
Gwyneth Paltrow writes a bloggy-newsletter thingy called
GOOP, with all sorts of tips from Gwyneth herself on health, fashion, home, parenting, life. You can enjoy GOOP straight from the website or sign up for the weekly newsletter that will promptly end up in your spam folder if you're me.
Back around the New Year,
GOOP focused on detoxing, and Paltrow talked about her experience with the
Master Cleanse. The Master Cleanse consists of consuming only lemonade made from lemon or lime juice, maple syrup, water and cayenne pepper. According to Paltrow, it caused her to hallucinate. Nice. She then asked her doctor about it and he advised her that the Master Cleanse could be dangerous and that one can safely "detox" while eating food, as long you cut out whatever is presumably toxic.
So what's the real deal on
detox diets and do they work? According to Dr. Michael Picco at the Mayo Clinic, people do report feeling better after a detox diet, which can include cutting out meat, sugar, certain grains, dairy, alcohol and caffeine. Picco says that this feeling of well-being could come from a feeling that you are doing something good for yourself, or could come from calorie restriction, which can lead to feelings of heightened well-being. However, there is no evidence that detox diets remove toxins from the body and most toxins are removed by the kidneys and liver and excreted.
According to Dr. Picco, there can be dangerous side effects of some detox diets including headaches, anemia, low blood sugar and irregular heartbeats. I would assume hallucinating, like Paltrow did, is also not a good sign.
In short, the best detox diet is a good everyday diet, based on fruits, veggies, whole grains and lean sources of protein, along with exercise and stress reduction techniques.
Have you ever tried a detox diet?