The Detox Diet Controversy

Detox or Starvation?
The detox diet has come under harsh scrutiny over the past few months. There are ample claims that the only weight lost is the water weight form the initial fast and the natural weight loss occurs from cutting caloric intake. The detox diet is quite restrictive, to the point where some people are calling it a starvation diet. There have been countless articles written by "experts" that state that the detox diet endangers people, stating that it creates yo-yo dieting, an unhealthy relationship with food, and even can contribute to the development of an eating disorder.

We also know that the vast majority of the "experts" who write these articles are those in the health and weight loss industry, such as nutritionists, health program supervisors, weight loss counselors, and lay people with an extreme interest in health and fitness. While I am certainly not suggesting that anyone is fabricating evidence or creating thought processes that are not accurate, I am however, indicating that when a person is educated to see things in one specific manner, it can be very difficult for them to see the same principles in a varying manner. For example, if a dietician goes to college and is taught that green beans cause cancer, that dietician will graduate believing that green beans cause cancer. If the same dietician returns for occasional classes to keep her education current, and over the course of the next ten years, the dietician is once again taught that green beans cause cancer, then the dietician will continue to believe this and teach her clients this as well. Fifteen years later someone comes along and points out to the dietician that green beans don't cause cancer, how likely is the dietician to believe that green beans don't cause cancer?
This phenomenon is not solely related to dieticians and health related fields. This phenomenon actual relates to every field. As a writer I was taught that you never speak in double negatives. It's a basic principle I apply every day. If someone tried to convince me that the rules had suddenly changed, right or wrong, it has already been ingrained in me that double negatives are inappropriate and you shouldn't use them. Thus, if I criticize this new theory without completely re-educating myself on the basic rules of English and grammar, then I am relying solely on my previous knowledge to dispute this issue.
So let's break away from conventional dieticians and explore the detox diet with a completely blank slate. I am not a dietician. I am just a writer is interested to know whether the detox diet is a healthy form of purification, or if it is a hidden form of starvation that does nothing but allow some water weight loss and makes you believe you are healthier. I have assembled three people who have done the detox diet and three who have not. Granted, this is not a huge percentage to pull from, but I am not using them as test subjects, only to ask them to verify or deny detox diet statements that are made from both testimonials from detox dieters and criticism from dieticians.

Fasting and Purity

For centuries people have fasted for purity. If we look back through even ancient texts, we will find that the fasting was not for spiritual purity alone, but for physical purity as well. Fasting for purity often left the spiritual seeker feeling initially drained and then once again reenergized within a thirty six hour period. The purity that they felt within their spirits was also a purity that they felt through their body. This argument can be easily criticized that they felt their body's purity because of their spiritual lifting. All three detox dieters, who were not in search of spiritual enlightenment, all agreed that they felt weak from the initial starvation, but began to feel "clearer," before the end of the second day. None of them agreed that they were experiencing starvation. They all felt their fasting led to at least some form of physical purity.

In medical science, there are times when doctors recommend fasting. Not including pre surgical procedures, most fasting requirements are for some form of "readying" or purity. Prior to starting diets that treat illnesses, such as the ketogenic diet, there is a period of fasting required beforehand.

Critics of the detox diet claim that the headaches and general all over yucky feeling people experience in the first week of a detox diet is from a lack of food. However, champions of the detox diet say that the headaches and the generally "yucky" feeling they get when fasting coincides with a noticeable change in their excretions. My three detox dieters all agreed that when their urine and bowel movements became noticeably more "aromatic" they found themselves with headaches and a feeling of overall fatigue. They did not contribute this feeling to fasting.

I did an online search and found eleven dieticians that negated the detox diet. Each one of them claimed that the headaches were from the fasting, however, each of them offered their own version of the detox diet. Interesting. The dieticians' versions included what could almost be considered fasting. Their idea of not fasting was eating some fruit and yogurt. Most detox diets do not include a total fasting period.
The critics of the detox diet are not impressed with the detox diet weight loss. They claim that the detox diet weight loss comes from the loss of water weight during the fasting period and will be regained quickly when normal eating is resumed. The detox diet weight loss comes from various sources. If you are doing a complete detoxification, including the colon, all three of my detox dieters claim that you can see where some of the weight loss comes from as you are flushing it down the toilet. Two of my detox dieters had to call plumbers from the excessive waste they produced. Their detox diet weight loss has remained, and two of them started the detox diet more than six months prior to this writing. Detox diet weight loss remained in all three of my dieters because they make better choices. They resumed normal eating habits, but they did not return to ingesting large amounts of junk foods. They claim that the detox diet showed them how important maintaining a low toxic level was to their overall health.

Just Another Diet Trend?

