Paige Harris Detox cleanses & teas — they’re popular, but do they work? Read on to learn how to properly support your body’s detoxification processes.
Detoxes are one of the most popular fads in the nutrition and health sphere, and it’s easy to see why. They promise to eliminate toxins from your body, improving your health and helping you to lose weight in the process.
But here’s the thing: a fancy juice drink isn’t going to help you detox, and neither is the highly marketed detox tea your best friend swears by. These popular products promise results that sound too good to be true, and that’s because they most definitely are, and there’s science to prove it.
Most of the detox drinks on the market are sweetened with fructose.
That sounds good on the surface. After all, fructose is most commonly found in fruits, and fruits are healthy, right? But the thing is, fructose is metabolized directly in your liver, unlike glucose (common table sugar). In fact, diets that are high in fructose are directly linked to insulin resistance (the precursor to type II diabetes) as well as other metabolic dysfunctions including weight gain and hypertension.
And since your body and brain use glucose as their primary source of energy, that detox drink you’re having as a meal is going to leave you even hangrier than before. It’s giving you all of the sugars you don’t need and making you crave even more of them. It’s true: fructose stimulates your body to create more of the appetite-inducing hormone ghrelin.
They also come in plastic packaging.
And to add even more insult, the plastic packaging of these drinks adds even more toxic load to your body. If you’re trying to detox from potential toxins, relying on something that comes in plastic is a definite no-no.
And detox teas really will just make you poop.
Almost every kind of tea contains caffeine, which can create a laxative effect. But detox teas in particular also contain senna, a natural medicine that irritates your gut lining and sends you rushing to the bathroom. And while you may lose a little bit of weight from that process, somehow I don’t think it’s the kind of weight you’re trying to lose.
It’s important to understand why you’re wanting to detox in the first place.
Before picking up that next box of tea or pack of juices, I want you to sit down and ask yourself why. If it’s because you’re trying to lose weight, I want you to know that these quick fixes won’t bring you true results. It’s important to set healthy, realistic goals and expectations. You’re not going to find them on the back of the detox tea box.
If it’s because you really want to improve the way that your body functions and feels, I want you to know there’s a much better way to do that.
So what can you do instead?
Support the organs responsible: your liver, kidneys, gut, lymphatic system, lungs, and skin.
Your liver is your body’s biggest detoxification machine, so treat it with respect! This means reducing the amount of alcohol and pure fructose in your diet for sure, but you can do even more.
Your liver needs high-quality protein to operate its powerful detox pathways. Try and choose organic, 100 percent grass-fed meats and pasture-raised eggs to help nourish it. Wild-caught fish, legumes, nuts, and seeds can also help, especially if you don’t eat meat. Even more foods to help detoxification? Broccoli, Brussels sprouts, bok choy, cabbage, cauliflower, kale, collards, arugula, Brazil nuts, green tea, coriander and cilantro. Say that 5 times fast!
If you really want to add a beverage to your routine, dandelion root tea specifically supports healthy liver detoxification. Try it instead of your next cup of coffee!
Staying properly hydrated is another way to keep your body detoxing efficiently. Try to drink at least half your body weight in fluid ounces daily and you’re sure to notice a difference in energy levels. And all that water is great for your skin, too!
It’s not all about what you put in your body, either. Exercise gets your lymphatic system moving and your blood flowing. And if you work up a sweat, it helps move waste out of your body through your skin, too.
Getting quality sleep is another great way to support detoxification. Our bodies naturally eliminate and detoxify at night while we sleep. You can supporting that sleep with a healthy sleep routine, like this one.
At the end of the day, just know that your body is doing its best to keep you as healthy as it can. Support it by staying hydrated, consuming highly nutrient-dense foods, and staying active: no detox drinks required.
