Do You Really Need to Cleanse?
Summertime is here, and although it's a little different this year because of COVID, the pressure to lose weight and look "good" in a bathing suit is still there. Diet culture of course thrives in this environment, pushing it's many dangerous, restrictive, and punishing ideals. One of the big trends that pops up in the summer (and around the holidays big time) is cleansing.
There are many different types of cleanses that are sold, ranging from "skinny teas" to a product you add into a liquid, to simply making your own juices at home. Somehow, even though dietitians and doctors have been fighting against this trend for years and trying to battle the misinformation about cleansing, it still pops up right on time! As we know, diet culture is incredibly good at evolving and putting on a new mask to hide its face.
Glorious green eggs and ham because the word cleanse just makes me think of the color GREEN, right??
Since I haven't personally addressed cleanses before, I wanted to lay it out here as a resource for you to come back to should you ever feel the pressure to cleanse. It's hard not to - you're told that there are "toxins" built up in your body, and doing a cleanse will "reset" your metabolism and hormones likely resulting in weight loss. Toxin build up? That sounds so scary! And it'll help me reset things in my body? Great! What's the harm in that? Take a seat. Let me share it with you.
For the purpose of this post I'm going to use the generic word cleanse, but I am referring to all types of cleanses (whether that be a juice, pill, water, or tea cleanse), detoxes, and juice/liquid fasts. When I say "cleanse" in this post, I mean a program/action in which a person significantly lowers their caloric intake and replaces meals or snacks with liquids. I may interchange words but I'm always referring the to same thing. Let's be clear about one thing - a cleanse is a form of dieting. I know it may not seem the same in one's mind, but your body does not know the difference. Your body doesn't know that you're just cleansing for three days and will be back to it's regular scheduled programming; your body doesn't know you're decreasing calories the day before you leave for a beach trip; your body doesn't know. Your body thinks it's in a famine. And what the body does in response to that (goes into protection mode) is where the concern over these cleanses (and any diet) lie.
Changes to Metabolism
Initially, those engaging in a cleanse may see a significant weight drop. Yay, success? Nope. This is the same drastic weight loss those following the keto diet may see in the beginning. When carbohydrates in the diet are significantly decreased, the body releases a good amount of fluid. No carbohydrates to store, no need to hold on to the water that is typically stored with the carbohydrates. This is translated into success, but the fact of the matter is that as soon as one goes back to eating a regular diet, the water will come back. This is then translated into failure on your part, rather than a normal metabolic response. What's harmful about that is that this right here is where the diet cycle begins. You feel out of control and no longer trust the way you have known to feed your body. So, the search begins for another diet.
As research shows us, diets (whatever form) often result in the person coming out on the other side with a higher weight than they were when they first engaged in diets. This is a protective measure, and is the result of your body trying to adjust it's metabolism to being in a constant state of famine. I have spoken with many women who have had to grieve this realization, that their body may never be the same because of the ways that the diet cycle has shunted and changed their metabolism. These after-effects are what diet culture doesn't talk about, and are a really good indication that engaging in short term "fixes" like a quick cleanse to drop x amount of pounds before summer can actually cause a lot of harm.
Mistrust of Our Own Body
We have been perfectly created to maintain homeostasis within our bodies. We have been given incredible mechanisms and organs to make sure that anything that may be harmful or not needed in our bodies is filtered out. The liver, kidneys, and colon all work hard to filter what we ingest, and we have these incredible things called pooping, peeing, and sweating to release what's deemed not needed. I know you've heard it all before - if you believe your kidneys or liver aren't working, go see a doctor. Quickly.
I actually don't see cleanses marketed for the purpose of getting rid of toxins in your body so much anymore, and I think that's evidence that Diet Culture realized that we figured out that there may not be much to this whole "need to get toxins out of our system" thing (that was a bigger trend maybe 4-6 years ago). Now, cleanses are marketed with the words "immune boosting", "hormone balancing", and to "reset your metabolism". Let's talk about those concepts. Also, it's important to note that most cleanses are not regulated by the FDA, meaning they can claim pretty much anything without having to have the proof to back it up. They also haven't been tested for safety. Just fyi.
Immune boosting: Cleanses are typically mainly fruits and vegetables. Fruits and vegetables contain high amounts of vitamins and minerals, which are helpful to the immune system and many have antioxidant properties. These are facts.
