This month on nzgirl we’ll be bringing you everything you need to help revive, refresh and re-ignite your life! October is all about the great nzgirl Detox, click here for more...
After too many Christmas drinks, you may feel as if you need a good cleansing to feel healthy again.
Detox diets promise to rid your body of toxins, help you lose weight, boost energy and clear up your skin...
But do detox diets really deliver on their promises? And is it what you need to get you healthy for the start of 2008? Here’s more info on detoxing, and how to go about it in a safe way.
Detox diet authors claim we need to detox because over time our bodies accumulate toxins from unhealthy food and our environment. According to them, these toxins cause bad moods, weight gain, tendency to get sick often, poor digestion and fatigue; among other aliments.
With so many detox plans around, there is a great deal in variety in what they instruct. Some diets are for a weekend, others for a week and some as long as a month. Some detox plans remove all food from the diet and instruct detox dieters to drink only freshly made vegetable and fruit juices.
Foods that must be cut out tend to include wheat, caffeine, alcohol, dairy products, meat, sugar, salt and processed foods. What’s left to eat? Most diets contain mainly fruit, vegetables, nuts, seeds and herbal teas. Supplements are often advocated to help the detoxification process.
Do we need to detox? Following a specific detox diet is not necessary to clear your body of toxins. In short, our body is very efficient at detoxifying itself, through your liver, kidney and skin. Feeling tired, run down and unwell can be attributed to a poor diet, but a quick fix detox will not improve your health long term.
PROS
Eating lots of fruit and vegetables is definitely a good thing. Fruit and veg are full of antioxidants, vitamins, minerals and fibre.
Cutting out sugar cuts out excess calories. Too much sugar is bad for your blood sugar levels, as they increase rapidly then decrease rapidly leaving you feeling lethargic as well as increasing demand for insulin from your pancreas. However, to be healthy, you do not need to cut all sugar from your diet.
Cutting out alcohol. Too much alcohol is definitely bad for the liver.
CONS
Cutting out dairy will mean missing out on valuable calcium.
Detox diets can be potentially too low in energy (calories/kilojoules) which will slow down your metabolism and will not provide you with the nutrients you need.
These diets are very restrictive and lack variety. You’re likely to miss out on many vital nutrients following a restrictive detox. It could lead to an unhealthy obsession with food.
What about the benefits? The benefits of detox diets do sound very inviting. Improved energy, weight loss, clearer skin - who wouldn’t want all of this? Weight loss will occur in detox diets, not because they are helping cleanse your liver, but rather because they are low in calories and any diet low in calories will lead to weight loss. The danger here though is many of these diets are too low in calories, leading to muscle and fluid loss. The good news is these benefits will also come from changing bad eating habits without needing to be so restrictive.
How to detox safely Think you need to detox and want advice? Rather than do a restrictive detox, think about a healthy lifestyle change. Take in the good points of a detox. Cut back on sugar and alcohol, eat lots of fruit and vegetables and drink lots of water. But there is no need to be restrictive and cut out meat and dairy.
If you do want to do a detox, do only for a couple of days and chose a plan that has the fewest restrictions. Use it only to give you a kick start to a long term healthy eating plan which is full of variety.
Nicola Graham
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After too many Christmas drinks, you may feel as if you need a good cleansing to feel healthy again. 
Detox diet authors claim we need to detox because over time our bodies accumulate toxins from unhealthy food and our environment. According to them, these toxins cause bad moods, weight gain, tendency to get sick often, poor digestion and fatigue; among other aliments. 
Foods that must be cut out tend to include wheat, caffeine, alcohol, dairy products, meat, sugar, salt and processed foods. What’s left to eat? Most diets contain mainly fruit, vegetables, nuts, seeds and herbal teas. Supplements are often advocated to help the detoxification process.
The benefits of detox diets do sound very inviting. Improved energy, weight loss, clearer skin - who wouldn’t want all of this? Weight loss will occur in detox diets, not because they are helping cleanse your liver, but rather because they are low in calories and any diet low in calories will lead to weight loss. The danger here though is many of these diets are too low in calories, leading to muscle and fluid loss. The good news is these benefits will also come from changing bad eating habits without needing to be so restrictive.
Think you need to detox and want advice? Rather than do a restrictive detox, think about a healthy lifestyle change. Take in the good points of a detox. Cut back on sugar and alcohol, eat lots of fruit and vegetables and drink lots of water. But there is no need to be restrictive and cut out meat and dairy.