The news has been flooded lately with stories about detox. Most have a negative spin on them with the underlying theme being that there is no scientific proof to support any benefits from performing a body detox. The question then becomes one of what you should believe. Unfortunately, the answer is not as simple as yes detox works or no it is worthless.

The first question to answer is whether or not you even need to detox. One expert was quoted in an Indianapolis Star article as saying, “the body is capable of detoxifying itself, including via the kidneys, colon, respiratory tract and skin. One shouldn't need special supplements or colonics.” Here is the problem with this line of thinking. Saying that the body has the ability to detoxify itself completely ignores the uniqueness of each individual and the environment around them. None of us are the same and science has shown that few of us detoxify the same. That is why one person can take a prescription drug and have no side-effects while another experiences problems. Some people can drink 3 or more glasses of alcohol without affect and others (my wife) get nutty after just one. We all detoxify toxins at different rates.

Additionally, we are all exposed to different toxins throughout our day. Someone who works at a hair salon is exposed to many more toxins than the average person. We are all exposed, however. Recent studies testing for levels of cancer-causing chemicals in human fat tissue have revealed disturbing data. Basically, EVERY SINGLE SAMPLE has tested positive for the existence of these chemicals! Even Eskimos have tested positive. We live in a soup of man-made chemicals which creates an increased burden on our bodies to perform detoxification reactions. Other factors including poor diet and high stress also have negative impacts on our ability to detox. Thus, it is impossible for someone to make a blanket statement that the body is capable of detoxifying itself and that there is no need to aid this process.

Now for the big question: Is there scientific support for detox? The answer is yes and no. No, none of the specific detox supplements or protocols have good scientific study support. But, yes there have been numerous scientific studies completed on the effects of many nutrients and herbs on the detoxification system. Go to Pub Med (the government site that archives all peer-reviewed scientific literature) and type in “liver and silymarin”. You will find that 551 studies have been done on the effects of silymarin (Milk Thistle) on the liver. Type in n-acetyl-cysteine and liver and you will find a whopping 1221 studies. It tickles me when I hear people say that this stuff is not studied.

For me, this lack of specific studies does not bother me. The reason is that there is a huge knowledge base regarding detoxification and the ironic part is that this information mostly comes from the pharmaceutical industry. Also, I know that if we had to wait until there was unquestionable proof for everything, medicine would never advance. To practice medicine we have to perform a balancing act between what we know (or think we know) and educated guessing. I would say that detoxification is imbalanced towards educated guessing. This, however, does not mean that there are no benefits. It just means that you have to be more on-guard as a consumer.