Detox: yes or no?

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Greg Stark is Director Trainer at Better Being and one of our expert health bloggers. Here Greg answers some questions about the good and bad of detoxing.

Would you recommend detoxing?

I would recommend detoxing but on a daily and weekly basis instead of once a year. Your nutrition should follow the 80/20 rule. 80 per cent of the time you should focus on food and drink that allows your body to detox. With a no rules apply approach for the remaining 20 per cent.

What are your concerns about detox programs?

My concerns with detox programs is that a lot of them are dangerous and can cause more harm then good by actually depriving the body of essential nutrients and the consumption of drugs. People and companies over-complicate detoxes making it an unsustainable solution. Keep it simple.

The body accumulates toxins over time – is there an effective strategy for ridding the body of toxins?

The body is a naturally detoxifying machine, given the right environment toxins will be excreted naturally. There is no need for radical diets or dangerous supplements. By allowing the body to return to its natural state of balance called homeostasis, the rest takes care of itself.

What other strategies should people use to get healthy after a period of indulgence?

Low intensity exercise is great way to encourage circulation and speed up the process of detoxing. For those who are inactive, low intensity exercise is also a great way to slowly build fitness. Those that are active should reduce vigorous activity and look to incorporate more low intensity exercise. It allows your muscular, metabolic and neural systems to regenerate and aids in the clearance of by products from high intensity exercise. Great methods of low intensity exercise are walking, yoga, swimming.

Is there a safe way of detoxing?

The safe way to detox is to think like a hunter gatherer. By removing foods that alter the chemical and hormonal balance of your body you look, feel and move better. Focus on foods like nuts, seeds, whole proteins, seasonal vegetable and fruit.

What are the best foods to eat of you want to give your body a boost?

To give your body a boost and replace all the lost vitamins and minerals eat as many vegetables as possible. A simple rule is to have a minimum of 3 different colours of vegetables for every main meal for instance spinach (green), carrot (orange), tomato (red).

Can drinks like juices or teas boost health?

Don't waste time with chemical altered juices and teas. Drink water. 60-70% of our bodies are made of water and with 3/4 of the Australian population estimated to be dehydrated, replace your lost fluids, through water. Focus on drinking 1 liter for every 25 kilograms of body mass (i.e. if you are 75kg you need to drink 3 litres throughout the day). Plus an additional litre for vigorous activity.

What should people avoid eating and drinking?

Avoid all processed or manufactured food and drink. That includes but not limited to alcohol, caffeine, starches (bread, pasta), sugars (confectionary, juices), processed meats (sausages, deli meats) and transfats.

Read Greg Stark's Yahoo7 Lifestyle health blog here

Libby Babet is a personal trainer and women's health expert who runs her own health business, Bottoms Up! Fitness. Here Libby answers some questions to explain the case for detoxing.

Why does the body need to detox?

There are a number of reasons people might embark on a detox but the most common are to rest and repair the digestive system, to remove environmental or hormonal toxins, or (perhaps more commonly) to drop body fat. It’s important to remember, of course, that a short-term detox is by no means a magic fix for any of the above issues but rather a little ‘kick start’. Your body is already performing a daily detox ritual, so if you’re consistently feeding it real, healthy foods, you’re going to see great results – much better results than if you eat badly, then detox, eat badly, then detox and continue to repeat that cycle.What are the toxins we need to eliminate? Where do they come from?

Toxins are everywhere in our environment these days – we breathe them in, consume them in our food and even absorb toxic elements through our skin. In fact, any girl who uses makeup (hellooo, all of us!) is exposing herself to an abundance of these toxins daily. Likewise, if you eat any packaged or take-out foods at all, drink from plastic bottles, or eat non-organic produce, you’re exposing your body to toxic chemicals and hormones. Some species of fish can be dangerously high in heavy metals, which are terribly hard for the body to process (tuna is a biggie) and if you take daily medication, or choose to take the contraceptive pill, these things add a huge toxic load to your body too. The list goes on!What are some effective methods of cleansing?

