Body Cleanse: Do Detox Diets Really Work?

Feeling as if your body needs a reset after a stretch of questionable food and drink decisions? A body cleanse might sound like a practical answer, but do detox diets and supplements really help? In this episode, we explore whether your body needs help detoxifying itself and how to support optimal health. 

Expert: Dr. Kyle Mueller, Primary Care Physician 

Interviewer: Katie McCallum 

Notable topics covered: 

• Are greasy foods, sugary snacks and alcohol truly “toxic” to the body? 
• Your body is naturally detoxifying itself all the time 
• What does a detox diet do for the body? 
• The hidden harms of juice cleanses 
• Should you try a detox supplement instead? 
• Why “cheat days” don’t work for everyone 
• The principles of keeping a healthy body 

If you enjoy these kinds of conversations, be sure to subscribe. And for more topics like this, visit our blog at houstonmethodist.org/blog.

Chapters

• 0:00 What’s considered “toxic” to our body?
• 3:50 Can't your body detoxify on its own?
• 4:48 The truth about detox diets, as well as crash diets more generally
• 7:00 Tips for making consistently healthier dietary choices
• 8:30 Why “cheat days” don’t work for everyone
• 9:35 Could juice cleansing actually be harmful?
• 12:25 Should you try a detox supplement?
• 13:49 The principles of keeping a healthy body

Transcript

ZACH MOORE: Welcome to On Health with Houston Methodist. I'm Zach Moore, I'm a photographer and editor here and I’m also a longtime podcaster. 

KATIE MCCALLUM: I’m Katie McCallum, former researcher turned health writer, mostly writing for our blogs. 

ZACH: And Katie, have you ever detoxed?

KATIE: Like a detox diet?

ZACH: Yes, like a detox diet.

KATIE: I have not. I have a lot of friends who’ve done it, though. Like, a juice cleanse. You know, I don’t know if you’ve heard of a juice cleanse. 

ZACH: I have heard of that.

KATIE: Yeah, you, like, order these kits and they give you -- they ship you, like, three juices that you drink a day, and that’s literally all you have. Is like you drink juice as your meal for, like, three plus days. I have, kind of, not heard great things about it. 

ZACH: Okay.

KATIE: But there are times when I think about if I need it, especially after, like, a weekend where I really just -- I go off the rails.

ZACH: You indulge yourself maybe a little too much over a weekend. No, I’ve felt that too. Like, fill in the blank of whatever you eat or drink, but if it’s too much of it and it’s not that healthy, you feel like, “Man, if there was a way to just purge all this unhealthiness I consumed,” that sounds like it’d be a good thing.

KATIE: Yeah, sometimes I literally feel, like, saturated, you know what I mean? After, like, a weekend of just, like, not doing all the right things. So, yeah, in my mind it makes sense that maybe I might need a detox. But you know me, I’m very skeptical of most things that are, like, popular. 

ZACH: Yeah, despite how popular it is right now, I too have not participated in any sort of detox diet. I mean, I have -- like you, I’ve been intrigued…

KATIE: Mm-hmm.

ZACH: But I’ve never took that leap to do. And, you know, we wanted to find out what is the real story on detox diets. And who did we talk to about this, Katie?

KATIE: We talked to Dr. Kyle Mueller. He is a Primary Care doctor here at Houston Methodist. I basically, kinda, started by asking him, like, “Do our bodies really need help detoxing?” But then we also get into the detox diets generally, juice cleanses, what else we could be doing just to keep our body healthy. So yeah, let’s get into it. 

[Sound effect plays to signal beginning of interview]

Alright Dr. Mueller, thanks so much for being here with us today.

DR. KYLE MUELLER: Yeah, thanks for having me.

