Scientist dismisses detox diets

Scientist dismisses detox diets

news.bbc.co.uk

Adopting a detox diet - often popular in January - is a waste of time and money, a leading scientist has said.

Dr Andrew Wadge, of the Food Standards Agency (FSA), said regimes purporting to cleanse the body were "nonsense".

The detox market - which can include diets, tablets and drinks said to flush out toxins - is thought to be worth tens of millions of pounds.

(visit the link for the full news article)



Related AboveTopSecret.com Discussion Threads:
The Myth Of Detox Diets

I've been banging on about this for years, but it seems that people really believe these detox diets work - amazing really, they say "but it's been proved by (insert name) a well known dietician" etc etc
To which I say "BAH"
It's a scam, a con, and can actually cause harm.
Every year, I hear usually intelligent people talking about spending lots of cash on these diets - and it drives me up the wall.

Let your body look after itself, like the man says - exercise, water and a good diet is all you need to "detox" or just feel healthier - after all, what's your liver for if not detox? It can only work at a set rate, pumping chemicals into it won't make it work any better or faster.

news.bbc.co.uk
(visit the link for the full news article)

[edit on 29/12/2007 by budski]

reply to post by budski


I agree, but I'm not sure we really understand what happens in the body during and after rapid fat loss.

No science to back it up, but since it's likely that some chemicals are stored in fat cells, it's tempting to buy into the idea that too rapid loss can put a higher level of toxins into the bloodstream at the time the fat cells are deflating.

On a scientific basis, it is true that you can consume substances to remove or neutralize toxins (methylene blue for CO poisoning, DMSA to chelate and remove heavy metals, for example).

But the use of fads and quackery is rife - witness the latest 'detox-foot patch' coming out of Japan. So it's best to be skeptical. Research your own experience, read up on unfavorable side effects first.

2 cents.

reply to post by Badge01


These detox programmes though, are not about weight loss - they are about parting you with your cash for no benefit in return.

What these manufacturers are saying, is that a mess of compounds (probably harmless, but who knows) are better at flushing out the over-imbibing consequences of christmas and new year than your liver is - which is complete nonsense.

reply to post by budski


Yeah, I was just discussing various 'detox' concepts in general.

One thing that seems to be 'detoxifying' in a way is how fluid fasting makes one -feel- clearer, more awake and alive, but it's more due to clearing the excess food out of your system - again, non-scientific.

In actuality at that time one probably has more toxins circulating as fat cells release their content.

The liver is perfectly designed to handle them, though.

I think one point is how you feel and what's happening internally might not be that related. The body tends to lag behind one's efforts, and changes homeostatis very slowly.

You might feel better slightly dehydrated while training, say 2-5% down (as long as you're under 10% down), but afterwards you feel depleted.

Old boxing trainers talk about 'drying out' before a fight, claiming that their fighter is 'faster', and they talk (again, non-scientifically) about nerve impulses traveling faster in that condition. BunK? Unknown factors? Who knows.

2 cents.

reply to post by Badge01


Having done martial arts and some boxing, I can say I have heard about fluid fasting - but I was not a competition fighter, so I can't say how well it works.
I DO know that not hydrating properly is a horrible feeling.

I've probably had more alcohol than is good for me over christmas, a trend I will continue until midnight + a couple of hours on tuesday, and all I will do to combat this is to eat more fruit and veg, and drink more water for about a week afterwards - it's worked every other year, but I'm getting older now and the hangovers are definitely worse

All in all, this isn't a very good article to use to show ATS members that a detox program is no good - not that I'm for or against it, but come on, this "news" story looks more like an opinion of one guy.

regimes purporting to cleanse the body were "nonsense".

"There's a lot of nonsense talked about 'detoxing'

So my advice would be to ditch the detox diets and supplements and buy yourself something nice

Just to play the devils advocate, what do these stories suggest on the implication that the body's natural abilities may/may not be boosted by a detox program?

Man-made chemicals blamed as many more girls than boys are born in Arctic

This concerns made made chemicals being introduced into the food supply. You can find many other reports about it with a quick search.

Everyone reading this article is carrying at least 500 measurable chemicals in his or her body that were never in anyone's body before the 1920s.

...

Everyone is exposed - not to one chemical at a time - but to complex mixtures that change day by day, hour by hour, depending on the environment. One cannot escape from exposure in homes, work and meeting places, automobiles or outdoors.

Many of these chemicals build up in body tissue and remain there for years. Others do not, but are constantly present in our daily lives; they are in the common everyday products on which we have become dependent. Others are industrial chemicals and pesticides to which we are exposed in a variety of ways.

Link

The article you were posting is perhaps part of a larger agenda?

[edit on 29-12-2007 by benign.psychosis]

I absolutly hate these ads you see on tv for this kind of junk, it's criminal fraud in my opinion. Just the other day, I saw an ad for 'Light Relief'...all it is is a bunch of LEDs (light emiting diodes), which they make sound all scientific, that you aim at the area that needs relief. What a load of crock! If we had any sort of non-corrupt goverment oversight, these people would be prosecuted for fraud. I say we disband the FCC and FDA and start over with our regulatory bodies.

-Colonel Forbin