Tips for a safe and natural detox diet

When looking for ways to lose weight, rekindle vitality, and improve their digestion and general health, many people opt for a detox diet.

These eating plans typically involve a period of fasting, followed by a strict diet of raw vegetables, fruit, fruit juices, and water. However, there is a general lack of sufficient clinical or scientific evidence to support claims that detoxes work.

Worryingly, many extreme approaches and popular plans deviate from commonly accepted best practices around healthy eating guidelines. 

READ MORE | Support Liver Function and Natural Detoxification with Milk Thistle

Potential side effects

While a typical detox diet lasts from three days to two weeks, following a very restricted detox diet, especially one that severely limits protein or requires fasting, can result in fatigue and may cause other issues such as headaches.

Longer fasts may also result in vitamin and mineral deficiencies, which can weaken your immune system and compromise your recovery from stress and exercise.

For those looking to lose weight, a prolonged restrictive detox diet generally slows your metabolism as your body finds ways to conserve energy. This natural response to severe calorie restriction can make it harder to lose weight.

Any weight loss that detox dieters experience, at least initially, is generally temporary because it results from water loss rather than any meaningful reduction in body fat.

People will often regain any lost weight and more when the detox period ends, especially if they don’t maintain healthy eating habits.

 Stay away from detox diets and approaches that:

• Promise a quick fix.
• Claim miraculous fat-loss effects from foods.
• Avoid or severely limit an entire food group.
• Promote eating mainly one type of food.
• Suggest easy, rapid weight loss (more than 1kg a week).
• Recommend eating foods only in particular combinations.
• Make claims that sound too good to be true.
• Focus heavily on appearance rather than health benefits.

A healthier approach

A better approach to detox dieting is to support your body’s natural detoxification system with a healthy lifestyle, wholesome diet, regular exercise and quality supplements that support liver function, improve digestion and assist the body in eliminating toxins through natural processes.

Eating a well-balanced diet, following a healthy lifestyle, and incorporating certain supplements can eliminate the need to follow potentially damaging detox practices and diets.

When you create a healthy body and environment, your detox organs such as your liver, gut, skin and kidneys should function optimally, ensuring your body remains in a constant state of self-cleansing.

However, detoxification is not only supporting your body to remove or eliminate toxins. You can also support better health and vitality by reducing the amount of toxins you put into your body by quitting smoking, reducing your alcohol intake to recommended levels and limiting your exposure to environmental toxins and stress.

Ultimately, the most effective approach is following a lifestyle that supports natural detoxification by following a diet that consists predominantly of fresh natural foods such as fruit, vegetables and lean proteins.

Limit or eliminate as far as possible processed foods, chemicals, artificial preservatives and sugar from your diet. It is also important to hydrate properly with sufficient water daily – a minimum of eight glasses of water per day, drinking up to 3 litres.

READ MORE | Ditch detox diets for long-term weight loss, suggests experts. Nourish your body instead

Supplement support

From a supplement perspective, it is not always possible to get all the nutrients we need from food, especially when detoxing as we often need extra support.

Products that contain powerful antioxidants like vitamin C help neutralise free radicals, which can become harmful by damaging cells if you produce them in excess. This cellular protection function is especially important for the liver, which is the primary organ involved in detoxification.

Vitamin C works synergistically with glutathione, another powerful antioxidant produced by the body. Glutathione helps detoxify harmful substances like heavy metals and pollutants.

Similarly, research¹ suggests that natural extracts like milk thistle may act as a liver protectant and may support healthy liver function through its action as an antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antifibrotic substance.

Extracts of pomegranate and aloe vera also exert antioxidant effects that help protect liver cells by shielding them from free radical damage and may reduce inflammation in the liver.

Senna is a plant-based laxative often found in detox support supplements. This ingredient may help support natural detoxification by stimulating bowel movements through increased bowel motility and softer stools. By increasing bowel motility and softening stool, senna may help the body eliminate waste products and toxins more efficiently.

Lastly, consider probiotics to support your body’s natural detoxification efforts. These beneficial gut bacteria may help support healthy digestion by restoring the natural flora in the digestive system.

Research² also affirms the role of probiotics in “biodetoxification” with the researchers concluding that “specific probiotic strain and probiotic combinations bring significant health outcomes”.

References:

1. Achufusi TGO, Pellegrini MV, Patel RK. Milk Thistle. [Updated 2024 Feb 28]. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2024 Jan.
2. Pop OL, Suharoschi R, Gabbianelli R. Biodetoxification and Protective Properties of Probiotics. Microorganisms. 2022 Jun 23;10(7):1278. doi: 10.3390/microorganisms10071278. PMID: 35888997; PMCID: PMC9319832.