KATIE: This chat we’re having is coming at the perfect time for me because I had a bit of a -- diet went off the rails this weekend. So, it kinda started off with, like, I had some pizza on Friday, and then that led into, like, “Oh, let’s get desert.” So, I had a slice of cake. And then on Saturday, I, like, woke up from a nap and was really hungry, so then I, like, ran to the convenience store and got, like, some hot fries. And then yesterday, I ate, like, a bunch of pizza again. So, it’s actually coming at perfect timing to talk about detoxifying my body. A lot of my friends -- I’ve never done a detox diet, but I hear people talk about ‘em. And then, like, after a weekend like this, I’m like, “I don’t know, do I need to intervene?” Before we get into the diet part of it all, I wanna get into, like, the “tox” part of detox. So, what is toxic to our bodies? Is all the added sugar and alcohol I pumped into my body this weekend really a toxin to me?

DR. MUELLER: Yeah. I mean, the word toxin is, kind of, a specific term. Usually it’s like a protein produced by a bacteria that is toxic to us, that’s harmful. So, you know, I think of, like, tetanus. It’s a poison that’s in clostridium, and it causes paralysis. Or Botulinum toxin, Shiga toxin that’s in E. coli. So, all those are examples of toxins that bacteria make that make us sick. But yeah, as far as, you know, junk food, I think it’s a bridge too far to call those toxins, you know. But as far as they -- are they healthy for us, you know, probably not. We should probably try to limit those.

KATIE: I guess my next question is whether it’s a real toxin or not, what we put in our bodies obviously affects our bodies. I mean, I’m assuming our bodies have ways of sort of getting rid of the bad stuff, keeping the good stuff, and things like that. So, what does that process look like?

DR. MUELLER: Our body is trying to keep a state of what’s called homeostasis, and that just means, kind of, like equilibrium. And so, there’s parameters that, you know, for every little thing that your body regulates. Whether that’s sodium, or ammonia, and it does that by expelling it through urine or through your feces, your liver is filtering the blood, and you know, helping you digest things. But then again, your kidneys filter out, and your blood, and then excrete it through your urine. And so, those natural ways, you know, when it’s functioning like it should without liver disease, without kidney disease, you shouldn’t have a build up of anything toxic, you know? ‘Cause all those should be at a normal level.

KATIE: So, it kinda sounds like “detox diet” might, in itself, not make a ton of sense.

DR. MUELLER: Yeah, I mean, you know people talk about doing those. And I’m not a fan of crash diets or anything like that where you just do it for 30 days or something, I think. When I think of diet, it’s just a word for, like, what food you eat, you know, and what does your diet consist of, you know? And so, I think, making healthier choices consistently, trying to watch your portions on the bad food, and trying to avoid that junk food, the highly processed, calorie-dense food that make it easy to get -- you know, overeat and eat too much, too many calories, and adds a lot of things that we don’t need excess of like fat and sugar and all of that, which can lead to obesity, diabetes, if -- especially if you chronically have too much of that. 

KATIE: Yeah. To that end, you know, when we are thinking about what we eat in, and like in my example of, like, diet went way off the rails this weekend, do I need to intervene with any kind of real, substantial steps other than, like, recommit to eating a healthier diet? Like, you know, does  it -- having a ton of added sugar like -- I did wake up, I feel, like, saturated with, like, pizza. Like I woke up feeling like I smelled like pizza. So, like, I mean, is this stuff really building up in our bodies at all that way, or is just -- I think I ask because the term detox diet makes you assume that, like, you do need to detoxify yourself. 

DR. MUELLER: Right, yeah. I mean, I think that is, kind of, the understanding when someone uses that term, but I don’t think it’s correct.

KATIE: Okay. 