The critics of the detox diet claim that this diet trend, like all those that came before it, is no more effective than anything else that has been put out there. Whenever a new diet trend comes along, people rush to participate, and then claim that it doesn't work. Not all diets will work for everyone. I tried the Atkins diet for awhile with little or no results, but a man I knew lost nearly thirty pounds on it. However Atkins doesn't work very well for people who are not significantly overweight, according to some critics and apparently my body. So, does that mean that the detox diet is more than just another diet trend, or will it fall to the wayside after a bit like every other diet trend. Of my detox dieters, 2 out of three say it's not a diet trend. It is a method of cleansing the body, which other diet trends simply don't do. The 3rd dieter says it is a diet trend, but a highly effective diet trend, and if a diet trend is effective then who cares if it's a trend? Interesting point.
Diet trend and fads usually don't carry much weight behind their claims. They are simply a theory produced to suggest that the latest Diet trend is the most effective weight loss plan and everyone needs to jump on board before their obesity claims them forever. The detox diet has a different aim, so I really poked around when trying to determine if this was simply just a diet trend or more of a health revolution.
There is overwhelming evidence that Americans and Canadians are in the poorest health overall, considering the health care we have available. The healthcare we have at our fingertips should make us one of the healthiest nations in the world, but we rank very low on the list. Most doctors and scientists contribute this to the foods we put into our body and the chemicals we come in contact with when eating, working, and playing. For the health choices that we have available to us, we have one of the highest rates of cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and childhood cancer rates in the world. Of course, we also rank ridiculously high on the list for overweight and obese citizens.

The detox diet is concerned with addressing the overall health of Americans, not just their waistline. The diet trends that have come along have been concerned with treating the waistline issues, but not the overall health. So, is the detox diet just another diet trend? By technical definition, a diet trend meaning any new method of eating introduced into society that creates a sudden onslaught of followers, well then yes. However, it can't be considered a diet trend by any other definition. It was simply not developed for the same reasons or the same fashion that diet trends hit the market.
Thin people can benefit from the detox diet. Overweight people can benefit from the detox diet. Everyone in between can benefit from the detox diet. The detox diet isn't targeted for weight loss. Thus it is really about a healthier lifestyle. Detox dieting is geared toward permanent health. After a significant purge of the body's chemical and toxic build up, the detox diet is geared to long lasting non-toxic lifestyles rather than diet trends, which tend to be geared toward lifestyles that manage weight.

Decide for Yourself

Discover for yourself the difference in a good quality detox diet and just another diet trend. The best consumer is an informed consumer. Check out detox manual and decide for yourself about the power of a good detox diet. After the research I did for this article, I am definitely stopping at detox manual and taking my own detox diet trip.

Diet Supplements and Weight Loss

Too often dieters place their hopes for success on diet supplements. They seek out pills in hopes that they will work the magic that diet plans have failed to produce. The diet supplement industry is a billion dollar industry. Who doesn't want a pill, bar, or shake they can take to melt the fat off. The problem is that people use supplements as the end-all for their diet needs.
Supplements by definition are not meant to replace food, but to enhance it. Merriam-Webster Online defines a supplement as "something that completes or makes an addition." This shows that a supplement is meant to be added to, not replace something. A supplement to a book does not replace the book. If you read the supplement, but skip the book, you will have an incomplete story, and not a very good read.
When dealing with nutritional supplements, failing to eat nutritious foods while taking supplements may cause an imbalance in nutrients. There are two main cases where this occurs. The first is when a dieter uses a diet pill or other supplement to facilitate weight loss, but does not change their unhealthy eating habits. This dieter will have a hard time maintaining the weight loss after they stop the supplement. If the dieter is eating empty, sugary calories and foods without vitamins and minerals then the body will be lacking key nutrients. These are nutrients that the body needs to function properly, including proper metabolic functioning.
The second case involves the dieter who relies solely on supplemental shakes or diet bars. This is unhealthy because the body was not designed to live off synthetic foods alone. This also makes maintenance of any weight loss difficult because the supplement diet cannot be maintained for life. The cost of supplements and the eventual cravings will cause most dieters to abandon the supplements in favor of real foods.
A quality diet plan that focuses on using whole foods to cause the body to lose weight will result in healthier, and sustainable, weight loss. To aid a dieter in their weight loss goals, a supplement may help. Some supplements may help speed up the metabolism to keep it from being affected by lowering calories. Some supplements will provide the vitamins or minerals that might be lacking in the diet.
An important thing to remember with diet supplements is that they are not all created equal. Some are very safe and provide pretty good results. Some are safe for most people, but not for people with particular health conditions. Then there are some that really are not safe and the possible benefits do not outweigh the risks. These should be avoided or, at very least, taken with extreme caution. It is important to research any supplement before starting it to make sure it is safe for you.
Dieting is tough, no one would argue that, but a supplement only diet is not the answer. A supplement is designed to add to or enhance food in a diet, not replace it. Nothing can take the place of nutritious, whole foods when looking for a diet to achieve healthy, long-term weight loss success.

