Detox: useful or nonsense?
Nowadays, we all ‘detox’. In recent years, it has become a huge hype to detox.
Detoxing means detoxing/cleansing the body. Quitting smoking and drinking as little alcohol as possible is a very good way to detox. However, many celebrities promote the use of juices, tea, and recently even clay to detox the body.
The detox craze also plays on our inner ‘fear of contamination’. As if we really have to ‘detox’.
Take away the poison with which we most often and most extensively pollute ourselves: alcohol. The liver immediately starts breaking it down. Three days after a drinking binge, the body is restored to its former glory and the traces of alcohol are erased.
Sense or nonsense? Nutrition expert Karolien Olaerts shares her vision on the 'detox' in Goed Gevoel: "Don't let anyone talk you into detox methods, there's no point in cutting out food groups, eating clay, following a juice diet or rinsing your mouth with oil. Our body is perfectly capable of keeping itself healthy all day long and getting rid of potentially harmful substances." After all, if you have a well-functioning liver and kidneys, your most important 'detox method' is continuously active. Your lungs also contribute by exhaling CO2 and sweating through your skin. So you really don't need an expensive detox cure, Olaerts emphasizes.
Feelings of guilt
"Of course, a detox period is a way to deal with our guily conscience. But that's not how our body works. Listen to your body's natural reflexes. If it requires lighter and healthier food and more fruit and vegetables, then that is certainly a good plan, but extremes are really not necessary," the nutrition expert makes clear in Goed Gevoel.
(MH with FVDV for Tagtik/Source: Goed Gevoel/Illustration picture: Unsplash)
