By Amy Lawrenson
I had a Twitter conversation with Nutrition therapist Ian Marber recently and two comments he made stuck with me. The first he said was that detoxing does little more than 'draw a line under bad habits' and second that 'during detox levels of two hormones rise (leptin and grehlin) which increase hunger post detox'.
While Im still a fan of the occasional cleanse to help me drop a few pounds and feel more virtuous, heres Ians view on detoxing so you can make an educated decision for yourselves:
'The human body is remarkably adept at clearing out what shouldnt be there, and unless you're seriously unwell, your body is constantly busy filtering out the good from the bad. Of course you can add pressure to the in-built detoxification methods through ingesting alcohol and refined foods, but even then, the liver can usually cope'.
'Most detox programs suggest a semi-fast, which forces the body to shed water in order to access stored fuel, which means the weight loss you experience in the first few days is actually water loss. The addition of herbs and nutrients that supposedly help is no bad thing, but they arent essential. Eating fresh food including lean protein, essential fats, fruit, vegetables and wholegrains whilst minimising refined foods, sugars and alcohol will mean that you can benefit from good nutrition all year and not have to bother with a detox. It cant undo bad eating though, however much you might want it to.'
Follow me and Ian on twitter @amylawrenson and @IanMarber. Oh, and while you're at it follow @elleuk and @ellebeautyteam too!