But, you can get these benefits by eating a balanced diet containing plenty of fruits and vegetables, while also nourishing yourself adequately by eating all food groups in appropriate amounts. You can get these benefits and have a healthy immune system without having to starve yourself. In fact, the "boosting" properties of a juice cleanse may be completely null will you consider the compromising effects of not eating enough and what that does to the immune system. People with eating disorders are considered immuno-compromised. Why? Because such low caloric intake literally stunts the immune system (SITE).
Hormone balancing: I find this claim interesting, as one study found that decreasing your energy intake by even 22% (400-500 calories if you eat a 2000kcal diet) can affect your hormones and impact your fertility. So again...the caloric restriction and lack of nourishment that these cleanses REQUIRE is actually the CAUSE of the things that these cleanses claim to fix!
The effect of caloric restriction on hormones aside..."balancing hormones" isn't as simple as drinking juice for a month. Hormonal balances are often complex (thyroid issues, PCOS) or can even be caused by stress. For me, following a cleanse would be incredibly stressful and would do more harm than good for my hormones. Just something to think about.
Resetting your metabolism: I'm honestly not sure what resetting metabolism means. I've seen some people refer to increasing their metabolism as "resetting" it. So we will go with that for the purpose of this post. (Hint: you can't reset your metabolism. And you don't need to.)
When the amount of calories that one eats is decreased enough that the body feels restricted in energy, the body will actually slow down metabolism to conserve energy. And what do most cleansing and juicing programs require? A severe cut in calories. Hmmm.
Diet culture aims to destroy your sense of trust with yourself. Whether it's hunger cues, cravings, or even just the cleansing ability of your God-given organs, diet culture will hijack these intuitive processes and convince you that you cannot trust yourself, you're out of control, and you must do xyz in order to get back in line. While a diet or cleanse may provide temporary "results", I urge you to think about the bigger picture and whether or not it lines up with your values. The damage that quick-fixes do to your physical and mental health may be with you for much longer than the temporary "results" are.
A Word on Detoxing
Around the holidays, detoxing becomes a total buzzword. Cleanses surge in popularity then because of the need to "detox" your body after you spent days eating "junk/crap/processed food". This has always been incredibly interesting to me...maybe just because I'm a digestion and metabolism nerd. But, let me give a quick summary of digestion. Once food is in your body, it's in there. There is no "erasing". Carbs, fats, and protein go through hundreds of processes as they are used for energy, stored, sent to different areas of the body, etc. Vitamins and minerals head to where they are needed, and are used in the process of digestion and metabolism as well. Whatever isn't needed comes out in your poop. There is no doorway in your digestive tract that certain foods enter and wait out being "cleansed" from your system. That "bad" food isn't sitting there like, "Shoot...I don't think I belong here guys!! I'll wait here until I get detoxed out." Everything goes through the same process - your body doesn't see foods as good and bad. Your body, meaning your digestive tract, sees food as carbs, fats, proteins. And it breaks down, uses, and stores the products of digestion regardless of the amount of carbs, fats, and proteins in the food. I'm simplifying, but what I'm trying to say is that doing a detox to try to rid your body of a food you ate that you now regret is a waste of time. The juice/detox/whatever cannot go into your body and pick out what it wants to "detoxify" - it isn't in there rolling through saying, "I'll take that fat, I'll take that fat, I'll leave that one but ooo I'll take that one!" In fact, a cleanse doesn't have the power to pick up and take away things. It's getting digested and broken down into usable and unusable parts just like the food you ate.
Now. Nutrition is very nuanced as we have discussed before. If we are talking about just freshly squeezed juice, sure, that totally can have a place in your diet without being harmful physically or mentally. Our bodies love hydration, and a glass of freshly squeezed juice from multiple fruits and veggies is a quick and yummy (to some people) way to get a lot of vitamins and minerals. Nothing wrong with that! But cleansing programs or challenges or whatever you want to call them that suggest using juice to REPLACE a meal, that have ingredients in them with laxative effects, or have a million too good to be true claims attached to them, will likely cause way more harm than good.
Instead of buying into the latest cleansing phase, trust your body that it can take care of you and filter out what is unneeded. In return, take care of it by nourishing it consistently and well. Reach out to a dietitian if you need support in your journey to nourishing and trusting yourself.