The Great Big Detox Scam

While scrolling idly through Twitter, I saw a headline one should never have to see: “Woman left brain-dead after chugging a liter of soy for for a detox’.” The fact we have real headlines, not Onion articles, this absurd was enough for me to drop what I was doing (admittedly, binge watching the West Wing for the umpteenth time) and start writing.

Upon further reading, I discovered that the poor woman had seen a viral internet post that advised drinking a liter of soy sauce in two hours to rid your body of toxins. Reportedly she was suffering from paranoid delusions that the government was trying to poison her, and was already malnourished from other eating issues. But drinking five times the lethal dose of salt can do anyone in.

THAT INESCAPABLE DETOX WORD.

This latest internet “health” fad took the concept of detoxing to an extreme that would raise red flags for most sane people. Unfortunately, for one vulnerable individual it ended tragically. But the concept of detoxing or cleansing the body does not sound crazy to many. You only have to see the grocery store shelves laden with detox products from supplements, teas, juice cleanses, and kits to see how popular the idea of cleansing your system has become.

At the spa I hear the word detox bandied around with the frequency that Trump cries “witch hunt” (in case you’ve been living in a bubble, that’s a lot). I cringe a little every time I hear a product or treatment described as detoxifying, but the word is ubiquitous in the wellness industry. Frequently I’ll hear therapists remind guests that a massage will release toxins from their body, or a co-worker recommend the sauna to sweat out all the bad stuff.

There are so many detoxes out there it’s hard to keep straight which ingredient is supposed to cleanse what organ or magically help you drop twenty pounds in a week. If you want to go the traditional route, apple cider vinegar is the go-to solution for basically everything in the holistic healing world. The original Master Cleanser consists of a cayenne pepper, lemon, water, and maple syrup diet. You can buy multi-day juice cleansing systems that contains spices, fruits, and vegetables that have alleged cleansing properties.

Strangely enough there are detox pads designed to pull toxins out through your feet. Ready made detox kits, teas, and herbal supplements abound. I even found a salt water cleanse promoted by well-known charlatan, Dr. Axe (not a real doctor), though the levels of sodium didn’t approach those of a liter of Kikkoman. Some regiments include merely a daily supplement, while others ask you to give up solid food for ten days. In the end, many consist of simply a liquid diet, extreme calorie restriction, and often laxatives.

WHAT DO ALL THESE CLEANSES HAVE IN COMMON?

While there is a different detox du jour for anyone out there, they all have one thing in common: they are complete bullshit. Although health advice is constantly up for debate, experts are in agreement that detoxing is a myth. Disclaimer: this do not include supervised detoxing from addictive substance, I speak only of the voodoo that purports to rid your body of evil things.

Fortunately, evolution gave us organs expressly for this purpose — you liver and kidneys. They do a pretty damned good job of filtering toxins from the blood through the kidneys, and excreting them through urine. According to Professor Edzard Ernst in an interview with the Guardian, if toxins did build up in our bodies, as these detox manufacturers suggest, you’d be dead or close to it. “There is no known way — certainly not through detox treatments — to make something that works perfectly well in a healthy body work better.”

I had to investigate the claim I have heard so frequently that you can sweat toxins out of your body by baking yourself to a balmy 200 degrees in a sauna or working out really, really hard — or if someone really digs into your muscles. And not surprisingly, you can’t, not in any measurable or health-changing way. Trace amounts of certain chemicals can be found in sweat thanks to advanced detection equipment, but as we learned before your internal organs, all on their own, will do the heavy lifting.

Moreover these detox products can’t even identify what toxins they are meant to be removing. Most will carry vague claims of “flushing unwanted toxins” or “supporting a healthy liver.’ These products rely on the culture of fear mongering over chemicals and that guilt of that late night McDonald’s run to make us feel as though we need to remove impurities in our lives.

There is no question that we come into contact with toxins daily. As Dr. Steven Novella reminds us in his takedown of detoxes on Science-Based Medicine, “everything is potentially a toxin — as the saying goes, the dose makes the poison. Some things are toxic at tiny doses while others would require a significant dose to cause problems.” Even plants have natural toxins to ward off being eaten, and thus animals have evolved to remove unneeded toxins and waste from their systems.

SIDE EFFECTS MAY INCLUDE…

Although you may drop a few pounds by eating basically nothing and shitting a lot, there is no science to support the use of detoxes. While the health benefits may not be real, the side effects certainly can be. Drinking some juice with ginger or cayenne pepper won’t hurt you, but there can be side effects of repeated or multi-day juice cleanses or fasts. “Long-term fasts lead to muscle breakdown and a shortage of many needed nutrients,” according to dietitian Lona Sandon in an article with NBC News. Other unpleasant side effects include headaches, fatigue, difficulty thinking, and moodiness.

There are many detoxes out there able to match the ridiculous level of the soy sauce cleanse, including eating activated charcoal, coffee enemas, and drinking clay. While clay is often used in skincare, drinking Bentonite clay is sold as a detox for intestinal cleansing. Ironically, some of these clay products aimed at removing toxins like mercury have been found to contain unsafe levels of heavy metals, including lead and arsenic. No one should have to tell you not to put coffee up your butt, and although activated charcoal is used in a controlled medical setting for drug overdose or poisoning, drinking it yourself carries risks.

Even the more innocent seeming supplements that appear to contain herbal remedies should be avoided, according to Dr. Novella. The supplements industry is poorly regulated, prone to adulteration and contamination, and suffers from lack of clinical testing for efficacy and safety.

It’s fair to say that some detoxes may be harmless or carry limited risk, but all will have the side effect of emptying your wallet for no reason at all. And if you want to waste your money, I would be happy to take it off your hands — or perhaps you could give it charity where it will go to good use instead of being flushed down the toilet (pun absolutely intended).