WARNING! DETOXING CAN DO MORE HARM THAN GOOD

Read this before you decide to DETOX – They DON”T Work and they can be dangerous! Fact or Fiction? - Detoxing will help your body rid itself of toxins Fiction - If anything builds up toxins it’s detoxing itself!

Dawn Page, from Oxfordshire, was awarded more than £800,000 in 2008 after she suffered permanent brain damage while on a special hydration diet on the advice of a nutritionist.

She claims she was told to drink large amounts of water and reduce her salt intake. When she started vomiting she says her nutritionist said that it was a normal part of the detoxification process. A few days later Dawn suffered a severe epileptic seizure due to water intoxication and now relies on written notes to remember basic instructions and finds it hard to recall simple information.

“When you starve your body of calories, it starts to build up chemicals,” explains Dale Rees, dietician and spokesman for the. British Dietetic Association “These chemicals, known as ketones, can result in nausea, dehydration, weakness, light-headedness and irritability. “A prolonged lack of protein is particularly dangerous, causing your body to break down its own muscles and can compromise your immune system.

“The body has its own system of getting rid of toxins: it’s called the liver,” says Dale.

In fact, our lungs, kidneys, liver, gastrointestinal tract and immune system are all effective in removing or neutralising toxic substances.

One study by Imperial College, London, concluded that our livers and kidneys are the perfect detox machines.

“Ever wondered why nobody ever says what the toxins are that are eradicated via detox?” says Dale. “Or why nobody can ever point to any factual evidence? The idea detoxing eliminates toxins runs counter to our understanding about human physiology and biochemistry.”

The principle of detox goes back to medieval times but it is anti-science, agrees Professor Edzard Ernst, Britain’s first professor of complementary medicine, who works at Peninsula College of Medicine & Dentistry in Exeter.

“You can’t overindulge on food and drink, then wave some magic wand,” he says. “The only thing that detox removes is money from your wallet.”