THE TRUTH BEHIND BULLSHIT DETOX DIETS

It’s that time of year again folks, summer is coming and the marketers are going all guns blazing with the ‘bikini diets’ or ‘8 weeks to bigger arms’ articles knowing full well that most of us leave it way too late to shed those extra pounds gained by brunching too hard.

This is all very well but there are a few companies that rear their ugly heads at this time of year hoping to prey on those of us that perhaps are not so well informed when it comes to exercise and particularly diet. Companies that promise rapid fat loss but actually reward your custom with water and muscle loss along with the guarantee of you piling on more fat when you have finished…. I’m referring to the ‘juice diets’ ‘juice cleanses’ or ‘detox diets’.

What are they?

Some plans involve drinking nothing but liquids, while others include some food as a snack or meal. Depending on the type of cleanse, they can last anywhere from three days to three weeks and are typically between 800 & 1200 calories per day.

I have three words for those of you that have been sucked in by their false promises and they are: DON’T DO IT.

Here are FOUR reasons why.

• They are low in Protein

Most juice diets have little to no protein and whether you are working out or not, this can spell disaster. Not only will you not be able to repair your broken muscles from exercise leaving you knackered, but your immune system will be compromised too. In addition to protein, these fads are lacking in essential fats, calcium and other nutrients, which can lead to poor skin, a chronic increase in hair fall as well as fatigue.

• They are low in calories

For most people the whole point of embarking on such a fairytale regime is to lose weight, but is it fat that you are actually losing? I’ve heard clients rave about losing 3kg in a week on juice diets but it’s a false economy. Firstly you could lose 3kg by not eating anything & it doesn’t cost you AED1500. Secondly it’s not just fat that you’re losing. Muscle is made up of protein, water and glycogen (carbohydrate) and these are all quite heavy substances. Now if your calorie intake is too low, the body will start to break down your glycogen for fuel, and when that has gone it attacks the muscle.

This has a devastating affect on fat loss. Muscle is the furnace that actually burns the calories and the whole time you’ve been on this diet you’ve been losing it, so when you return to a normal diet your furnace would have shrunk and so will the amount of calories you can eat! Thirdly, your metabolism would have slowed down, so not only can you now burn fewer calories, but you can’t process them as efficiently either…guess what happens now? You GAIN FAT!

• Detoxing is a myth

What toxins are you trying to eliminate exactly? So you’ve had a few heavy weekends filled with too much booze and food, what makes you think that your body will eliminate the toxins faster by drinking litres of pond water, over eating a balanced diet of proteins, carbs, fats and veggies? Exactly it won’t, you’ll end up paying thousands of Dirhams on a way to feel rough for a few weeks and eventually end up fatter.

Not only that, but the protein that’s being broken down from your muscles gets converted into ammonia and uric acid, unwelcome chemicals that invade your bloodstream. Now your kidneys are busy detoxing your detox.

• You will feel like crap

The liver is responsible for providing the brain with the energy it needs to perform its important duties throughout the day, but when the carbohydrate in the muscle has run out it steals it from the liver. It is at this stage that the liver struggles to provide the brain with sufficient energy and you start to feel dizzy, headachy, tired, moody and unable to think straight! In addition because of the lack of calories, you will likely experience hunger pangs and stomach cramps. Your brain is also lacking amino acids, the raw materials that neurotransmitters need to maintain your mood. So, if you're prone to depression, you may start feeling blue.

In conclusion the only fathomable positive of partaking in such idiocy is perhaps the sense of accomplishment when finished?

Edzard Ernst, Professor of complementary medicine at Exeter University sums the juice fad up perfectly:

“There are two types of detox: one is respectable and the other isn’t.” The respectable one, he says, is the medical treatment of people with life threatening drug addictions. “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.”

See you all soon

Brendan