Detox drinks are trendy among people who want to rid their bodies of toxins and lose weight. Detox refers to the physiological or medicinal removal of toxic substances from your body. Despite their popularity do detox drinks work?
Many people love to detox to get rid of “toxic” things they may have indulged in during a holiday period. Detoxes are also popular to help the body “get ready” for going on a diet or even outright help with weight loss.
But do detox drinks work for weight loss? Are detox drinks safe? Do they do anything at all? This article will help you figure that out.
Detoxing does have a foundation in medical science. Doctors use it when treating a patient with drug addiction. (Some of these drugs include caffeine, which is common in energy drinks).
However, this is used when a patient suffered intoxication from a harmful substance. Detoxing, in this instance, also helps alleviate withdrawal symptoms. However, medical detoxification is different from diet detox.
If you want to lose weight with detox drinks, can it work?
BEST DETOX DRINK TO LOSE WEIGHT
Detox drinks can be healthy.
Detox drinks include detox teas that help with weight loss and quitting smoking, juices, waters and veggie smoothies. Do detox drinks work for weight loss? Let’s examine them individually.
1. DETOX TEAS
There is limited research on what is included in detox teas. They include ingredients like milk thistle, which is used as a liver tonic.
According to results from the 2012 National Health Interview Survey, milk thistle was the most common herb used to treat liver disease.
Lab studies show that it and another ingredient, burdock, can shield the liver from toxic effects of alcohol but there is no evidence it helps with detox in people who don’t have an alcohol use disorder.
Detox teas also include senna which is a powerful laxative. Due to the effects of diarrhoea, you may think you’ve lost weight, but when you’re off the tea, you will regain the weight.
2. JUICE AND VEGGIE SMOOTHIES
Juice smoothies for detoxes are commonly used for juice cleanses. This refers to the strict diet where you only consume juice for about half a week.
The idea behind it is that you rid the body of toxic waste while flooding your body with healthy nutrients.
However, experts say that juice cleanses don’t help you functionally lose weight. They deny you nutrients, and since they don’t contain fibre which aid digestion, they only leave you hungry. Whatever weight you lose will be regained when you get off the juice cleanse.
The juice cleanse begins by cutting out “impure” things like sugar, caffeine, wheat or nicotine etc. to reduce cravings. It’s advisable to take more fresh fruit and vegetables during this period.
After the pre-cleanse, for about three days drink about a litre of juice or smoothie and half should contain green vegetable juice.
When the juice fast is over, eat mostly vegetables and have no sugar, wheat and other foods that you avoided during the pre-cleanse.
Slowly add back foods from your regular diet using small amounts until your body fully readjusts about five days later.
However, while it’s healthy to consume fruit and vegetables, the juice cleanse will not provide long term weight loss goals.
Studies show that a juice cleanse is effective for short term weight loss and weight gain when a normal diet is resumed.
Juice cleanses also increase the risk of malnutrition, low blood sugar, kidney stones and bacterial infections.
3. DETOX WATER
This is also known as spa water. It’s water that’s infused with flavour from slices of fruit or vegetables.
They are designed to help people consume more water by adding flavour to the water. They are a great alternative to soda, caffeine and processed juice.
The most common recipes are water infused with cucumber and lemon; apple, ginger and lemon; orange and mint; cucumber, lemon and mint; orange and rosemary; strawberry and mint and lemon water.
These waters are popular detox drink for the flat belly, but there is no evidence they work without fat burning exercises.
SIGNS YOUR BODY IS DETOXING
There are many symptoms to show your body is detoxing. However, the main sign that your body is detoxing is detox headaches.
Detox headaches occur because your body reacts to the absence of something that is usually present like sugar or caffeine.
Reducing these items can reduce circulation hormones, toxins like chemical food additives getting in your bloodstream to be eliminated and a release of energy from tension and stress.
When detoxing, other symptoms you can see are fatigue, frequent urination, nausea or diarrhoea, fainting, weakness, dehydration and hunger pangs.
To get rid of a detox headache or make it manageable, you can take a shower or bath, long and slow meditative breathing, drink lots of water or meditate.
HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO LOSE WEIGHT WHEN DETOXING?
Exercise and a calorie deficit remain the most effective way to lose weight.
Detox diets don’t help you lose weight long term. Studies show that improving your diet by adding more fruits and does benefit your liver and overall health.
There is a belief that toxins are stored in your fat cells, and going on a detox diet helps you get rid of fat. However, evidence shows that the toxins stored in your fat cells are from environmental pollutants, not food.
Studies showed that these toxins disappeared without intervention.
Studies also show that the quality of your diet affects your weight loss. A balanced diet can help with thermogenesis, appetite and nutrition intake, helping you lose weight long term.
Further research shows that juice cleanses help with short term weight loss. 20 people who juiced for three days found that they shed about 800g on average. However, this was only water weight.
TAKEAWAY
Juicing is the best way to lose weight short term. If you need to lose a few inches for an event, doing a juice cleanse three to five days can help.
However, it’s important to note that detox drinks aren’t necessarily effective for anything. Do detox drinks work? According to a study by the US National Institutes for Health, there’s not enough evidence to show that detox drinks improve your health or remove toxins from your body.
Who do detox drinks work for? If you want to make detox drinks, only do it if you don’t have disordered eating, diabetes, or hypoglycemia.
What do detox drinks work for? It’s a popular opinion that detox drinks help you eat more fruit and vegetables. If you’re eating too heavy and need a jumpstart for a healthier diet, a juice cleanse can give you the feeling that you’re rebooting your diet.
When taking detox drinks, please do not use them as an alternative to meals. Adding green juices to your normal meals such as breakfast can help you stock up on minerals and phytonutrients.
Smoothies also contain fibre which helps with digestion and leaving you fuller for longer. Adding them to your meals, such as breakfast can help you achieve your long-term weight loss goals.
However, you can’t use detox drinks to lose weight to help you reset your body if you want to start a new diet.
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