Is detoxing necessary to a healthy lifestyle?

Sunday May 25, 2009 (foodconsumer.org) -- Walk into any health food store worth its vitamin aisle, and you’ll find a plethora of products claiming to be “detoxification” blends designed to rid your body of all things toxic. According to the Chicago based research firm Mintel International, 54 new products containing the word “detox” were introduced in 2008 (New York Times).

The premise of most detox programs lies in the belief that because of the toxic environment we live in, our bodies can no longer cleanse themselves naturally. Since the American diet is typically a constipating one, it stands to reason that toxins that cannot be eliminated from the liver via urine and feces will remain in the body for longer periods of time.

Most “detox” regimens consist of substances that serve as little more than laxatives. Dr. Tanya Edwards, director of the Cleveland Clinic’s Center for Integrative Medicine, maintains that changing our diets can accomplish the same things that many of the detox regimens on the market claim to do, in a much less “radical” fashion.

While many homeopathic physicians see the benefit in detoxing, they warn consumers not to fall for some of the “trendier” cleanses that promise the moon, such as “Master Cleanse,” the regimen Beyonce Knowles used before filming Dreamgirls.

Edward F. Group III of TheHolisticOption.com concurs that we live in a “constipated world.” To forego cleansing on a regular basis, he asserts, is like never changing the oil filters in our cars; we will certainly accumulate a great deal of sludge over time.

While some traditional medical professionals see limited benefit in detoxing, others, such as Dr. Peter Pressman, internist with the Naval Hospital in Jacksonville, Florida, believe that the detox industry stops just short of all-out fraud, citing the difference between selling a product and practicing good medicine (New York Times).

Even those who think detoxing is a pretty good idea claim that the cleansing process should come after certain lifestyle changes, such as eating 1/3 of our food raw, maintaining an active lifestyle and eating whole foods. After all, changing an oil filter will not benefit an engine running on dirty oil.

(By Rachel Stockton, and edited by Heather Kelley)