A basic principle explains why doing a 'detox' is utterly useless
No, you don't need to spend the next four days juicing and declining invites to dinner.
Meet your liver and kidneys.
Together, these two toxin-bashing organs act as a super-efficient system for filtering out most of the harmful substances we eat and drink.
While our kidneys filter our blood and remove any waste from our diet, our liver processes medications and detoxifies any chemicals we ingest. Paired together, these organs make our bodies natural cleansing powerhouses.
"Unless there's a blockage in one of these organs that [cleanse our bodies] day and night, there's absolutely no need to help the body get rid of toxins," family physician Ranit Mishori of the Georgetown University School of Medicine told NPR. Mishori has spent years reviewing the medical literature on cleanses.
Where did the idea of detoxing start?
He published a book describing it called "The Master Cleanser." The cleanse consists of a daily regimen of six to 12 glasses of water mixed with lemon juice, cayenne pepper, and maple syrup, plus a laxative at bedtime. Yum.
Cleanse proponents like Peter Glickman, who helped resurrect the cleanse in 2004 with a book called "Lose Weight, Have More Energy and Be Happier in 10 Days: Take Charge of Your Health with the Master Cleanse," say dieters begin to feel "euphoric" and "serene" after about a week of not eating. We could think of better words to describe the sensations of incipient starvation.
Why 'cutting sugar' is wholly unecessary
Perhaps you don't want to do a cleanse - you just want to get one of the alleged toxins you eat every day (like sugar) out of your system.
There's a basic principle that explains why you don't need to completely eliminate anything from your diet - aside from things you're allergic to, of course.
It's called dose-sensitivity, it's a basic tenet of toxicology, a branch of science that focuses on potentially harmful effects of things we encounter in our environment. As author Alan Levinovitz explains in his recent book "The Gluten Lie," this principle explains why consuming low and high doses of something - like water, for example - can have entirely opposite effects. Have enough to keep you hydrated, and you function like a normal person. Have six liters in one sitting, and you could die.