![]() It’s frustrating when there’s pushback to an evidence-based standard of care. ![]() As a liver doctor, what do you think of detox and cleanse products? You definitely don’t want to do this unsupervised. Ask them if something like that would be right for you. But there’s a safe way to do this and it should start with your healthcare provider. It’s not like every supplement you take is going to kill you. Whatever your problem, buying detox products is not the answer. Do I need to tell my doctor if I’m doing a detox diet? So you can help your liver detox bad things by making lifestyle changes to control those diseases. It’s caused by diabetes, high cholesterol, hypertension and obesity. and around the world, is fatty liver disease. The biggest thing I’m seeing now, in the U.S. Detox diets with extreme calorie or food restrictions, might provide short-term weight loss but aren’t good long-term solutions. Or you can do a healthy detox by eating non-processed and non-supplement-filled foods. Regular exercise, eating healthy, being active, and limiting or avoiding alcohol helps the body detox itself.Įxercise will make you feel well and strengthen your body, and that’s good. How do you detox safely?Īlthough it’s not fun, and no one wants to hear it, the thing that we know that works to detox the body is regular exercise, eating healthy, being active, and limiting or avoiding alcohol. If there were, doctors would know about them and a drug company would be making trillions of dollars on them. There are very few, if any, well-designed scientific studies that show a benefit to detox supplements. But it’s more likely because you are exercising more and eating healthier. There could be some placebo effect, where you think you’re feeling better. Is there any benefit to detox supplements? People say, “Well, it’s natural, it can’t hurt.” It can. Mushrooms that grow in the ground and could kill you in a second are natural. Natural just means that it comes from nature. Doctors worry about these packaged, herbal types of things. But I’ve seen people come to our hospital with severe liver damage from some of these herbal supplements. Most of the time, if you take it, nothing happens. That’s why it’s easy to buy a big jug of liver detox. If it’s classified as a supplement, it doesn’t have to go through the same FDA approval that other drugs do. And there’s no way to know how your body is going to react to the 20 different types of herbs it has in it. There’s no way to know if what’s on the label is what’s in the bottle. 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. Are detox supplements and cleanse diets dangerous?Ī 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. I’d be more worried if you had pre-existing medical conditions and were taking these detox products because they can cause more damage than they would 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. ![]() In most cases, the body has mechanisms to naturally clean out toxins. There is no reason why toxins would build up in a healthy person. When you say, “I just need to detox,” what are you really saying? Are you fatigued? Having joint pains? Gaining weight? Noticing changes in bowel movements? Those are concrete things your medical provider can address. If you eat something you’re not supposed to, or take too much of a medication, the liver helps metabolize everything. That’s the job of the liver and other organs. Your body does this automatically, though. What is a detox?Ī detox is the process of removing toxins - a generic term for something that makes you feel unwell - from your body. However, there are healthy, inexpensive ways to help your body detox itself, but it’s not easy as drinking a supplement-filled smoothie. The truth is, a normal, healthy body detoxes on its own. In some cases, they can actually cause serious harm. That’s because it’s unlikely they’ll do any good. In my practice, I tell my patients to steer clear of those detox products, especially those with lots of added supplements. They tout themselves as aids in removing toxins from the body, promising improved health and increased energy. Want to lose weight? Have more energy? Live pain-free? Sleep better?ĭetox products - things like supplements, smoothies, diets and exercises - claim to be remedies for all these problems.
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