In a society obsessed with fast solutions to the world’s myriad of problem, one quick fix has been on the rise – detox. Detox is the idea that you can flush your system of impurities and leave your organs clean and pristine. Sadly, this is, like many quick fixes, a scam.
Detox has very little basis in science, and is mostly designed as a nice sounding concept with the ultimate goal of selling you things.
It is also important to note that there is actual detox, where people with life-threatening addictions go to a center staffed with doctors and nurses to cope with withdrawal symptoms. This is what detox really means.
There is also the popular use of the term “detox”, which is used widely by celebrities, pseudo-doctors, charlatans, marketers, and entrepreneurs to sell you something that allegedly will remove the toxins inside your body. However, your body already has mechanism to remove toxins. These are called liver, kidneys, skin, and lungs. If your body is unable to remove these toxins, you may have about 31 seconds left and you might call want to your loved ones instead of reading an article on a tea blog.
When people use the claim that something can detox, they usually mention removing “toxins” from the body. But when confronted with the follow-up of what these toxins are, no one can answer. Because if we know what these toxins are we can measure it before and after a detox to test for effectiveness. Very little people who make the detox claim can back their claims up with scientific evidence. It is usually a pitch full of buzz words and feel-good claims.
A healthy lifestyle of balanced diets, no smoking, and moderate exercise will do more good for you than any detox claim.
So what then is a “detox tea”? As stated above, there is no such thing. Tea in general will provide certain benefits since tea leaves contain catechins, caffeine, and theanine. Tea also hydrates you unlike coffee, making it a better choice. Other than that, no matter what someone adds in a tea, a tea cannot claim to have a detoxifying effect.
Drink teas because of the moderate health benefits, because of their aromas, their aftertastes, and most importantly, because you like them. Do not fall for short-termed marketing schemes.
Originally published on March 22nd, 2017.