{"id":2385,"date":"2021-01-04T09:46:23","date_gmt":"2021-01-04T09:46:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.theguthealthdoctor.com\/?p=2385"},"modified":"2023-03-20T16:10:40","modified_gmt":"2023-03-20T16:10:40","slug":"the-dark-side-of-detox-diets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theguthealthdoctor.com\/the-dark-side-of-detox-diets","title":{"rendered":"The dark side of \u2018detox diets\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">January: the month where diet companies try to convince us to cut a bunch of foods from our diet to become the \u2018New You\u2019&#8230; Gluten, \u2018starchy carbs\u2019, dairy, chocolate, and even nightshade veggies (potatoes, peppers, tomatoes) and many putting wholegrains on the \u2018naughty\u2019 list.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Instead, we\u2019re told we need to fill up on the detox drinks, bone broths, collagen shakes and colon cleanses to be our best self, especially if we\u2019ve \u2018over-indulged\u2019&#8230;<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But these are NOT based in real science! Here\u2019s why cutting out foods could be bad for your health*\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><b><i>Spoiler: you can still enjoy all your favourite foods AND be healthy!<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Restrictive diets can starve your body and in the case of very low carb diets can ultimately start to build up chemicals called ketones in your body. These ketones can make you feel nauseous, weak, dehydrated and irritable &#8211; and may even lead to more serious issues in the long term. That\u2019s one reason why, outside of medical indications (e.g. epilepsy), I\u2019d never recommend cutting carbs!<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Drastically reducing your food intake has been associated with weakening the immune system &#8211; for most people, that 1200 calorie diet just isn\u2019t enough (fixating on calorie counting is not helpful, nor accurate, either).\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Detox supplements, cleanses and \u2018teatoxes\u2019 can often do more harm than good. That\u2019s because those that contain laxatives (such as senna) can put you at risk of dehydration, nutritional deficiencies &#8211; and may even lead to pooping dependency in the future.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Long periods of fasting can be actively harmful, as it can effectively starve our gut bacteria and reduce the diversity of our gut microbes. It\u2019s this diversity that\u2019s linked to better gut and overall health. For the low down on other types of fasting such as time-restricting eating, check out my book.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It\u2019s all about VARIETY! Sure, that green smoothie might be packed with nutritious goodness &#8211; but no one fruit or veg can provide nutritional nirvana. So if you\u2019re downing nothing but celery juice, not only are you missing out on the all-important fibre from the whole plant food, you also won\u2019t be getting all of the vitamins, minerals and other nutrients your body needs to function properly.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Wholegrains and fermented dairy are a good source of important nutrients, including fibre, calcium, B vitamins, protein and many more. Wholegrains can also help to combat constipation as well as reducing your chances of developing several diseases, including type 2 diabetes, heart disease and several cancers.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>My approach<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Rather than thinking what you might need to cut out, think about what you can ADD IN! That way of thinking isn\u2019t about a January diet you won\u2019t be able to stick to, it\u2019s about finding a balance that works for you and your lifestyle. And it\u2019s about enjoyment too.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So enjoy more. More whole food, more diversity, more plant points. More fruits, veggies, wholegrains, beans and pulses, nuts and seeds, herbs and spices. More fibre. More flavour.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And if getting to a healthy weight for you (whatever that may be) is your driving force, just know that eating more fibre (a carb!) is linked to lower body weight, and those who include wholegrains and legumes in their diet are more likely to achieve not just a healthy body weight, but a healthy mind too.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">*Unless you have a true food allergy and need to avoid! It\u2019s best not to cut anything out. If you suspect an allergy, be sure to get it confirmed by a qualified medical practitioner and ideally managed with a registered dietitian, to ensure you&#8217;re not cutting things out unnecessarily.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>January: the month where diet companies try to convince us to cut a bunch of foods from our diet to become the \u2018New You\u2019&#8230; Gluten, \u2018starchy carbs\u2019, dairy, chocolate, and even nightshade veggies (potatoes, peppers, tomatoes) and many putting wholegrains on the \u2018naughty\u2019 list.\u00a0 Instead, we\u2019re told we need to fill up on the detox&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":2386,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[48,30],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2385","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-food-or-nutrition","category-myth-busting"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The dark side of \u2018detox diets\u2019 | The Gut Health Doctor<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Detox diets are NOT based in real science! 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