This article was originally posted on FatGirlsFitness.com
Is Detoxifying Real?
I am a skeptic. So I understand why words like “toxin” and “liver” sound made-up and stupid.
But I’m also a hippie. So at least once a week, you can find me in a meditative trance, removing “toxins” from my “liver” by way of complete abstention from food. That’s right, I fast weekly. Fuck. You.
I Don’t Know What Toxins Are
What the hell are toxins? Where do they live?
I don’t like magical terminology because I love science. And in the name of science, I truly abhor catch-all words (like toxins). But that doesn’t mean that toxins aren’t real. In fact, I’m beginning to strongly suspect that livers might be real too.
Toxins may include, but are not limited to –> pesticides, traces of antibiotics, chlorine (from your drinking water), MSG, BPA, preservatives, pollutants from various plastics and emissions. Dear god, even glucose is toxic to your blood (why do you think your body is so good at clearing it?).
Some of these toxins live in your fat. When you lose weight, they are released into your blood. These are called “fat soluble.” Yikes.
Some toxins are stored in other places, like your left eye, or your right eye. Maybe this explains why you can’t look at your mother straight.
Some of the above listed compounds might not even be toxic. Who knows? But some probably are. And some might not be toxic to you, per se. They simply destroy your microbiome and cause your ass to leak blood at the most inconvenient times (a phenomenon we fitness bloggers refer to as “anal menstruation.”)
It drives me crazy when people dismiss detoxifying as pseudo-science.
I apologize, on behalf of the hippies, for failing to effectively articulate their filthy-hippie points of view. Maybe they’re too busy chanting at a crystal.
But despite never showering, the hippies might be onto something. And the hippie within me feels it intuitively.
Your so-called “liver”
Your body detoxifies constantly. Through sweat, through breath — even through your incontinent bladder. Your body is a homeostasis MACHINE. And it cannot LIVE without constantly detoxifying. How can you not respect its amazing homeostatic powers?
This alleged “liver” of yours supposedly plays a role. Sure, whatever. Maybe Unicorns play a role too.
Imaginary or not, I don’t think that your so called “liver” is helped by a bed of rose petals, cayenne pepper, maple syrup, or whatever stupid thing you probably believe in. Namely, because all of those things are moronic.
…But perhaps, just perhaps, we should at least consider the possibility that this mythical organ might be helped by a short break from the never ending onslaught of FOOD FOOD FOOD and chemicals that you’ve stuffed down your gullet every 3–5 hours (as recommended by ‘professionals’) for the past 38 years of your life.
Fasting and/or Just Not Taking in Toxins
Fasting is both ancient and new. Short fasts have shown health promise in so many ways. When there are problems with blood work, fasts often improve those problems.
I’m not going to cite specific studies here, because it’s so much easier to just make my claims without any support at all. But if you’d like to learn more — here are some great books that I love: “The Fast Diet” by Dr. Michael Mosley and Mimi Spencer and “Grain Brain” by Dr. Perlmutter. Dr. Joel Fuhrman also has great book on this topic, but it’s slightly dated.
If you don’t want to fast, you can detoxify in other ways. And in fact — fasting alone will never be enough.
You can simply reduce the amount of toxins you take in. And that’s real. Here is a story about a family who went fully organic for just two weeks. The amount of pesticides in their blood plummeted. We still don’t know what effects, if any, this has on health. But I suspect that chemicals often have consequences. Why wouldn’t they?
Detoxifying Could Simply Mean Not Eating Weird Chemicals
You don’t have to be a hippie to simply not eat weird chemicals.
Just try not to eat them, or at least to eat less of them. Chemicals go to the places where you put them. Why wouldn’t they? And even if your body is fantastic at getting rid of them, you don’t have to make it work so hard.
And while it is probably true that your liver is nothing but a myth perpetuated by the media, that doesn’t make it infallible. Everything degrades over time, even things that were invented in the cold sterile boardroom of some heartless corporation trying to sell you liver pills.
For more information on how you can avoid weird chemicals in your produce, check out EWG’s Clean Fifteen and Dirty Dozen lists. These lists tell you which fruits and veggies are most likely (and least likely) to be contaminated with pesticides.
It’s nice to create a nice environment for the things you love, and it’s nice not to take chances with your hot body. Treat your so-called liver with respect, and your so-called liver just might thank you by not killing you.
Peace. Love. Detox.
