The global obesity epidemic has fueled the search for quick and easy weight loss solutions, with weight loss cleanses gaining popularity as a method for rapid weight loss. Detox products, including supplements, smoothies, diets, and exercises, claim to offer remedies for weight loss, increased energy, and pain relief. But are body detox pills and cleanses effective for weight loss, or are they just another fad?
Understanding Cleanses and Detox Diets
The word "cleanse" implies removing impurities, but there's no standard definition of a weight loss cleanse. These cleanses are typically brief and involve a specific set of instructions for diet modification to achieve a certain goal. Some aim to reduce weight, while others promise fat loss in specific body areas. The methods can vary greatly, with some including herbal supplements or exercise, while others focus solely on the types of food you eat.
It's difficult to differentiate between detox and cleanse diets because neither method has a standard, scientific definition. The two terms are often used interchangeably, though some people claim that distinct differences exist. Both diets are intended for short-term use, usually lasting anywhere from one to 30 days.
Detox Diets: Eliminating Toxins
Detoxification (detox) diets usually operate on the notion that your body needs assistance to eliminate harmful substances, or toxins, from your system that may be impairing optimal health. These toxins may refer to any dietary or environmental substance with the potential to cause harm, including pollutants, heavy metals, industrial chemicals, pesticides, and allergens. Detox diets usually involve very strict dietary regimens that may include fasting, herbal supplements, laxatives, enemas, and eliminating many foods. Some of them also claim to detoxify specific organs, such as your liver, kidneys, or colon. While weight loss may be one goal for some detox diets, they more frequently target a wide array of physical ailments, such as allergies, headaches and migraines, digestive issues, fatigue, nausea, acne and skin rashes, and hormone imbalances. Though detoxes remain very popular, there is no scientific evidence to support the effectiveness of this kind of diet regimen.
Cleanses: Emphasizing Healthy Foods
Some cleanse diets operate very similarly to detox diets and involve strict dietary modifications and supplements - others are less rigid. Generally, cleanses focus on eliminating unhealthy or highly allergenic foods while replacing them with nutrient-dense, whole foods to support overall health. Weight loss is a common goal of cleanse dieting, but cleanses may also be used to treat various digestive issues or food cravings. Foods frequently eliminated as part of a cleanse diet are sugar, processed foods, alcohol, dairy, soy, corn, wheat, and gluten.
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Popular Weight Loss Cleanses
The variety of weight loss cleanses is immense, with an abundance of options and associated products available. This overwhelming number is likely due to the lack of a standardized definition. Here are some examples of popular weight loss cleanses:
- Whole30: A 30-day diet cleanse that eliminates multiple groups of foods, including sugar, dairy, legumes, grains, and alcohol. During this time, you’re encouraged to consume plenty of fruits, vegetables, and lean proteins.
- Juice Cleanses: Typically lasting 3-7 days, these cleanses eliminate all foods other than juice and water. There’s often a specific series of fruit and vegetable juices to be consumed in a particular order.
- The Master Cleanse: Also called the Lemonade Diet, this cleanse consists of eating only a mixture of lemon juice, water, cayenne pepper, and maple syrup for 10 days.
- BeachBody Ultimate Reset: This is a 21-day diet focusing on eliminating dairy, meat, eggs, sugar, and processed foods. Nutritional supplements, probiotics, and herbal laxatives are included throughout the process.
- 10-Day Green Smoothie Cleanse: This cleanse replaces all meals with specific green smoothies that are made from various fruits and vegetables. You’re also allowed to eat unlimited amounts of non-starchy vegetables.
Effectiveness of Weight Loss Cleanses
No scientific studies have been conducted on specific brands of weight loss cleanses. Thus, their effectiveness has yet to be established. Despite limited research on cleanses, they’re most comparable to short-term, very-low-calorie diets (VLCDs). Most research defines a VLCD as consisting of 450-800 calories per day. This number is comparable to that of some popular weight loss cleanses. Several studies on VLCDs in obese people revealed significant reductions in weight.
Interestingly, one 15-week study showed that short-term, rapid weight loss by way of a VLCD was more effective at lowering cholesterol and blood sugar than slower, sustained methods for weight loss. Both slow and rapid weight loss strategies led to a reduction in weight and body size. However, the group that used the slower weight loss strategy preserved more muscle mass. It should be noted that most of the VLCDs in these studies also incorporated total nutrition needs as part of the dietary strategy. These methods were closely monitored, well planned, and nutritionally balanced.
Weight loss cleanses differ from VLCDs, as they often eliminate vital nutritional components - such as protein - without providing any guidance for replacing them during the cleanse. These restrictions could ultimately lead to severe nutritional deficiencies, making such cleanses unbalanced and unsafe. Additionally, though appropriately planned VLCDs may be effective for weight loss in the short term, maintaining weight loss over a longer period is only possible through balanced, healthy eating behaviors after the VLCD period is complete.
Health Claims and Scientific Evidence
No reliable scientific research exists on weight loss cleanses despite the wide array of health claims that typically accompany them. Most of these statements are marketing taglines that are at best based on anecdotal evidence. Most weight loss cleanses are low-calorie and brief, and some research supports the notion that short-term, very-low-calorie diets (VLCDs) have a positive health impact.
