Is Detoxing Effective?

Recently we had a someone post up on our facebook page the fact that they thought that detox's were a hoax and that stores that sold them should be shut down.  I found that interesting because we have been selling detox kits for a couple decades now and customers continue to come back and tell us that they are feeling better as a result.

Some of our most popular cleanse our stores are Recleanse from Dominion Herbal College  the 7 day Rapid Cleanse, or the Wild Rose Detox kit all of which we have had many customers come back and tell us how much better they feel.  The most common benefits include, better skin, thinking clearer, more energy and weight loss. So if there was nothing to detoxification why would people both notice a difference and practitioners recommend cleanses going back thousands of years. The Egyptians would recommend detoxification to get rid of putrification of food in the body.   Native Americans would use sweat lodges, Greeks and Romans were also fans of the cleanses.  Many religions also endorse fasting as a method of physical and spiritual cleansing.

That being said the Chinese are not great fans of detoxification

Recently I did an interview on the Health First Show with Robin Westen, we were talking about her new book the "Master Cleanse Made Easy".   The master cleanse is essentially a fast where you are drinking a combination of fresh lemon juice, with cayenne pepper and maple syrup.  The cleanse has been around for years and is quite popular in some circles. We are regularly selling the maple syrup for the cleanse in the stores Grade B is the one recommended for the cleansing.

  It was an interesting interview and made more interesting considering the fact that she was telling me about the inventor of the cleanse, Stanley Burroughs who liked to claim that this was the cure for everything including cancer. Apparently it isn't!  Stanley ended up going to jail because one of his cancer patients died. Stanley himself lived to the ripe age of 88 and had quite a following due to his colorful demeanor.  

So What happens when you cleanse. Well according to Robin, the body gets rid of fats, and fecal matter that has built up over time in your body. You are giving your organs a well needed rest and after about the 3rd day you are going to start feeling great. I say the 3rd day because the first few days are hard because your stomach is empty, you are off of caffeine and probably have a headache, and you are a little weak. After the 3rd day your body becomes more balanced and you are starting to burn fat instead of calories. 

The Master Cleanse is a 10 day fast essentially and is definitely not for everyone. If you have diabetes, heart problems, gallstones or Cancer, you should probably talk to your doctor first.  If you have an eating disorder or are underweight again choose a different cleanse.

Have you done a detox before? How did you feel?