For days all I did was drink water out of a giant jug I had with me at all times. And by water, I mean a mixture of water, lemon juice, grade A maple syrup, and cayenne pepper.
It didn’t taste great but I did enjoy the slight tingle from the cayenne as it went down. At first, it didn’t taste so bad. But after the first day, I felt like Ne-Yo. I was so sick of the weird-tasting concoction. There was just one problem—I was to consume nothing else for an entire week.
And I did. But it took every ounce of determination—and lemon juice—that I had.
I was detoxing. My roommate and I decided to start a detox after we had a stint of eating junk, going to parties, and eating more junk. We felt gross on the inside and wanted it to change. So we set out on a liquid quest we thought would be the answer.
And it worked. Sort of.
It’s hard to explain, but we both felt like it helped us get rid of all the junk we had the week before. We felt more energetic, sharp, and healthy. Plus we lost a bunch of weight. (If my memory serves me, I think we were both down somewhere in the ballpark of 7 pounds. In. One. Week.)
We felt better and the number on the scale dropped. The misery of drinking the same thing every day for an entire week must have been worth it.
At least that’s what I thought. But I thought wrong.
This detox happened years before I ever studied the body, nutrition, or got my degree in Exercise and Wellness. At the time, I hardly knew anything about fitness. In bro-speak, I didn’t even lift.
So sure, I thought the detox worked. But I was wrong. And now, I know why.
Don’t Start a Detox
My sister just told me she’s going to do a detox with a friend. I responded with, “Yeah I’m starting a detox too. It’s called my liver and kidneys.”
My sarcastic response probably wasn’t the encouragement she expected. But it brings up an important fact—everything you need to detox your body is built-in.
There is some good news for my sister, though. (Am I the only one that still thinks of Geico whenever I hear something about good news?) Over the next several days, her body will rid itself of toxins. She may even feel more energetic and healthy. But it’ll have nothing to do with the strict regimen of eating she’ll be on and everything to do with her body, liver, and kidneys.
Combine the body’s natural ability to detox with the placebo effect and it’s no wonder why detoxes seem to work like magic. Their products and plans are all the rage. But British researchers found no evidence of detoxes working and concluded that our liver and kidneys do all the detoxing we need.
But wait. What about weight loss? Isn’t that a plus?
Fair point. I mean I lost about 7 pounds in a single week, which are unreal results. And I mean that literally. Once I stopped drinking my maple-cayenne lemonade, I put the weight right back on. So what may have seemed like amazing weight loss results, were, in fact, completely unreal.
Redirecting Detox Determination
Have you ever seen someone do a detox without complaining? I don’t know if it’s possible. They’re extremely restrictive.
And while you sit there following your strict path to cleansing your body, everybody around you eats all sorts of delicious flavor. Sticking to the plan is hard—especially if you’ve got a break room full of tasty food at the office.
It takes a lot of determination to successfully complete a detox. Determination that could be much better spent. Why put all your effort into doing something that science shows to be ineffective?
Instead, put that same effort into making simple and sustainable changes. I even made a list for you.
Do each of these with the same determination you’d use when you start a detox. Be strict about it. You’ll both feel and see your body change.
The best part—these changes actually last.
What to Do Instead:
1. Drink More Water
Most adults live in a state of chronic dehydration. Drinking more water is usually the first step for anyone in my coaching program. Drink enough water and your body will function better. It’s that simple.
As a jumping off point, aim to drink half your bodyweight (lbs) in ounces of water each day. Weight 200 pounds? Shoot for 100 ounces of water. (That’s about 6 standard-sized water bottles.) Yes, you’ll probably have to go to the bathroom more than usual. But this is a good thing, because #detoxing.
2. Eat More Fruits and Veggies
I’m going to level with you. Everybody could do better with eating enough fruits and vegetables—especially veggies. That includes me. Grandma was right, you need to eat your vegetables. Even if you’re taking a great greens supplement, make sure you have wide a variety of fruits and veggies.
Not taking a greens supplement? I got you covered. Get your Athletic Greens at a discount.
There are a couple of reasons why.
For one, fiber. Consuming more fiber will help keep your GI tract healthy and even promote a healthy heart. Plus, fruits and veggies are packed with nutrients. If you’re deficient in any vitamins or minerals (spoiler alert: most people are) your body won’t function optimally.
Shoot to eat 5-7 servings of veggies and 1-3 servings of fruits each day. But listen, I understand this could be a big jump. And I want you to make sustainable change. So instead of diving face-first into a big bag of broccoli, start simple and increase your daily intake by one serving. After about a week, add another serving. Gradually work into the recommendation.
3. Sleep
I’m not here to tell you what you already know. We all know sleep is a good thing.
I’m sure you’re well aware of how much sleep you should be getting. You’ve probably known that for years. Yet when life gets busy, sleep is one of the first things we let go. And let’s face it, life is almost always busy.
I’m not going to tell you what to do. But I am going to ask you to do what you know. Getting enough sleep will work wonders. You know you should. Now just go do it. It’ll be a whole heck of a lot easier than that detox.
Also, there is more to sleep than quantity. Don’t forget about quality. The deeper you sleep, the more rested you’ll feel in the morning—even if you can’t find the time to get more sleep (which is a lame excuse, bt-dubs).
One simple way to improve your sleep quality is to keep a no-screens-within-30-minutes-of-bed policy.
The lights from our laptops, tablets, TVs, and phones have been shown to stimulate the brain. This is good for your little niece watching Baby Einstein on a Saturday morning, but bad for you when you’re trying to go to sleep.
A stimulated brain will take longer to reach deep REM sleep. So stop using your screens a half hour before bed, grab a book (like a real book made of paper) if you need to pass the time, and wake up more refreshed.
Detoxes may not do much (thanks for the heads up, science). But these three simple changes will—at a fraction of the effort. Instead of wasting your time with a difficult detox that ultimately does nothing, spend your time where it counts. Drink more water. Eat more fruits and vegetables. Get better sleep.
You will feel the difference.
Know anybody that’s thinking of doing a detox? Be a good friend and share this with them.