DR. MUELLER: So, like I said, I mean, too many calories over time, you know, that’s gonna lead to excess, you know, fat and all of that, which can mess up your endocrine system and lead to insulin resistance which can lead to higher sugar levels and then diabetes. Obesity can lead to higher blood pressure, sleep apnea, all those things as well. So, all that is, kind of, related to our diet, and our exercise habits and all of that. But yeah, one aspect that I did wanna address when you, kind of, said, you know, you had a unhealthy meal and then it, kind of, led to more unhealthy choices, I think sometimes we get in our own heads about that and we say, “Well, I had a donut for breakfast so my diet’s ruined, so I’m gonna have ice cream for lunch,” and then, you know, or whatever it is, and make more unhealthy choices. So, I think, you know, not beating yourself up about it and then saying, “You know, even though I had something unhealthy for breakfast, you know, for lunch, I’ll try to be healthier and make the healthier choice.” Get the salad with the grilled chicken instead of the fried chicken, you know? And different things like that. Just, you know, making consistently healthier choices as opposed to unhealthy choices. And I would also say portion size plays into that. So, like, one piece of pizza may not be that unhealthy. I mean, is it the world’s best food? Maybe not. But, you know, it’s fine. But, you know, having four pieces of pizza, that’s too many calories, it’s gonna lead to more issues and more problems. 

KATIE: Yeah. I’m glad you said that actually because I do have a tendency to, kind of, do exactly what you just said where I get in my head and I’m like, “Well, I already had pizza, what’s a slice of cake after?” And then the next day, I was like, “I’ll start over on Monday.” So, this whole weekend’s shot. Like, why don’t I just -- so, it is a good reminder to still, like, once I made one, maybe, poor choice, I don’t need to drag the entire ship down with it. 

DR. MUELLER: And people talk about having cheat days as far as on their diet and I don’t think that’s a sustainable way to look at it either. Because, you know, if you’re having your cheat days on the weekends and during the week you eat pretty healthy, but you just, kind of, undo any progress on the weekends, then that’s not, one, gonna lead to any change, and it’s just not very sustainable.

KATIE: Right, yeah. No, I clearly cannot have a cheat meal almost even, ‘cause then I let that roll into cheat days, plural, so.

DR. MUELLER: Me personally, I don’t like, you know, going on those diets that are, like, really forbidding, you know, whole categories of food. For me, that doesn’t work, you know, like a zero-carb keto diet or something. I know it works for some people. I do think, you know, you gotta find the diet that works for you. But, you know, again, I think sustainability. Like, can you keep it up long term? Because it doesn’t matter if you do low carb or keto and drop 40 pounds, but you can only do it for a month, and then you regain it all back, or maybe even worse off than where you started.

KATIE: Yeah. That’s a good segway into my next question about a particular detox diet that I have heard the most about, juice cleansing where, essentially, people just order these, like, kits of juices and you, like, just literally drink juice for, like, at least a week sometimes.

DR. MUELLER: Yeah.

KATIE: What are your thoughts on juice cleansing? I mean, I think we’ve already, kind of, said the general idea, maybe not, great. But can they even be, like, detrimental potentially?

DR. MUELLER: Yeah. I would think so. I mean, one thing is with juices, you’re missing out on the fiber from whatever it is that you’re juicing. So, like, if it was vegetables or fruits, you know, you’re basically taking out the fiber and just getting the other things, which yeah, I’m sure there are some nutrients in there, but also the sugar. And so, you know, I would say probably less processing is better and then it’ll take your body longer to, like, digest it. You get that fiber that will help prevent constipation and kinda keep things moving, all of that. When in doubt, I think eating the whole fruit or the whole vegetable’s gonna be better than drinking it. Now, if for some reason someone just said, “Oh, I’m not gonna eat vegetables or fruit.” Yeah, I mean, maybe a supplement with some vitamins or some fruit or vegetable juice occasionally, I guess, would be okay. But again, I would recommend just eating the fruit or eating the vegetable by itself.

[Music to signal a brief interjection in the interview]

ZACH: Fiber likely isn’t the first line item you look for on a food nutrition label. Like, you’re not going to do yourself any favors if you ignore it. Most adults don’t come anywhere close to consuming enough fiber each day, and this is a serious shortcoming since fiber benefits your health in many ways, including by fostering a diverse, happy gut microbiome, prompting regular bowel movements keeping you feeling fuller for longer, and helping to lower high blood pressure, balance cholesterol levels, and prevent blood sugar spikes.