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Several studies in people with type 2 diabetes noticed that a VLCD regimen significantly reduced fasting blood sugar levels. Some of the same studies also revealed a significant reduction in markers of heart disease risk for those who lost weight using a VLCD. Keep in mind that many of these health effects are likely to be seen with weight loss in general and not necessarily unique to the VLCD method. It’s well known that achieving and maintaining a healthy weight can help treat and prevent various chronic diseases. VLCD methods are just one of many ways to lose weight and may not be ideal for most people.
A VLCD in the form of a weight loss cleanse can be socially isolating and difficult to adhere to, as it’s far from a long-term, healthy eating pattern. Additionally, VLCDs in the aforementioned studies were carried out under medical supervision, whereas a weight loss cleanse sold on the internet won’t have that advantage. Many popular cleanses also replace a supportive and balanced approach to healthy living with costly investments in juices, supplements, and instruction manuals - with little to no evidence backing their effectiveness. Perhaps most importantly, these extreme styles of eating don’t teach healthy behaviors for maintaining weight loss after the cleanse is complete.
Risks and Side Effects of Weight Loss Cleanses
Weight loss cleanses are an extreme approach and come with potentially detrimental health effects. Because there are so many different kinds of cleanses, it’s difficult to pinpoint exactly which risks are greatest for each type of cleanse.
Rapid weight loss, such as that promoted by most weight loss cleanses, is associated with adverse health reactions, including dehydration and the development of gallstones. Due to the restrictive nature of many weight loss cleanses, they may have a negative psychosocial impact on people prone to eating disorders. Furthermore, VLCDs accompanying many cleanse protocols could significantly increase your risk of nutritional deficiencies. Of course, this risk may vary depending on the duration and degree of restriction of a particular cleanse.
What’s more, two recently published studies indicate that juice and smoothie cleanses that involve consuming very high quantities of green vegetables could lead to progression of kidney damage in people with chronic kidney disease. For most people, focusing solely on weight loss at the expense of other health issues not only jeopardizes physical and mental wellbeing but also hinders the development of skills to implement long-term healthy behaviors post-cleanse.
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The Body's Natural Detoxification System
The truth is, a normal, healthy body detoxes on its own. A detox is the process of removing toxins - a generic term for something that makes you feel unwell - from your body. Your body does this automatically, though. That’s the job of the liver and other organs. There is no reason why toxins would build up in a healthy person. If you have kidney, liver, or other health problems, you could have issues with flushing out things, but it’s something a doctor should handle.
Experts agree that cleansing isn’t necessary because your body naturally removes toxins through bowel movements, liver function, sweat, and urination.
Concerns About Detox Supplements
A lot of detox supplements and herbal concoctions, even the ones sold at well-known health food stores, are not regulated in any sort of way. Besides spending a lot of money on them, you can get into a lot of trouble because there’s no way of knowing what’s in it. There’s no way to know if what’s on the label is what’s in the bottle. If it’s classified as a supplement, it doesn’t have to go through the same FDA approval that other drugs do. That’s why it’s easy to buy a big jug of liver detox. Most of the time, if you take it, nothing happens. But I’ve seen people come to our hospital with severe liver damage from some of these herbal supplements. Natural can mean anything. Natural just means that it comes from nature. Mushrooms that grow in the ground and could kill you in a second are natural.
There are very few, if any, well-designed scientific studies that show a benefit to detox supplements.
A Safer Approach to Weight Loss and Detoxification
If you’re buying detox products, that’s a clue that we, as a team, need to spend more time educating you, the patient. It’s not like every supplement you take is going to kill you. But there’s a safe way to do this and it should start with your healthcare provider. Ask them if something like that would be right for you. It’s frustrating when there’s pushback to an evidence-based standard of care. And it’s frustrating to see patients spend hundreds of dollars a month on these detox supplements. They should save their money.
Instead of relying on detox pills or cleanses, focus on adopting a healthy lifestyle that includes:
- Balanced Diet: Eating non-processed and non-supplement-filled foods. Fill at least two-thirds of your plate with vegetables, whole grains, fruits, and beans. Try to avoid ultra-processed foods that are high in calories and low in nutrients.
- Regular Exercise: Exercise will make you feel well and strengthen your body, and that’s good. Exercise plays a key part in maintaining a healthy weight and reducing your cancer risk.
- Hydration: Drinking enough water to support your body's natural detoxification processes.
- Consulting a Healthcare Provider: Ask them if something like that would be right for you.
Potential benefits of cleanse diets
Feeling good after a cleanse is common, and you may even lose weight. That response makes sense because you’ve eaten limited calories and avoided processed foods, alcohol and unhealthy chemicals while on the cleanse. Many of those immediate effects may decrease or disappear once you resume your usual diet. But there are positive effects that can come out of a cleanse, including:
- Adding vitamins and minerals to your diet: If the cleanse involves a lot of fruits and veggies - and you don’t typically eat much produce - you’ll benefit from the boost of vitamins and minerals.
- Breaking the habit of eating sugar and processed foods: Even a few days away from unhealthy food and sugar can help you instill better eating habits.
- Identifying food sensitivities: Eliminating certain foods from your diet can make you feel better if you have food sensitivities. After the cleanse, add foods back in one at a time to identify any possible sensitivities.