Detox Diets
Introduction
Detox diets are short diets that are meant to have many health benefits. The primary goal will not usually be weight loss, although some dieters will use them to drop a few pounds. Detoxing is supposed to clear your body of toxins, as the name says. This is quite a good idea in principle since as we eat so many processed foods; our bodies ingest many substances, some of which might not always be good for it. Detoxing for a few days can help flush those substances out; it also gives our digestive system a break and is said by some to improve mental focus, concentration and general health. There are many different detox diet plans. On some, nothing at all is eaten, and one only drinks water, tea, and eats broth. This is a particularly restrictive type of detoxing and not recommended for everyone. On other diets, juices can be drunk but nothing is eaten either. Then, there are less severe diets where you are allowed to eat, but only certain foods, like brown rice, fruit or vegetables.
Benefits
Those people who support the idea of detoxing report many benefits. General health and fitness is supposed to improve after the second or third day; however, before that, the body is weakened and one easily gets tired. After the detox, one feels cleaner and in better health. The taste buds are also given a rest because less food is consumed, and so the taste sense is enhanced after the diet ends. The same thing goes for the olfactory sense, which is apparently stronger after a detox diet. There have been case reports of people who used fasting or detox diets in order to cure illnesses, and in some cases this actually worked. A common side effect of detoxing is weight loss, which is considered a plus by many.
Risks
If done incorrectly, detoxing is potentially a very risky thing to do. In fact, if you are not getting all the nutriments you need or if you are depriving yourself of too much energy, then you might feel dizzy or nauseous. Your body will be in a weakened state and it is possible that you will often feel cold. Many believe that detoxing is too radical a diet and that as long as a person eats healthy in general, a detoxing diet is not necessary at all. It is important to be aware of those risks. The health gurus may talk all they want, but after all, detoxing comes down to living on very little food for a while, and that takes some getting used to!
Things to observe
It is important to make sure that, as with any diet, you ask your doctor first whether the plan is right for you. This is especially important for detox diets because they are particularly restrictive. It is very important that children or pregnant women never fast. Children in general should not follow diets unless they are overweight, and pregnant women need many nutriments which they cannot get from such a restrictive diet as the detox diet. It is also sensible to take some vitamin supplements during the diet so as to keep vitamin levels up. At least a basic multivitamin tablet a day is recommendable. You should also be aware of the fact that detox diets are quite unlikely to help you lose any fat. You might lose water weight, but you will put it back on quickly, and once you end the detox diet, the body is likely to store more fat than before and your metabolism may be slower. Therefore, if you want to lose weight, it is important to eat healthy, but eat. A detox diet, as stated above, should be followed with other goals in mind. Exercise should be kept to an easy level during detoxing, and you should get enough sleep since you will get tired very quickly. In fact, it is best to go on a detox diet when you are on holiday from work or college. This way, you will have all the time in the world for yourself. Finally, unless you have superhuman willpower, avoid social situations where you will watch other people eat, because even with all the great health benefits of a detoxing diet, their food will still look delicious.