Experts Warn About Dangers of Detox Diets
By WLC
In the world of addiction recovery, "detox" is a necessary phase that refers to the process of ridding one's body of alcohol and other dangerous drugs under the supervision of a qualified expert.
When it comes to weight loss, though, "detox diets" are neither necessary nor necessarily safe. But as writer Janelle Brown pointed out in the July issue of Self magazine, the risks of detox diets and other rapid weight loss schemes aren't stopping overweight individuals from trying these dangerous weight loss techniques:
Cleanses, detoxes and fasts can lead to some very real physical hazards, especially because they’re often done without the supervision of a doctor or qualified nutritionist. “They can really dehydrate you or rob your body of potassium and other electrolytes,” says Julie Eltman, R.D., a holistic nutritionist in Los Angeles. Over time, or even within minutes, electrolyte imbalance can cause heart problems, organ damage and more. ...
Potential enema dependence, a weakened immune system, organ failure -- these are high prices to pay for what amounts to only fleeting weight loss, says [Beth Reardon, R.D., an integrative nutritionist at Duke Integrative Medicine in Durham, North Carolina], who stresses that however many pounds you lose during a fast or cleanse, they’re almost guaranteed to return rapidly.
“You initially lose only water weight, then you start breaking down muscle protein," Reardon explains. “It’s minimal fat loss.”
Frequent fasting can slow a body's metabolism, Brown notes, which increases the likelihood of post-diet weight gains (and the onset of the destructive gain-and-lose cycle that is often referred to as "yo-yo dieting").
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