I always say that the most effective method of cleansing the body is to change your daily dietary habits for good. It takes long-term commitment, not a week of fasting, to really make a difference. Sticking to only clean, whole foods is the best approach – if it doesn’t run, swim, fly, or grow, without the use of pesticides, chemicals and added hormones, forget it! Why stress your body out in the first place? However, if you feel like you need a kick start and want to partake in a more dramatic detox, I’d always suggest beginning with a cleanse that lasts a day or two only – three at absolute MAX and ideally under the supervision of a good nutritionist or naturopath. If you’re going for a juice cleanse, just make sure that you stick with mostly veggie (not fruit) juices and ideally made with a slow juicer that doesn’t kick all the fibre to the curb – otherwise you’re just ingesting water, vitamins and sugar, which can wreak havoc on your blood sugar levels and sometimes achieve quite the opposite of what you’re aiming for. Olympic Strength Coach Charles Poliquin has some really fantastic guided detox programs that work on restoring good gut bacteria, boosting the body’s natural detox systems by cleansing the liver, kidneys and digestive tract while still providing adequate vitamins, minerals and accessory nutrients, as well as proteins and amino acids to make sure you retain lean muscle mass throughout the cleanse, which is super important because the second your body starts using your muscles as fuels, you’re going backwards!Who should detox?

In my opinion, it’s fairly safe for most healthy people with no major health concerns to undertake mini fasts or detoxes of 1-2 days without seeking medical advice BUT if you want to go beyond that, it’s incredibly important to seek advice from someone who can assess where your body’s at and what it actually needs, then guide you down the detox path safely and in a way that will help you to achieve real, lasting results. Every individual health concerns are unique and there could be any number of reasons you’re feeling sluggish, or unwell, or have put on weight – a detox is not always the answer, so make sure you pinpoint the problem before creating a DIY solution.What are the best detox foods?

Again, this depends on what you’re trying to achieve and what kind of detox you’re undertaking. If restoring digestive health is the result you want, a mini-fast or veggie juice cleanse can be a winner, particularly if supplemented with probiotics to support the gut. If you’re looking to generally detoxify the body and increase energy, boost skin health and support organ function, it’s best to cut out inflammatory foods like dairy, gluten, sugar, starches, alcohol, and caffeine, as well as all soy products and stick to a clean diet of organic, grass-fed meats and wild caught seafood, vegetables, fruits, whole grains, nuts and seeds. Increase your water intake and sip on organic veggie juices.If you want to drop body fat, the best way is to stick to a diet purely made up of good quality, organic or wild caught animal proteins, eggs and as many green veggies as you can handle for 10 days straight, then slowly start to include other whole foods again – but make ‘em clean! Fruit, veggies, nuts, seeds, good fats like avocado, some whole grains and fermented dairy. You’ll never look better… and you’ll never look back! If you’re a vegetarian, you can modify this by using whole grains, beans and green veggies, as well as some nuts in the first 10-day phase.What are some effects people may experience while detoxing? And after?

If you’re just doing a mini-cleanse, hunger and perhaps a little dizziness are the only real effects you should feel. If you undertake a longer detox, you may find your digestion is a little off for the first 5-7 days, you feel a little nauseous, or you get a bit cranky!Can detoxing ever be dangerous?

Yep, definitely, as mentioned above an extended detox that is not done under the supervision of a professional can be stressful for the body, throw your metabolism into mayhem, or upset your blood sugar and hormone levels, leading to weight gain once you finish the detox. If you go overboard and your body starts using your muscle for fuel, you may also start to lose lean muscle mass, which is definitely not a good thing because it’s precious stuff and helps you to burn more calories at rest.What are the overall benefits of detoxing?

Restoring good gut health, removing toxins or heavy metals from your system, reestablishing a normal hormone balance in your body, or blasting through a fat loss plateau can all be benefits of a detox carried out in the correct fashion. But remember, you can do most of this through changing your daily eating habits too!

Read Libby Babet's Yahoo7 Lifestyle health blog here