"Detox Diets are a Complete Con"

I psdted about detox diets here last year, and I'll stick to my assertion that they are a waste of time and potentially dangerous.

There is a risk from consuming too much of anything but it's quite difficult to drink enough water to actually die from it under normal circumstances.

I'm not a fan of the mineral water fad, but I do own a water filter - that said, I don't walk around clutching a bottle of anything with the label showing prominently so that others can marvel at my taste in water

reply to post by Trance Optic

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Holy Cow! I was just glancing back through previous posts when I noticed the above, which I'd somehow missed.

No wonder you've got digestion problems. I always thought it was common knowledge that water dilutes the stomach's acids & can lead to problems with digestion. I actually heard a radio programme a year or so ago that went into the subject in some detail. The advice given was that water and citrus fruit juices upset the pH balance, and thus disrupt digestion. Don't ask me why, but they specifically advised a cup of tea at mealtimes if you wish to drink, with coffee a great big no-no.

Do you think it was just Brits promoting what they know best?

(c.f. this thread: www.abovetopsecret.com... )

reply to post by Karlhungis

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i agree. i was speaking to a friend about detoxifying the other day. there are many different kinds. I have heard of someone dying from drinking too much water before; some girl was trying to win a radio contest. kind of weird. so maybe she just didn't know how to detox.

on another note, someone told me that microwaves add tons of toxins to your food and therefore to your body. anyone know anything about that? my microwave saves me from starvation sometimes lol

reply to post by pause4thought

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Your body needs a certain amount of water a day, a good amount is 1/2 ounce per lb, if you exercise or work outside etc. You should increase this to about an 1 oz per Lbs. Now the amount of liquid YOU drink is bad for you, you may not feel it , but I promise you and ask any health provider you are not doing your body any service or your liver. The amount of water you have to drink to become sick is an insane amount over a short period of time, and mostly only long endurance runners etc run into issues with this because of the amount of water they drink.

You should NEVER be thirsty.

on a side note, certain Detox diets get rid of a good amount of toxins, You have TONS of toxins in your colon etc. Perhaps WATER detox is not the best thing, but detoxing is a good thing. And as many articles you can provide telling you it isnt, I can provide 5 that promote it.

If you die or become disabled, because your drink too much water, that's your fault.

Your body tells you, i had enough water. Then you drink more? listen to your body not some self proclaimed diet expert.

Yes diet fads do work, for certain people, but come on now.

We live in a society of over indulgence. Blame yourself, not others, it's not like they shoved it down her throat or put a gun to her head.

It is possible to OD on water, its called hyperhydration.

Nearly all deaths related to water intoxication in normal individuals have resulted either from water drinking contests, in which individuals attempt to consume more than 3 gallons (10 litres) of water over the course of just a few minutes.

The market out there is very split. There's a lot of sham detox, a lot of good detox, and a real good bit of useless things that let your mind over body factor work on you.

if you die from water intoxication, you wee definitely doing it wrong. Now, i've seen in a number of places that when losing weight, or detoxing, to drink additional water. The theory being, you're going to be peeing a lot while getting rid of extra toxins, fat breakdown byproducts (its a dirty process), and also that most people in general are dehydrated as it is.

Here's the rub, a good number of the so called detox diets are just good basic nutrition and health practices from before we processed everything to death, put in a fancy more consumable package.

Holy crap, drink more water, eat more fiber and stay away from processed foods? well heck, my grandma was pushing that for years, she must be some kind of guru or something. Nah, not really, she just grew up on a farm.

The most effective 'skin cleansing' I've seen.. wow, it actually works. no really. But here's the rub, its not much more than a time tested and useful heavy duty exfoiliating method. It also supposedly re-balances your skin's pH somewhat because of 'the alkalynity of soaps and the processes they're made by', which makes a certain amount of sense. whatever, I can say that works.

but, everything in moderation, george carlin even mentioned it in his acts. hey, a bran muffin is ok but it is not necessary to consume as much fiber as you'd find in an entire wicker swing set (horribly paraphrased)

Most people want an instant fix, and detox wont do it, but it will help. it'll help clean some areas of you out that make it easier for the body to _do its natural job_ and eliminate the wastes for you. kind of like clearing the path to the garbage can.

Let's see, if we take the more than 100,000 people who die from prescription medication and hospital visits -- maybe we shouldn't look at one mishap with detoxing as the definitive proof.

Which "DETOXING DIET" is snake oil? There are a lot of them. But it shouldn't be undergone without some education and care. If you are obese, and have been living on fast food for ten years -- don't suddenly fast and drink lemon juice and take strong herbs, because you are rushing ten years of toxic load stored in your fat into your bloodstream in a week.

However, there are a lot of nice looking ladies in hollywood who have used these detox diets. There are obvious, positive results.

To set the record straight; the largest organ that detoxes your body is not your liver -- it is your skin. I don't buy into the constant hydration myth, and I barely drink water -- except when I start working out and get in the hot sun -- then I can't get enough. I drink when my body tells me I'm thirsty. Seems to work so far. BUT -- the point of drinking a lot of fluid during a cleansing is to make sure you keep moving toxins trapped in your body out of your body as fast as they are released. If you are not taking more water, and or fiber, and or something to remove the extra junk in your blood stream, then detoxing isn't doing you any good.

About ten years ago, my entire family decided we would go on a detox diet. It was based upon the "lemon juice fast" we also were talking to a lady who recommended Donna Gates "Body Ecology Diet." So, we moved to foods that were more alkaline, and started taking a lot more fiber.

AFTER a good three weeks of eating foods that digested very quickly, and drinking lots of water, I went on a Lemon Juice fast. This also had cayenne pepper and maple syrup (the raw authentic syrup from the tree), to help buffer the stomach. After the 1 week fast, I had to have steamed vegetables for three days -- you can't go right back to normal food. So we did it right.

None of this was easy, nor can it be pre-packaged in a commercial product. However, I did take probiotics to put healthy bacteria in my stomach. There were other details like having drinks with Chlorophyl added to reduce headaches and using a dry brush before taking a shower -- because those toxins are going to come out through your pores and you are going to itch. If you don't get the headaches and powder on your skin -- you probably aren't actually cleansing.

I cannot tell you how much energy I got and how much junk I released from my body-- I lost 20 lbs and I can tell you that wasn't mostly fat -- it was whatever gets stored in the fat cells that isn't calories. It seemed to work for 7 of our family, and my Sister In-law who is quite thin, had to stop -- her hormone system was always a big messed up. My dad, who was very overweight, and taking about ten medications to get by, was able to stop taking all of those medications for a while and work 12 hours a day outside.

So I can say from personal experience, that a good cleansing will can make you have more energy than you thought possible. A bad cleansing can likely kill you.