Can I really lose weight or improve my health?
As a personal trainer, I get asked about detoxes or cleansing diets all the time. Lately these diets have really grown in popularity thanks to many celebrities and the media. Do a quick search online or at your bookstore and you will find a variety of detoxes from fruit drinks, liquid diets, intestinal “exfoliating†diets, liver cleanses, and many more. It can be quite overwhelming but at the same time tempting to try because they promise a quick solution to loosing weight. The major theme of most detox or cleanse diets is elimination. Most require you to eliminate at least one or more of the following: gluten, alcohol, sugar, refined foods, fats, cigarettes/drugs, etc to make you feel better. Well, this is not rocket science – of course you will feel better if you eliminate these! But, you can still do this safely while incorporating a healthy diet and exercise.
What exactly is a “detox†or body “cleanseâ€? Well, most of them consist of eating or drinking specific foods and drinks for a specific time days while eliminating toxins (certain foods, chemicals, drinks, etc) completely from your diet. Take for example the popular Master Cleanse which has been one of Google’s most popular diet searches over the last year and was made popular by celebrities such as Beyonce and Gwyneth Paltrow. It consists of drinking a concoction of lemon juice, water, maple syrup and cayenne pepper for days and sometimes weeks with little or no food! Sound appetizing? Personally, I think it sounds horrible! Plus…there are so many things wrong with this…keep reading…
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