Paul had a wild ride with a detox regimen. When he turned 49 he made the switch to a more healthy lifestyle. He started working out, drinking less beer, stretching, and watching everything he ate for preservatives and chemicals.

Paul was feeling good and figured he would feel better if he flushed his system so he started one of the more popular detox regimens, the Master Cleanse. For 10 days he ate no solid foods but drank 8 glasses of a cocktail of lemon juice, maple syrup and cayenne pepper. In the morning he drank 2 full quarts of salted water and a laxative tea at night.

He felt terrible after 10 days but he did lose 10 pounds.  He also was irritable and had headaches and people told him he didn’t look very good. He went off the diet and gained the 10 pounds back almost immediately. A few months later he went back on the detox diet but didn’t follow it so closely. As a result he only lost a few pounds but he didn’t have the adverse effects and is now a fan of detox regimens.

I’m convinced detox regimens can be dangerous and that they don’t add anything to your over all health. I do think they give people a sense of security, that they are protecting their health by detoxing, but it is simply not so. There is no scientific evidence that points to this conclusion.

True there are pesticides, artificial sweeteners, sugar, processed foods that surround us. And it’s also true that without a cleansing these poisons can accumulate in our bodies and cause headaches, fatigue and chronic illness. However, your wonderful body has several systems already in place that are continually taking care of you.

Your liver, your kidneys, and your gastrointestinal tract do a superb job of eliminating toxins from your body within hours of consumption or exposure. You don’t have to wait to go to the spa and get detoxed. And none of those diets even help what your body already does naturally.

My advice: save your money and envelope a more healthy lifestyle.

To your success at healthy aging.

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Filed under: Mind and Body • Retirement

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