Top 10 Mistakes make during exercise and How To avoid Them

This is a list of ten common mistakes made during exercise. Quite often the exerciser and even the personal trainer or coach is unaware of these mistakes, decreasing the effectiveness of the exercise and even risking injury. This list describes each "mistake" but follows with a suggested "correction". You may find this list helpful in grading yourself or even your personal trainer.
Ineffective warm up prior to a workout
The purpose of a warm-up is to gently prepare the body for the increased stress from the upcoming exercise session. A 5 - 10 min bout of moderate intensity cycling, treadmill walking or elliptical work or even sports specific type movements to induce a mild, sustained stretch will be sufficient. These activities have the effect of increasing blood flow to the muscles (including the heart) and increasing the core muscle temperature for improved joint flexibility and range of motion, possibly helping reduce injury.
Quite often exercisers go to the extreme when it concerns a warm up, they either do not perform one at all, or "prefatigue" by running at a high intensity for 15 -20 minutes (or more) before their session. This has the effect of draining valuable muscle carbohydrate stores (glycogen) needed for the upcoming strength training/bodybuilding exercise session.
If the goal of exercise is to lose weight, it is actually better to perform extended aerobic exercise or interval training at the end of an intense strength training session as the body will be likely to burn more fat as a fuel due to the decreased glycogen stores.
Ineffective stretching
Many individuals and personal trainers lack the knowledge to perform stretches effectively. For example, when performing a static hamstring stretch on the floor with the leg straight up in the air it is essential to press the opposite leg onto the floor to prevent excessive posterior (backward) tilting of the pelvis. Posterior tilting will decrease the effectiveness of the stretch.
When performing a dynamic stretch like a lunge to stretch the groin and thigh muscles, the spine (and pelvis) must remain erect and perpendicular to the floor otherwise the effectiveness is lost. Exercisers that stretch in the standing position while holding onto or pressing against some external source of stabilization deprive themselves of full benefit.
It may beneficial to perform dynamic stretches with good technique in unsupported standing and lunge type positions at the beginning of the session. This has the effect of simultaneously targeting balance (core stability) and flexibility while preparing the body and joints for movement during the strength training workout to follow. Static stretching may be more effective at the end of the workout session as the muscles will be warm and pliable.
Excessive use of machines
As mentioned in other articles on this website, exclusive use of exercise machines deprives the core muscles of stimulation and forces muscles to work either in isolation or in static, non functional patterns. While some machines such as leg press machines and assisted pull up/dip machines have merit; exercises that accentuate the body's own internal stabilization mechanism (core) are excellent for increasing movement function and also allow for much more creativity and fun.
Exercise machines are good for an introduction to resistance training and for bodybuilding, but it is not advisable to use them as an exclusively. A good suggestion is to strike a balance between exercises that challenge the body's own stability and balance (free weights, standing/lunging exercises) and traditional machine and supported exercises, which allow for greater muscle work
Poor exercise technique
Ultimately quality is the factor that matters most when exercising not necessarily quantity. It is easy to sacrifice form for function and perform many more repetitions of an exercise with poor technique than to perform the same movement with strict biomechanically correct technique. It makes sense then that correct technique is the most difficult aspect to learn and control as it is often only gained through experience and trial and error.
An inexperienced exerciser should invest in the services of an experienced and credentialed personal trainer to minimize the learning curve and get it right from the start. For example, an excellent method of assessing the quality of you or your instructor's form in a squat is to view the back of the head in relation to the back of the heel. If the spine is straight (not curved) and the back of the head remains in line with the back of the heel (flat) throughout the entire movement, then the technique is good.
Essentially, the barbell should move in a near vertical line throughout the movement. Should the bar move forward, it places increasingly heavy loads on the spine and intevertebral discs, much like the arm of a crane. Lifting in this manner increases the likelihood of injury to the spine and the connective tissues such as discs, muscles and ligaments.
Holding the feet down and throwing the legs during abdominal exercises
An exerciser's feet should never be held down or hooked under a bed/door when performing multiple sit ups as this will allow for a majority of the work to be performed by the hip flexor (groin) muscles. The lower abdominals are responsible for fixing the pelvis in a sit-up by pressing the low back into the floor. If the abdominals fatigue or are not strong enough to hold the low back flat and the feet are fixed, the hip flexors may cause a forward tilting of the pelvis and the development of a "hole" in the lower back.
Performing sit-ups with a forward tilted pelvis tends to strain the low back and actually stretch and weaken the abdominals instead of strengthening them. The same problems can occur while lying on the back when both legs are raised straight into the air and are thrown by a partner toward the floor. If the lower abdominals cannot fix the pelvis flat as the legs approach the floor, this type of exercise can seriously strain the lower back muscles. An alternate leg scissor action is reverse curls or hanging knee lifts are a better substitute for concentrating on the lower abdominals.