[Music]

KATIE: Up after the break, more with Dr. Mueller.

[Sound effect signals brief interjection in the interview]

ANNOUNCER: From annual checkups to managing chronic conditions, your healthcare should be personalized to you. At Houston Methodist, our primary care doctors provide customized care for you and your family with more than 40 convenient locations across Greater Houston. We offer a variety of ways to get care, from in-person and virtual appointments to same-day visits when you're sick. Choose your doctor and schedule online at Houstonmethodist.org/stayhealthy. Houston Methodist, leading medicine. 

[Sound effect signals return to the interview]

KATIE: I wanted to ask you about the supplements that, sort of, claim to help detoxify your body…

DR. MUELLER: Yeah.

KATIE: Does our body really need help detoxifying? I know you mentioned if you have, you know, liver disease, or kidney disease maybe, but a generally healthy, you know, young adult with no chronic conditions, does our body need help detoxifying itself? 

DR. MUELLER: No, I wouldn’t think so. And, you know, like we said, assuming the liver is working as it should, and no kidney disease, then homeostasis should be there, right? So, everything should be equal in where it should be to be functioning normally. So, we shouldn’t be needing any added thing to get anything out right? Now, if there were some of those problems, then, yeah, a doctor might treat with something to get potassium out of the body or to add potassium if you don’t have enough, or, you know, get ammonia out of the body if the liver wasn’t working. But again, those are specific problems that the doctor would monitor and treat specifically. And that would be when, again, the homeostasis is messed up because of chronic disease. So, outside of that, without those then no, I wouldn’t think it would be necessary.

KATIE: Okay, so now that we’ve talked about how the body probably doesn’t really need help detoxifying itself, I think we can kind of debunk the need for detox diets it sounds like…

DR. MUELLER: Yeah.

KATIE: Which is nice, because it’s another diet we can scratch off the list.

DR. MUELLER: Right.

KATIE: I think you’ve already, kind of, alluded to some of these pieces, but if you wanted to talk to someone about how to keep a healthy body, what are your, kind of, main principles you would say?

DR. MUELLER: I think there’s a few different pillars, you know. So obviously, we talked about eating healthy. There’s different components of eating healthy. One is portion size, and I think that a lot of us have lost the ability or recognition of normal portions, you know? Whether that’s eating fast food, and, you know, they get these supersized portions that are way too much food, way too many servings of whatever it is, whether that’s something we shouldn’t be eating in the first place like soda or French fries…

KATIE: Yeah.

DR. MUELLER: Or, even if it was healthy, it’s just too much, right? So, portion size is one. And then obviously, content. You know, what -- Are you eating healthy things? So, I think it’s good to avoid highly processed foods. A lot of those are junk foods that are calorie dense, you know? Like I said, French fries. You know, potatoes are okay in the diet, but you fry ‘em up, and you add salt, and then your portions are too much, and then the fat adds the extra calories that you don’t need, and then it becomes really unhealthy. The other thing would be activity level. And so, it does depend on, you know, what you do for a living as far as your job because some people’s job are very active and they’re always walking around. And I have a lot of patients who say, “You know, my job, I get 10,000 steps, 20,000 steps in a day,” which is great. That’s more steps than I get. 

KATIE: Yeah. I barely get 3,000 sometimes. I have a desk job, obviously. 

DR. MUELLER: Yeah. So, most of us that are more sedentary, we really need to be getting, probably, 20 minutes of activity per day, go for a walk for that 20-30 minutes. I think strength training has some unique benefits, so I would definitely think adding strength training to a regimen can be very helpful. And when I say strength training, you know, that can be machines, dumbbells, you can also do body weight. And so, with body weight exercises, you don’t have to go to the gym, you can do ‘em at home and you can do things like pushups, lunges, squats without weights, and it’s just using your body as the weight. Kind of calisthenic-type exercises. 

KATIE: Right.

