It happens every time the new year rolls around: You start seeing ads for cleanses. Trendy diets are pushed on social media to start in the new year. Celebs keep peddling those "flat tummy teas" that don't actually work. Most of all, the word "detox" starts getting thrown around an awful lot — but what does it actually mean? Of course, this phenomenon is far from new. But now, with words like "retox" and "pretox" entering the lexicon, it seems like a good time to send a reminder that, when it comes to so-called detox diets or cleanses meant to help you recover from a period of consuming more food than you usually would, there's really no point.
"I would say the bottom line is that there really isn’t any clear evidence that detox or cleansing programs can actually make you healthier or improve your health, or that it removes 'toxins' from your body," Navya Mysore, MD, of One Medical Provider tells Teen Vogue.
Still, Dr. Mysore notes it's something she gets asked about frequently in her practice, from patients wanting to fast before an event (so-called pretoxing) or doing juice cleanses, shake diets, or colonics after a period of eating more or different foods than usual. Generally, Dr. Mysore says she discourages patients from these things for a number of reasons.
"There are a lot of other safety points that need to be considered," Dr. Mysore says. "Right now there's a shake that people are using that has some really awesome ingredients, but a lot of other additives that we don’t really know the safety profile of. They can be harmful."
When it comes to detox teas that celebrities promote on social media, we know those can be dangerous and lead to symptoms like diarrhea and intense stomach cramping. For people with certain conditions, Dr. Mysore notes that things like juice cleanses or shakes can have adverse health effects as well.
Safety is tantamount, but there's also the fact that "detoxing" just isn't necessary. We have organs built into our bodies with the purpose of filtering out the things that we don't need. According to the National Kidney Foundation, the kidneys work to eliminate waste from the body and regulate our fluids — in other words, they get rid of the bad stuff. And according to the National Institutes of Health, the liver also has our back. That organ works to, among other functions, make sure "toxic substances" get filtered out of the body. So, can a juice cleanse really do more than the human body? No, according to Dr. Mysore.
"Your body does what it needs to do, no matter what," she says. "Whether it's on Thanksgiving or January 1, your body is doing what it needs to do."
But in case you need more convincing beyond detoxing not being safe or necessary, it's not even clear whether the "toxins" we're trying to rid ourselves of are real. Edzard Ernst, emeritus professor of complementary medicine at Exeter University, told The Guardian in 2014 that detoxing, when it's not the medical kind to help someone with substance use disorder, is largely pseudoscience.
"There are two types of detox: one is respectable and the other isn’t," he said. “The other is the word being hijacked by entrepreneurs, quacks, and charlatans to sell a bogus treatment that allegedly detoxifies your body of toxins you’re supposed to have accumulated.”
As The Guardian article continues, it's unclear what even constitutes a toxin, and Dr. Mysore agrees.
"I wouldn’t say there are toxins in our bodies," she says. "There are things we have excess of. When we take a multivitamin, often our urine is a different color. It's usually excess from what the body doesn’t need. So, I don’t even use the word 'toxins' because it doesn’t really exist."
Categorizing excess as toxins, Dr. Mysore says, is a misnomer. Calling these things toxins implies that we're always doing something bad that needs fixing, when in fact, she says the key to good health is simply, balance.
"It's OK to [...] have a cupcake and enjoy that. But also try to maintain during the week that you are getting what you need to stay healthy," she says. "Whole food, real food, exercise, moving, taking care of your stress level. A lot of what people tend to do is they want a quick fix. It's sort of demystifying that and reeducating."
So, take this as your reeducation. Don't listen to celebrities on Instagram or whatever so-called wellness trends emerge in the new year. Instead, focus on the tried-and-true method of treating your body well. Dr. Mysore recommends drinking water if you feel like you want to "flush out" your system. Beyond that, she stresses getting exercise and eating whole foods. And if you have a period of time in which you don't do those things, that's OK. Ultimately, Dr. Mysore says it's about the bigger picture.
"It's how we take care of our bodies," she says, "that's at the forefront."
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