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<\/strong>This month\u2019s blog is in response to a question on the \u201cAsk Dr. Dave\u201d forum from Carl Shotton in the UK. Carl is wondering why, for most of his life, he has had a pale complexion and bags under his eyes in spite of living what he describes as a healthy lifestyle. Now this sort of thing is probably more for you to discuss with your physician but I can tell you that with a Scottish father and high cheekbones I too suffer from a pale complexion and bags under my eyes on occasion. \u201cDetox\u201d in this context could simply mean eating fresh healthy food and drinking lots of water. If you put less \u201cjunk\u201d into your system your body has less work to do in breaking it down and getting rid of it.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n I thought about Carl\u2019s question and surfed the web for a bit and found a lot of the information about \u201cdetox\u201d for \u201ctoxins\u201d focused on two classes of products, the edibles (shakes, juices and tablets) and the mechanicals such as colonic irrigation or cleanses.
\nWhat I would like to focus on from Carl\u2019s question is his concern that these symptoms were caused by a buildup of \u201ctoxins\u201d in his bowel or intestine and his suggestion that he was considering colonic irrigation as a \u201cdetox\u201d.
\nNow the word \u201cdetox\u201d is widely misused. It doesn\u2019t take a Mike Dolce to tell you that if you\u2019ve been eating pizza and other unhealthy foods and drinking lots of alcohol or soda you will probably end up feeling unwell.<\/p>\n
\nWhen I searched through a number of scientific databases I found nothing on detox diets and although there were several hundred studies of colonic irrigation they were all concerned with serious medical issues such as bowel cancer and preparation for surgery rather than detox.
\nBy the way, if you are interested in looking up medical\/scientific information I would recommend searching The Cochrane Collaboration<\/a><\/strong><\/span> as they produce really clear summaries on a wide range of topics from insomnia to vitamins to a whole range of alternative therapies like acupuncture.
\nTo start with the \u201cedible\u201d detox products, well there just doesn\u2019t seem to be any good evidence that they work so you are basically wasting your money. As I am not a dietician or nutritionist I will leave the healthy diet info to Mike but it is pretty clear that taking some homeopathic or naturopathic supplements for a week will have nowhere near the benefits of making permanent healthy lifestyle changes.
\nNow we get to colonic irrigation. As I said previously there doesn\u2019t appear to be any science behind using colonic irrigation to detox. As the list below shows (from WebMD) our bodies have a wide variety of methods of getting rid of waste, which, in a healthy person, prevent any sort of build up or re-ingestion of toxins in our bowel.
\n\u2022 Natural bacteria in the colon can detoxify food wastes.
\n\u2022 The liver also neutralizes toxins.
\n\u2022 Mucus membranes in the colon can keep unwanted substances from reentering the blood and tissues.
\n\u2022 The colon sheds old cells about every 3 days, preventing a buildup of harmful material.
\n\u2022 The normal number of bowel movements varies from person to person.
\n\u2022 Increasing the number of bowel movements doesn’t improve weight loss. That’s because the body absorbs most calories before they reach the large intestine.
\nIt is also very important to remember that even therapies marketed as natural, such as colonic irrigation, carry some risk. Although risks from colonic irrigation are low they can occur and range from the mild such as vomiting, dehydration and nausea through to very serious complications like bowel perforation and infection.
\n-Dr. Dave<\/p>\n
\nAbout the Author<\/h3>\n
I am a scientist who is passionate about helping people rediscover their love of science. Everyday we make decisions about our health, often with little or no evidence. I hope that I can help provide you with scientific information without the jargon that will help you learn about the most interesting topic in the world – you.
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