Select your type of detoxification
Maria Endah Hulupi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Mother Nature has regained popularity among Indonesians, particularly with those who are health conscious.
Despite its novelty, the body purification program called detoxification, or detox, in the form of cleansing diets and treatments, has become another choice to those who wish to improve their well-being.
The detox program refers to the cleansing of certain parts of the body, like the bowels, kidneys, lungs, liver because these organs are all involved in the body's natural detoxification process.
The detox diet starts with fasting and consuming fresh fruit and vegetables during the breaking of the fast. Therapy, like chelation and colon hydrotherapy, can ensue.
The diet comes in different types and last from as short as two days to a few months. Most focus on consuming plenty of fresh fruit, vegetables and drinking water to help the human body go through a rejuvenating process, while shedding the hazardous toxins and those extra kilos, according to Bertha Herlina, the director of Provitalitas anti-aging clinic in Kelapa Gading, North Jakarta.
"The diet is easy and you can do it at home. Though you may have to adjust yourself to this diet, after a few days you can slowly introduce a healthier diet to your eating pattern," she said.
She said that the detox diet is more effective if accompanied by eight to nine hours of sleep and adequate physical exercise (preferably outdoors and every morning to get a little sunshine).
Since the diet requires fasting to obtain optimum results, Bertha encouraged people to consume natural fruit/vegetable juice. "During fasting, it's not advisable to do strenuous activities as you will feel a little weak. Drinking a glass of juice will increase your energy," she said.
She added that it's better to drink a mixture of fruit or vegetable juices. The fruit and vegetables most commonly used for this purpose are banana, strawberry, pineapple, pear, papaya, starfruit, melon, watermelon, spinach, cabbage, cauliflower and celery.
"Do not add sugar or salt to the juice. If you don't like the taste or smell of the drink you can add lime juice, cucumber or ginger. The main purpose is to get the natural flavor of the fresh ingredients so the body can benefit from the nutrients, which are usually lost through cooking," she said.
A day before fasting, people are advised to eat light, easily digestible meals like vegetable soup, salad, toasted wholewheat bread, fruit juice or vegetable juice. It is also advisable to take psyllium husk (for fiber) with a glass of water and go to bed early.
"Stay away from coffee, tea, chocolate, alcohol, sugar, fatty foods and red meat," Bertha warned.
In day one and day two, you can start by drinking two to four glasses of water, mixed with the juice of one lemon and one tablespoon of honey. They can be consumed directly or gradually with half hour intervals.
"Drinking plenty of water can flush the system. It will also prompt you to urinate or defecate, thus ridding the body of waste and impurities," she said.
The diet plan consists of drinking fruit and/or vegetable juice every two hours and a glass of water in between. For example: melon juice at 6 a.m., papaya with lime juice at 8 a.m., apple juice at 10 a.m., carrot juice at noon, watermelon juice at 2 p.m., cucumber and broccoli juice at 4 p.m., pineapple and apple juice at 6 p.m., cucumber and beet juice at 8 p.m.
"Just as in eating meals, don't drink too fast. It is important to enjoy every sip of it so it can be properly blended with saliva to help the digestion process," she said.
Day three is the transitional period for the digestive system after taking a break, to start digesting more solid food. You can start eating fresh fruit, vegetables and legumes, but remember to avoid meat.
Start with two glasses of water with juice of one lime. A glass of apple, pineapple or papaya juice for breakfast. A portion of fresh apple, watermelon, pineapple or papaya as a snack.
You can eat one portion of fresh salad, consisting of lettuce, cucumber, carrot and alfalfa with olive oil and lime juice as a dressing. For an afternoon snack drink a glass of apple, pineapple, melon or papaya juice. Dinner consists of assorted steamed vegetables, like cauliflower, broccoli, carrot, beet and green beans, a portion of vegetable broth, a portion of red rice and a portion of fresh juice, like carrot or a mix of cucumber and celery. Warm tea is served right before going to bed.
"For detox, juice made using a juicer is best served in the morning but for the afternoon, make your juice with a blender because you need the natural fiber," Bertha said, adding that fiber would enable proper bowel movements to prevent waste and impurities.
Many experts express doubts about the effectiveness of such diets mainly because they are not supported by prior scientific research.
A nutritionist from Omni Medical Center (OMC) Hadi Sui explained that the human body carries out its own natural detoxification process with the liver as the main detoxifier organ to protect itself from hazardous elements.
Hadi, like other doctors, said that although eating plenty of fresh fruit, vegetables and drinking water, is highly recommended, the human body needs more than just that.
"Many detox diets involve fasting and eating fresh fruit and vegetables. However, fresh fruit and vegetables alone are not enough, especially when you go on a long period of dieting. There are essential nutritional elements that should be supplied through other foods as well," he said.
But certain claims such as getting a brighter skin is provable since fruits contain vitamins that are good for the skin. Fruit can also help one lose weight because of the low calorie intake, which makes this diet attractive.
"Also, there is no scientific proof that headaches and feeling weak are signs of the purification process. In my experience, those are normal complaints among people who change or limit their diet. Claims that the body can rid itself from accumulated toxins have so far not been explained," Hadi explained.
Experts have warned that people with illnesses, pregnant women and underweight people are not advised to follow this detox regime without prior consultation with their nutritionists.
The detox treatments, like colon hydrotherapy, is performed by irrigating the colon with warm and sterile water through the rectum, aided by massaging the abdomen to help remove waste and plaque lining the colon wall. This treatment enables the organ to digest food better and absorb nutrition properly.
While in chelation therapy, the synthetic amino acid is infused to the body to remove plaque inside blood vessel walls and eliminate them through urine.
Like the detox diet, there has been little scientific data on the safety and the effectiveness of these treatments.
"Chelation works the way antioxidants do and there are already plenty of antioxidants in fresh fruits and vegetables," said Indra Marki, an internist from OMC.
He suggested a balanced and healthy food diet for the natural detoxification process instead of therapy.
An unbalanced eating pattern, with too little protein results in an impaired metabolism and leads to the creation of harmful ketones. When it happens, it places greater burdens on the liver.
As regards to vitamin overdose, the body excretes vitamin C via urine, while the remaining vitamins are accumulated and, in serious situations, could cause undesirable effects such as vomiting and nausea.
"That is why, instead of adopting the detox diet and treatments for several days only to resume one's old eating habits, one should ideally start a healthy and balanced eating habit and combine it with adequate sleep and exercise as part of one's lifestyle. This will further support the natural detoxification process," said Indra, who is also an internist at Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital.
The following are a list of organs involved in the natural detoxification process:
Liver: The organ filters blood that passes through the intestines before reaching vital organs such as the heart and lungs. Toxins and other unwanted elements in the blood are excreted out of the body.
Kiddneys: This organ removes waste products from the blood and separates nutrients from waste and discharges the latter via urine.
Intestines: The small intestine absorbs nutrients from food, the unabsorbable elements are carried to the large intestine, where water and nutrients are excreted through the anus.
Skin: Waste products, mainly urea and ammonia, are excreted through perspiration.