Is a Detoxification Diet Good For You?
Detoxification diet are becoming quite a fad in the weight loss industry. Proponents of these diets claim that you will be able to loose weight by ridding your body of the toxins that are causing you to be fat and unhealthy. This is done by a strict diet and sometimes a period of fasting. Little is allowed into the body except natural foods like fresh fruits and vegetables, and these are chosen very carefully for their "detoxifying" properties.
Now, people do lose weight when they go on a detox diet. After all, if you are only giving your body the bare minimum when it comes to nutrition, it will have to find nutrition somewhere. However, if the weight that is lost is not fat, then the diet is not successful.
When you go on such a strict diet, your body thinks that it is starving. This causes it to dispel water and start burning lean muscle mass, rather than fat. You do lose weight, but it is muscle and water weight, not fat. When you are done with the diet, you will probably gain back more weight. Starvation mode causes your body to store as many fat calories as possible when you begin to eat normally again, and this can cause you to gain back all or more of the weight that you lost.
On top of this, starving your body for an extended period of time slows down your metabolism. This makes it more difficult for you to keep the weight off when you are done with the diet. Also, since you have lost some of your lean muscle, you will have less calorie burning capabilities after going on the diet.
Does this mean that a short period of detox or fasting is harmful? No, it does not. The problem with many detox diets is that they last too long. Starving your body of important nutrients for days on end will cause it to go into starvation mode.
A short period of detox, however, before starting a healthy eating plan can help you to jump-start your diet . Spending two days on a strict detox diet can help you curb your cravings for carb-laden foods before you start your diet. This is not long enough to send your body into starvation mode, but it is long enough for you to make some strides toward a healthier diet overall. So detox diets do have a place in the world of weight loss, they are just not the answer to all of your weight loss needs.
