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Detox offers health benefits, purification

By: Krystle Wagner Posted: 06/21/09 6:59pm

This week is going to be about purification.

My workout friend and I have decided to try something new and somewhat scary for me – fasting/detoxification. When she first approached me with this idea, my first thought was, “I’m going to become anorexic for a week?” However, I’ve come to learn that that’s not exactly the idea, but I was definitely not alone in being misinformed.

Based on the different Web sites I’ve browsed about detoxifying and fasting, they are have one common theme: Fasting will help you lose weight fast, but once you go back to your old eating habits, you’ll gain the weight back. I think it’s common sense that if you stop eating then eat again, you’re going to experience a fluctuation of weight.

There are different types of fasts according to detox.org: juice, water and lemonade, among them. My friend and I will be trying the water fast. We will be starting on Monday and ending on either Wednesday or Thursday. As someone who has poor eating habits and doesn’t eat much, I’m anticipating only slight trouble with fasting. Normally when I get hungry, I’m not a pleasant person. I’m irritable, short tempered and snappy. We even joked about making it easier with things such as “water popsicles,” and although it doesn’t sound too delicious, it will at least trick us into thinking we’re eating when in fact we are not.

Since the fast is only going to last a few days, I’m hoping I don’t become too much of a nightmare … time to find out I suppose!

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Commentary:

Ugh

06/22/09 1:21am

I think Olin’s Dr. M pulls his hair out every time he reads this column.

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meg

06/22/09 3:17am

instead of reading websites that promote detoxification, maybe you should look in some nutrition textbooks or talk to a dietician to see if it is healthy or not. Is this a summer of fitness, or losing weight? the two are not the same.

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Amanda

06/22/09 9:14am

This is a terrible idea. This is called starvation. If you are looking into detox/fasting (which is NOT a healthy idea for long-term fitness and nutrition), try one of strictly vegetable and low-calorie, low-sugar fruit juices. Your body still needs some nutrients, and water will not provide them. With no food, your body will think it’s starving, and your metabolism will basically come to a halt. When you do eat again, your body will store as many calories as possible, resulting in weight gain and an overall bodily imbalance. Besides, fasting for only 2 days will result in a loss of water weight only- hardly “real” weight loss.

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wow

06/22/09 9:15am

In your article you say that once you return to your normal diet, you gain the weight back. So why are you doing this?

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Wondering

06/22/09 11:09am

The title states that there are health benefits that accompany fasting. What are they???? Bad article

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anon

06/22/09 9:57pm

This is getting ridiculous. A blog should have some kind of news or factually accurate information in it somewhere. This blog routinely has no news and totally lacks accurate information. I can’t believe The State News publishes this so-called “health and fitness advice.” Disgusting.

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U R an IDIOT

06/23/09 1:48pm

This may be the dumbest thing I have ever read. You are stupid and actually causing more harm than good by only drinking water for two days (see amanda comment)

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read a different blog then

06/23/09 5:58pm

The intern with MSU’s Campus Archaeology Program is doing interesting stuff:
http://capintern.wordpress.com/

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Marie

06/25/09 4:09pm

Exactly WHAT health benefits and purification does detox offer? If you’re going to make that claim, you should back it up. Terrible journalism.

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