sportsdietpain

I want to try to make this blog as simple as possible so that most people can understand these ¨myths¨ once and for all. Let us start by giving some definitions to these words.

Toxin-  It sounds quite scientific but nobody really knows what the hell it is. All these miracle diets will tell you that they will get rid of those nasty ¨toxins¨ but won´t give you an explanation of what they are or how they will get rid of them. If they had a name, the experts could measure these toxins to see if the miracle diets or the ¨detox diets¨ really work. In fact, in 2009 a network of scientist assembled by the UK charity SENSE about SCIENCE contacted the manufacturers of 15 products sold in pharmacies and supermarkets that claimed to ¨detoxify¨. When the scientists asked for evidence behind the claims, not one of the manufactures could define what they meant by detoxification, or toxins (1)!!

Detox- Also sounds really fancy and scientific but if we just made clear that we can´t measure these toxins or that they even exist, then how is a detox diet going to work? I mean what are they detoxifying??? In medical terminology, real detoxification refers to treatment for dangerous levels of drugs, alcohol, or poisons (to name a few examples) and the treatment usually occurs in the hospital. And guess what…. doctors can measure all these things.

But the best thing of all, and something that I have been stating all through my blogs, is that our body is the best machine we have and it is ready in case we have to ¨detoxify¨ ourselves, and for this it counts on lots of helpers like:

• LIVER-  It is incredibly efficient at getting rid of noxious substances. It contains enzymes which convert toxic substances into less harmful ones. These are then dissolved in water and removed in the urine.
• KIDNEYS- Are fundamental in removing acids and regulating the body pH.
• COLON- Responsible for removing unwanted solid matter from the body.
• LUNGS-  The respiratory system is also involved in controlling blood pH. We breathe out all that carbon dioxide we produce.
• SKIN, DIGESTIVE TRACT, LYMPHATIC SYSTEM…….

So in other words, the body is perfectly capable of ¨detoxifying¨ itself and getting rid of all those nasty ¨toxins¨ (whatever those may be). And if it wasn´t capable of doing that you would be in lots of trouble and probably needed to go to the hospital.

But anyway, some people won´t believe this and will try different diets or different methods (colonic irragation to name one) to try to get rid of those ¨toxins¨. To those people I want to say that, before going out and wasting (I´m sorry, I wanted to say spending) your money on those treatments: try this new method, it involves exercising, eating properly and sleeping well 😉

References:

1. http://www.senseaboutscience.org/pages/debunking-detox.htm