The 8 Biggest Myths About Detoxing
8 Detox Myths Busted
In this post, I’m going to be sharing 8 common myths about detoxing
There are a lot of untrue stereotypes about detoxing and cleansing. When I first tried to do a cleanse, I had all of these ideas of what a detox should be like – I thought that I would feel miserable and would be starving while sipping on gross green juices (for the record, I did try this a few times and it was awful).
After trying so many different kinds of cleanses over the years, I have realised that doing a detox doesn’t have to be a terrible time – this really depends on what type of detox you do, and how you think about it.
I’ve tried week long juice fasts and I’ve tried eating raw garlic with plain brown rice for 3 days straight (it was the worst, don’t try it ever) – and after all of that, I realised that there are some pretty big myths about what a cleanse should be like
Here are 8 of the biggest myths about detoxing, that you should know before you attempt your next cleanse… or even your first cleanse.
The 8 biggest myths about detoxing
1. Juicing all of my food is the only way to detox
While juice cleanses are super popular at the moment, they can also be very dangerous. I have done many juice cleanses myself over the past few years and have learned from my mistakes. Juicing seems like a great idea because it promises quick results – but truthfully, there are many reasons why doing a juice cleanse is not always the best idea. Juice cleanses are expensive, time consuming and you don’t get as many benefits as you think you will. While juicing, you actually lose a lot of the nutrients in the fruit & vegetables (especially if you don’t have a a good juicer), you feel hungry because you are not eating substantial food and you can often consume way too many calories (and therefore gain weight – especially if you are juicing a lot of fruit). Fruit in large quantities can be calorie dense, and it takes a lot of fruit to fill a glass of juice. To put it simply – juicing is expensive, high in calories and it doesn’t provide enough nutrients. Eating normal, whole foods on a cleanse is way more beneficial than drinking only juice.
2. If I drink lemon water or salt water all day then my body will be cleansed
Avoid doing dangerous cleanses like salt cleanses, lemon cleanses and other cleanses that promote drinking a strange concoction to rid the body of toxins – these can often do way more harm than good, can cause major dehydration and can cause malnutrition.
3. I can detox by fasting and severely limit my food intake
It’s actually very important to make sure that you get enough nutrients while detoxing, and so fasting or starving yourself is a very bad idea. The body needs enough calories and nutrients to detoxify itself properly.
4. If I am detoxing my body, I can eat as much food as I want as long as it’s healthy
While it is important not to starve yourself when detoxing, eating too much food (even healthy food) can cause weight unwanted gain. Stay mindful of calories if you are trying to lose weight (without becoming obsessive about it), but still make sure that you are eating enough food.
5. I need to suffer and force myself to eat gross health foods to cleanse my body
A lot of people force themselves to eat strange green juices that taste terrible and eat things like raw garlic while cleansing – but if you don’t enjoy this, then don’t do it. Studies have shown that when you enjoy food, your body gets more benefit from it than from food that you don’t enjoy. If you don’t enjoy something and force yourself to eat it, you will actually not get as much benefit from it. The best way to detox is to base your diet on simple, whole, unprocessed plant-based foods (think fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, seeds, etc.).
6. I can’t eat normal food while on a detox and have to cut out entire food groups
You can eat normal food while on a cleanse – in fact it’s best if you do! Just because you are cleansing, it doesn’t mean that your life has to be put on hold. The best, simplest way to detox is to eat normal, whole, plant-based foods like salads, fruits and vegetables. A lot of people only eat fruit and vegetables while detoxing and while this is good, it’s still important to get good protein and healthy fats in your diet. When you detox your body, it’s important to get all of the nutrients that your body needs so that your body can detoxify itself. Eat plant-based protein (raw nuts, seeds, etc.) and healthy plant-based fats (avocado, nuts, seeds, etc.) with fresh fruits and vegetables while detoxing to ensure that your body gets all of the nutrients that it needs.
7. I will be moody and irritable while doing a cleanse, and will feel awful
Most people think that while you detox and cleanse your body, you will feel miserable and grumpy – but this does not have to be true! Detoxing can be fun and exciting, how you feel about is all about how you think about it. When you detox, you are cleaning and nourishing your body – looking after your body is something to be excited about! If you believe that a detox will cause you to be miserable, then it probably will. Be excited about taking care of your body and enjoy how great your body feels because of it!
8. A detox will never be fun, and so I don’t even want to try it!
If it’s not fun and you don’t enjoy it – you will not be getting as much benefit from it. Instead of forcing yourself to eat something that you hate, eat meals that your tastebuds will love. It’s actually really easy to make healthy and delicious food, you just need to get used to a new way of eating.
TAKE NOTE + TAKE CARE
While doing a detox, remember that it’s important to exercise – the body gets rid of toxins through sweat. But you don’t have to spend all day exercising, 16 minutes is all that you need to work up a sweat – Join my 16 minute workout challenge!
Also remember that it’s very important to drink lots of water while cleansing. You should drink at least 8 glasses of water per day, and even more if you are exercising. While on a detox you should be drinking more than this each day, aim for 10-12 glasses or water per day so that your body can flush out any toxins. Drink only filtered or pure water.
Whenever I do a detox, I noticed that I do feel more awake, alive and refreshed. There are so many good reasons to do a cleanse – glad we got those myths busted!
Liezl Jayne xo
Ps. I’ve also got a 3 day eating plan for weight-loss that you can download here on my blog – this is what I used to lose 40 Lbs!
Photos by Liezl Jayne Strydom and Ross Charnock for liezljayne.com
