Fad diets come and go, one that sticks around is detoxing. Detoxing the body is cutting out unhealthy parts of a diet and replacing it with certain foods to remove all excess, harmful waste from the body. Many celebrities use it to shed pounds quickly, others use it to start a fresh life with whole, organic foods. One type of popular detoxification is detoxing the liver. However, there are many risks with any type of detoxing, especially of the liver.
Types
There are different forms of detoxification, and this includes water fasting, juice fasting, minimal eating, cleansing shakes, ion cleanse and herbal detoxification.
Benefits
Many people on detoxification diets find they feel well, lose weight from the reduction of food intake, have increased energy as the body relieves itself of toxins and clearer sight.
Considerations
A liver detoxification diet is hard to stay with and keep the weight off. The diet is very restrictive of what one can or cannot have. The drastic weight loss comes from muscle loss and water weight. Fasting also causes metabolism to slow down. Detox diets should only be used for a short period because of the horrific side effects. A major side effect of this diet is it makes people insane. Once people get heavily involved in the diet they often panic about the chemicals that surround them in their lives. When on the liver detoxification diet be sure to consume enough protein and fiber from beans, milk, yogurt, lean meat and eggs.
Warnings
Detoxing can cause dehydration. People restrict their diets to the extreme including water intake. It can also cause mineral imbalances and problems with the digestive system. Once people are hooked on the diet, it can often lead to other eating disorders such as anorexia.
Effects
Many dieters find they have headaches, sore muscles, mood swings, insomnia, weakness and dizziness in the first few days of the diet. All of these side effects come from the change in diet. When withdrawal of things such as caffeine begin, the body reacts differently for each person. The key is to slowly ease off things, not go cold turkey. Dieters have also found that they are full of anxiety and are restless. They may also experience constipation. This will improve over time, but dieters must remember to consume enough fiber and at least two liters of water a day.