitely a healthier choice to drink fruit and vegetable juices instead so you get your nutrients. But if you want to truly ‘detox,’ whatever that means, just give your body healthy foods like salad, fruits and protein. Not a ton of juiced apples.”
What Does Detoxing Mean Anyway?
Before “detoxing” became a craze, the term referred to medical procedures that rid the body of dangerous levels of real toxins: drugs, alcohol or poison. The process of medical detoxification is usually life-saving. It takes place in a hospital and is administered by a doctor; it’s not something you can pull off a shelf in the pharmacy.
Today, though, the “detox” industry has hijacked the term, using it as a marketing ploy to convince the public that all of us need to flush bad toxins from our systems and treat nonexistent conditions.
Why? The answer is that the public has been led to believe that our bodies are filled with toxins.We live in a world full of chemicals that are poisoning us and affecting our health. Because of these substances in the environment, we are told, in order to be healthy we need to cleanse our bodies of these poisons. If you detox, your skin will be glowing and radiant. If you detox, you will have more energy. Your system will operate more efficiently. You will live longer.
Articles, websites and infomercials try to convince us that we need to give our bodies a thorough internal cleansing. Detox products aren’t prescribed by doctors. They are sold in stores, over the Internet and in spas. Proponents claim that detoxing will help a wide range of illnesses and symptoms, and that virtually anything you might be suffering from is caused by toxins.
The most important thing to know about today’s iteration of detoxing is that it is merely a belief. There is no scientific evidence whatsoever that any of these regimens actually do anything.
There’s a reason the public has fallen for this and has helped turn detoxing into a multibillion-dollar industry. We all want to be healthy, and we all want a quick, easy fix. This tea, footbath, supplement, enema, green drink or homeopathic remedy will renew your body. It sounds great.
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