About Detox Diet

Not really. Like many other fad diets, detox diets can have harmful side effects, especially for teens.

A toxin is a chemical or poison that is known to have harmful effects on the body. Toxins can come from food or water, from chemicals used to grow or prepare food, and even from the air that we breathe. Our bodies process those toxins through organs like the liver and kidneys and eliminate them in the form of sweat, urine, and feces.

Although detox diet theories have not been proven scientifically, the people who support them believe that toxins don't always leave our bodies properly during the elimination of waste. Instead, they think toxins hang around in our digestive, lymph, and gastrointestinal systems as well as in our skin and hair causing problems like tiredness, headaches, and nausea.

The basic idea behind detox diets is to temporarily give up certain kinds of foods that are thought to contain toxins. The idea is to purify and purge the body of all the "bad" stuff. But the truth is, the human body is designed to purify itself.

Detox diets vary. Most involve some version of a fast: that is, giving up food for a couple of days and then gradually reintroducing certain foods into the diet. Many of these diets also encourage people to have colonic irrigation or enemas to "clean out" the colon. (An enema flushes out the rectum and colon using water.) Others recommend that you take special teas or supplements to help the "purification" process.

There are lots of claims about what a detox diet can do, from preventing and curing disease to giving people more energy or focus. Of course, eating a diet lower in fat and higher in fiber can help many people feel healthier. But people who support detox diets claim that this is because of the elimination of toxins. There's no scientific proof that these diets help rid the body of toxins faster or that the elimination of toxins will make you a healthier, more energetic person.