Is it true that the body needs to detox to remove toxins?

It is a common belief that our body needs to go on a detox program from time to time to help flush out all the harmful substances. We decided to check whether our body really needs something like this.

There are dozens of methods for cleansing the body and removing toxins. They include includes a variety of diets, consumption specific products or herbs, starvation, reception medicinal drugs, dietary supplements and other means, special baths, cleansing enemas and even urine therapy. There are many celebrities among detox fans. For example, American Oscar-winning actress Gwyneth Paltrow practices colon hydrotherapy - removal of toxins by means of hardware lavage of the intestines, so that, according to her words, “the colon remained hydrated and clean.” Prince Charles stands for coffee enemas, which, in his opinion, contribute not only to detoxification, but also to the treatment of colorectal cancer. And Jennifer Aniston for detoxification uses infrared sauna. Detox programs are popular not only among celebrities - their practice inhabitants of Silicon Valley, for example Pavel Durov.

By toxins, detox fans mean all sorts of harmful ones, according to them. opinion, substances that accumulate in the body: salts, heavy metal oxides, radionuclides, nitrates, components of some medications, food additives of chemical origin and genetically modified products. Also supporters of forced cleansing of the body use the term “toxins” - it includes preservatives, antibiotics, food additives, dyes, flavor enhancers, flavorings, thickeners and those harmful substances that are formed during the digestion of food: “They always appear when eating meat, fish, eggs, fried, smoked, etc.” Some allocate even different degrees of slagging. On the last one, according to the classification, slagged waiting inoperable cancer.

The father of the slag theory can be count Hans-Heinrich Reckeweg, founder of the branch pseudoscience homeopathy - homotoxicology. He believed that diseases were caused either by a lack of some useful substances or by exposure to external toxins. In fact, in modern evidence-based medicine there is no such concept and scientifically described phenomenon. Search by keywords “slag” and “slagging” doesn't show not a single result on the World Health Organization website, no results and in the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10). Moreover, there is not a single laboratory test that can detect (quantitatively or qualitatively) the presence of toxins in the body. US National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health warns: Systematic reviews have not shown any detox diets to be effective. Moreover, some of them (for example, those based on the consumption of high-oxalate juices - from beets and spinach) can lead to kidney problems. For all the studies conducted that demonstrate some benefit of detoxification, experts made quality claims - there were problems with the study design, an insufficient number of participants were involved, or there was no expert assessment of the results.

Indicative storywhich occurred in New Zealand in 2005. The patient, suffering from cholelithiasis, followed the recommendation of the “slag experts” and took a mixture of olive oil and lemon juice at night. In the morning, she discovered that some solid particles had come out of her, which she decided to take to an evidence-based medicine clinic. The clinical biochemist and gastroenterologist to whom she turned came to disappointing conclusions for the patient - these were not stones, but the same mixture of olive oil and lemon juice, slightly modified and hardened under the influence of digestive enzymes. The woman still had stones in her gall bladder and later had to be surgically removed.

At the same time, toxins themselves (poisons, poisonous substances) exist, and the scientific term “toxins” is quite legitimate. An entire science is devoted to the effects of various toxic substances on the body - toxicology. Toxins can indeed either enter the body from the outside or form inside as a result of various reactions. For example, a hangover is nothing more than alcohol intoxication, that is, poisoning by toxins, mainly acetaldehyde. The liver and kidneys perform the function of detoxifying the body, but their capabilities are not always sufficient. In case of disruption of the functioning of these organs, as well as in case of severe intoxication or ingestion of particularly dangerous toxins into the body, medicine resorts to special cleaning procedures: droppers, hemodialysis, plasmapheresis, hemosorption or therapy with antidotes (antidotes). However, such methods are not used outside medical institutions or without supervision by medical personnel.

The procedures popularly proposed for detoxification are either useless or can even be dangerous. For example, a variety of detox smoothies on supermarket shelves are ordinary, simple food, even if they are rich in fiber and contain vitamins and microelements. Some dietary supplements recommended for detox contain the very chemicals that they are supposed to remove, according to advertising promises. For example, Iranian scientists published a study in the Red Crescent magazine on the composition of eight popular herbal supplements. They had discovered sibutramine, bumetanide, phenytoin, pseudoephedrine, amfepramone and even the recognized carcinogenic phenolphthalein. None of the substances, of course, were listed on the label.

Popularized by Gwyneth Paltrow, colon hydrotherapy may lead to perforation (formation of an opening) of the intestine, highly lethal pathology, the elimination of which most often requires surgical intervention. The coffee enema promoted by Prince Charles is no less dangerous - described cases of intestinal perforation, burns of the rectal mucosa and even lethal outcomes. Detox practices can lead to violation electrolyte imbalance, nausea and vomiting, as well as to infection of the body the simplest And bacteria. The infrared sauna, loved by Jennifer Aniston, is the most harmless, however, like any other sauna, if used excessively it can bring to a hypertensive crisis. 

Thus, there are no toxins in our body, and the liver and kidneys cope with the removal of toxins. If these organs cannot perform their function, various medical procedures come to the rescue. However, neither detox juices, nor saunas, nor cleansing enemas are included in the list of these procedures.

Not true

What do our verdicts mean?

Read on the topic:

1. Is it true that therapeutic fasting is good for health?
2. Alexey Vodovozov “Bringing “slag” to clean water”