DR. MUELLER: And those you can, kind of, change how you do them to find a way that’s easy for you and at your level and your starting point, and then you can make them harder by adjusting the angle. And, you know, there’s a lot of YouTube videos on how to do that and things like that if someone’s interested.

KATIE: Yeah, that’s awesome. I, as I’ve aged, gotten more into body weight training. When I was younger, I would, again, was very like calorie focused with exercise, so I was like, “What’s the best bang for my buck?” I would get on the elliptical for 20 minutes and go, like, as hard as I could.

DR. MUELLER: Right.

KATIE: Would do that five days a week. That lasted until my late 20s when my knees started hurting constantly.

DR. MUELLER: Yeah. 

KATIE: And so, I’ve gotten into body weight training, and I will say, you don’t think it, but your body is heavy and is plenty of weight. Like, it is really hard to do ten pushups. It took me almost a year of doing pushups to be able to, like, get to do ten in a row. 

DR. MUELLER: And you know, you can start doing them at an angle, like, you know, maybe against the wall or against a countertop. And then you can, kinda, slowly decrease that angle until you’re horizontal for, like, a normal push up. You can also do pushups from the knee, and then that, instead of your toes, and that kind of makes it easier. So, all of those things, like I said, you can kind of edit it to start where you are. And…

KATIE: Right.

DR. MUELLER: And then make it harder as like, “Oh, okay, that ten pushups from my knees were easy so then I’ll do it from the toes, and then I’ll do four sets of ten,” and then, you know, increase it as you go on.

KATIE: Yeah. Those are good tips. One question I have for you since -- I mean, do you get asked about detox diets a lot? Is that something you want your patients to tell you, like, “Hey, I’m trying this new diet?”

DR. MUELLER: Sometimes people mention different diets and various supplements that they’re trying. And so, I talk about it quite a bit. 

KATIE: Okay.

DR. MUELLER: I think it’s good to tell your doctor about it because certain medical conditions, you know, it could put you at risk with certain strict diets. And so, you know, you should inform your doctor, and make sure that that’s all okay with your medical conditions. 

KATIE: Gotcha. Alright, well I think that’s pretty much all the questions I had. Is there anything else that you would want our listeners to know about keeping your body free of “toxins”, I guess we should say? Anything else you want people to know? 

DR. MUELLER:I guess, you know, when I think of toxic things or, like, things that aren’t good for us, one would be smoking, you know.

KATIE: Yeah.

DR. MUELLER: I see that a lot, tobacco and nicotine use, you know. One of the best things you can do for yourself is to at least cut down, if not stop completely. 

KATIE: Mm-hmm.

DR. MUELLER: And then as far as alcohol use, you know, you wanna be careful that it’s not too much. And I think new studies are, kinda, coming out saying the less alcohol, it’s probably the better. 

KATIE: Yeah.

DR. MUELLER: I know it can interfere with your REM sleep, which is your deep sleep, so not drinking late at night at the very least. All that to say watching alcohol consumption, decreasing tobacco consumption, I think those are, you know, toxins that people don’t think about very much that, you know, it could be harmful.

KATIE: Mm-hmm. Yeah, no, definitely. I mean, a quick -- a quick follow up question to that. Could a detox diet help somebody who’s -- Yeah. Or should we just, again, scratch that right off of, like, really the thing to do is stop smoking or?

DR. MUELLER: Right, yeah. I would think not. I would think instead, you know, talk to your doctor if you need help quitting smoking. You know, now there’s multiple medications that can help with that, help with cravings. And same with alcohol. You know, let’s say it’s an actual problem, you know, a dependence, well then there’s medication that can help with that. There’s different kinds of therapy, and you know, different things that the doctor can try. So, it’s worth, you know, if those are a problem bringing it up, saying, “Hey, I’ve been wanting to quit or cut down,” you know, talk about strategies.

KATIE: Yeah, I got you. Alright, well this was really great. Thank you. I definitely feel a little bit better coming out of my bad weekend. Will not be trying a detox diet.

