Natural Liver Detox Diets (Liver Cleansing)

Using a natural detox diet to remove toxins and poisons from your body might sound like a good idea. After all, what could be better than eating pure and natural foods and avoiding processed and refined ones?

Certainly, there's something to these ideas. But there's also more than meets the eye. The rising interest in lifestyle enhancement has also ushered in many misconceptions about toxins and about the best way to clear them from the body. Fueling the confusion is a major marketing blitz by authors of diet books and producers of supplements and other detoxifying products.

Most natural liver detox diets have little science supporting them. Additionally, detox diets are very restrictive and can cause harm if they're not used with care. Here's what you need to know.

What is the idea behind detox diets?

The idea for detox diets comes from the concern that toxins are constantly bombarding our bodies. Toxins are chemicals with potentially harmful effects. They may come from many sources, including:

• alcohol
• caffeine
• pesticides or other chemicals used to grow or prepare food
• smog or other substances in the air
• substances such as artificial sweeteners added to food
• sugar
• water

The belief is that the body holds onto toxins in the digestive, lymph, or gastrointestinal system as well as in skin and hair. They, then, can cause problems such as fatigue, headaches, nausea, and a wide range of chronic diseases.

What is a detox diet?

Detox diets are designed to help the body rid itself of toxins. To attempt this, you temporarily give up certain kinds of foods. This is called fasting or purging. Then you gradually reintroduce foods. For example, you might start with a liquid diet for one or two days. Then you might move to four or five days of brown rice, fruit, and steamed vegetables. Finally, you might add other foods, except red meat, wheat, sugar, eggs, and prepackaged or junk food.

In general, organic foods and drinks and lots of water are required on a natural detox diet. And alcohol, caffeine, tobacco, drugs, processed or refined foods, and certain supplements are not allowed.

These are examples of popular detox diets:

• Master Cleanse or Lemonade Diet
• Fat Flush Diet
• Liver Cleansing Diet
• Martha's Vineyard Detox Diet
• Raw Food Diet

In some cases, people suggest using cleansing products or herbs to "purify" the liver. Or, you might do colon irrigation to clean out your colon. This involves using an enema or having a special practitioner clear the colon with up to 20 gallons of water through a tube inserted into the rectum.

Are there specific benefits to a detox diet?

Proponents believe that occasionally cleansing the body with natural liver detox diets can clear the body of poisons that have built up. They also suggest that detox diets help with weight loss. Other claims range from greater energy and more clear headedness to the prevention and cure of chronic diseases.