DETOX: TRUTHS, FALSE MYTHS AND HOW TO DO IT

Recently, we have increasingly heard talking about "detox" or "detoxification", especially after the great feasts typical of holidays such as Christmas or Easter or before the summer with the idea of getting in shape.

What does detox mean?

This term “detox” refers to the release from the body of toxins accumulated due to the consumption of so-called junk food, nervine drinks, psychological stress, the use of medication and environmental pollution.

The supplement industry has capitalized on this term and redefined its meaning; to date the main reason why people choose to detoxify is to have a quick way to lose weight.

Detox cleanse has become short periods of consumption of only juices or centrifuges, water and herbal teas, eliminating the intake of any type of food. This habit is not healthy and above all it is not necessary: nature has already provided us with a fabulous filter to detoxify our body, that is the liver, which metabolizes drugs and toxins produced, and then eliminates them through the kidneys. Following these strict dietary regimes based on juices and other liquids can also entail serious health risks, such as electrolyte imbalances, and the resulting weight loss is actually a depletion of lean and muscle mass, which should be preserved.

How to do detox

However, there are ways to fast healthily. It is not a total fasting, but you should follow for 5 days a detoxification which is based on the strong restriction of carbohydrates, sugars and proteins, which activates specific pathways that promote autophagy, that is the ability of cells to regenerate and eliminate unnecessary or non-functional components. Selective abstention from the above-mentioned nutrients has in the body an effect comparable to that of total fasting. The main goal is therefore not to lose weight, although the reduction of visceral fat is still encouraged.

There are several proposals to do detox:

• Deep Detox. It is based on a consumption of raw or cooked vegetables seasoned with EVO oil and good fats such as olives, nuts in shell (walnuts, hazelnuts, almonds, pistachios, cashews, etc.), oilseeds (flax, pumpkin, sesame, sunflower, chia), avocado, coconut or extra-dark chocolate (from 90% upwards), without exceeding the total dose of 30/40 g per day for these foods.

• Protein discharge. In this case only the protein sources, both animal and vegetable, are eliminated, but care must be taken not to abuse fruits and carbohydrates in general. To the foods indicated in the first point it is possible to add one or two servings of fruit per day, without exceeding 300 g in total, and one of the complex carbohydrates in the form of cereals, preferably opting for gluten-free ones (buckwheat, millet, sorghum, amaranth) or tubers.

• Intermittent fasting with daily dinner jumping. This protocol does not foresee the exclusion of any kind of food, but it takes advantage of the concept of temporal restriction to enhance the work of the internal organs. For it to work you need to eat in a time frame of 7-8 hours, finishing the last meal of the day by 5 pm. For example, you can have breakfast at 7 am, lunch at 12 pm and dinner/ snack at 4 pm, or two meals plus a snack between 8 and 16.

• ProLon – Fasting Mimicking Diet. It is a 5-day meal program to follow through the ProLon kit, which provides a series of specially formulated foods that provide macro and micronutrients needed, but which are not recognized by our body, which will behave as if our body was subjected to fasting.

All these ways to do a detox provide for the absence of any packaged food and drink, as well as abstention from alcohol and if possible also from coffee (or just drink one before 12 pm, obviously bitter).

Before trying one of these protocols it is useful to receive the advice of a nutritionist, in order to follow a "detox" program without running health risks. Contact our nutritionists to receive a free nutritional consultation and to know everything about ProLon – Fasting Mimicking Diet.