DR. MUELLER: Okay, good.

KATIE: Will probably just try to get back to eating healthy like I usually do during the week, and maybe not letting the next weekend get off the rails.

DR. MUELLER: Sounds good.

KATIE: Alright, well, thanks for joining us. This was great.

DR. MUELLER: Alright, thanks.

[Sound effect plays to signal end of the interview]

ZACH: So, detox diets do not work, Katie.

KATIE: Does not sound like they do. Sounds like your body really does not need help detoxing.

ZACH: Yeah. The way I had always assumed detox diets worked was, like, going in and changing all the fluids on your car, or something, right?

KATIE: Like little scrubbers in your body and -- 

ZACH: Well yeah. But that and just, okay, we’re flushing out the bad fluids, we’re putting in some new fluids, and then you would have to do this, I don’t know, quarterly or with some regularity, right? But to Dr. Mueller’s point, crash diets don’t work. And this is, kinda, what this would be, right?

KATIE: Yeah, yeah. It’s definitely a crash diet. He talked too about, you know, what’s a toxin? You know, I had my horrible weekend of eating pizza and stuff, but those aren’t really toxins. I mean, no, they’re not good for me but I also don’t need to be doing a detox diet after just binging over the weekend. He did bring up that smoking and drinking alcohol are, kinda, toxic…

ZACH: Mm-hmm.

KATIE: And so, if you’re trying to detoxify your body, maybe just don’t put those in your body in the first place.

ZACH: And, you know, there is that slippery slope of unhealthy eating and drinking, and you just said, “Well, I’ve already had a cupcake, I’ll have three cupcakes.” And you know what? No, that actually -- just stop with the one cupcake. The three is not helping. 

KATIE: Yeah, it’s true. It’s hard to do, but it’s true.

ZACH: Yeah.

KATIE: Yeah. I liked his, kind of, like, simple approach to just, like, the healthy lifestyle thing. I know it’s, kinda, boring and we wanna be able to say, like, “Oop, no. I did my three-day juice cleanse. I’m all better now.” But, you know, the simple answer is actually the easiest and the most correct, which is just try to eat, you know, healthy when you can, and try not to overdo it. Portion control. He mentioned portions a lot. And I think that’s a big part of why people start to feel, you know, like I like to say, saturated. Like, ‘cause you’ve eaten too much. I don’t know, Zach. How about you? What was your takeaway from this one?

ZACH: Yeah. It’s like so many of the other conversations we have on this podcast. Everything in moderation, watch what you consume, take care of yourself. There are other ways to, quote unquote, “Properly detox your body.” Most of which, your body will take care of itself…

KATIE: Right.

ZACH: So --

KATIE: Unless you have, like, a kidney problem or something. At which point, you know, go see your doctor. Make sure if your blood work looks okay, if you seem okay. You’re probably detoxifying any kind of toxin in your body. If you smoke, maybe try to get some help quitting smoking. If you drink, maybe think about how much you’re drinking. But otherwise, it’s just, yeah, the simple stuff.

ZACH: Yeah. You know, we’ve both known people who’ve done detox diets, and a lot of people claim that it helps them. And if it does, then you really can’t discount that, right? To each their own there. 

KATIE: Yeah. Well, I mean, I would say though, he did mention the downsides of a juice cleanse. You know, you’re stripping out a lot of fiber and things. Those are important nutrients. So, you’re basically packing a bunch of calories into something that has no fiber and you’re drinking it instead of eating it. Like, just eat the fruit…

[Laughing]

Yeah, you don’t have to juice it. I think a doctor told us that before. Eat the fruit, skip the juice or something like that. So, I mean, I still say maybe just go with the simple approach of just a holistic healthy lifestyle. 

ZACH: Alright. Cannot go wrong with that advice. So, that’s gonna do it for this episode of On Health with Houston Methodist. Be sure to share, like, and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. We drop episodes Tuesday mornings. So, until next time, stay tuned and stay healthy.