Holding onto the front or side rails of a treadmill
This is a common sight in any gym of fitness facility - a person gets on a treadmill and starts to progressively crank up the speed and incline. The incline approaches maximal and the individual is holding onto the front or side rails for dear life to avoid being thrown off the machine. The rail holding essentially cancels out the benefit of the increased intensity demands gained from the incline since the arms are literally holding the body up.
Holding the railings also negatively affects natural walking/running biomechanics - the lack of arm swing may unnecessarily strain muscles and connective tissue - especially those of the pelvis and low back. Rail holding also has the effect of reducing the core/balance training stimulus required to walk/run in the unsupported condition.
Lastly, since most people use treadmills as a means of performing aerobic exercise to lose weight why stop the arms from moving as this contributes to energy expenditure?
Ineffective exercise progression
Any exercise session should have some logical order to maximize results. Often exercisers and trainers do not place a high priority on exercise order; switching from one exercise to another with no apparent sequence. Exercise order is very important on the eventual results and should be motivated by the neuromuscular and energy system demands of the chosen exercises. For example, core exercises which require a great deal of concentration and precise form to perform effectively, should be performed when the person is "fresh"- right after a short warm-up and stretching.
Core training may be followed by power training (if appropriate) since this form of exercise also requires that the exerciser be rested and fresh to perform effectively. Multiple joint strength training (exercises like squats, lunges, bench press, shoulder press etc.) should follow power training since these exercises require large energy reserves.
A good variation here is to alternate between upper and lower body exercises or use the "pull/push" rule - that is, follow a pulling type exercise with a pushing type exercise. Since most isolation exercises such as tricep extensions, bicep curls and sit-ups have much lower energy requirements, these can be performed near the end of the session.
Trying to perform stabilization and mobilization exercise together
The core muscles stabilize the pelvis in its "neutral" position (as in standing upright with perfect posture). The muscles like the hamstrings, large back muscles and hip flexors that are attached to the pelvis are mobilizing muscles and do just what their name implies - they tilt the pelvis forward and back, side to side and rotate it to allow for bodily movement. It is very difficult to train stability and mobility in a single exercise since technically they are opposite actions.
For example, performing squats (requires movement of the pelvis) on a BOSU ball or while standing on inflatable discs or foam rollers is probably of little benefit to strengthening the core. Likewise, performing curl-ups on an exercise ball is unlikely to improve core strength as this exercise is targeting the muscles that tip the pelvis backwards.
Core exercises are best performed in static positions such as bridging and standing. It is beneficial then to concentrate on stabilizing strength and mobilizing strength separately and not together. Build a foundation of core stability and flexibility first before trying to work the arm and legs. Much more leg strength can be trained when the foot is in contact with a firm surface (like the ground) - besides this is how we operate in daily life anyway.
Faulty exercise progression
Quite often exercisers, personal trainers and even coaches fail to understand functional exercise progressions. They observe other people performing a particular exercise and decide to incorporate it in their or their client's routine. It may be however that the person they observed performing the exercise had progressed to that point correctly in a functional and systematic manner. If an exerciser attempts to perform an exercise that they are physically unprepared for, there is increased risk of injury and performing the movement with poor technique.
The brain remembers and stores both good and bad motor and movement patterns, so the old adage JUNK IN = JUNK OUT holds true for exercise too. A good suggestion is strengthen form the "inside out" and not the "outside in" by focusing on flexibility and stability. These are the prerequisites to the successful performance of functional movements such as squats, lunges and sport specific movements.
So static stability training and stretching progresses to dynamic stability training, which then progresses to strength and finally power training. To attempt to strengthen and condition the body from the "outside in" instead of from the "inside out" will fail to give any satisfactory results. Any exercise program should look first to develop a base (core stability, cardiovascular fitness) and then progressively "build" on this base to improve performance, strength and function.
Placing blocks under the heels in a squat
Placing blocks under the heels is a common technique used by trainers and exercisers alike to compensate for tight calf muscles (soleus) or to concentrate work on the quadriceps (thigh muscles). Often exercisers see other individuals performing squats in this manner and they aim to copy them. This practice is not advisable since one is essentially "giving in" to the lack of flexibility at the ankle and failing to increase the quality of this highly functional movement.
Raising the heels also places the ankle in an unstable, plantarflexed position making it more susceptible to injury - specifically a lateral ankle sprain. In this position, the body's center of mass shifts from the midfoot to nearer the toes, increasing the likelihood of a loss of balance and possible injury. A safer method to target either the quadriceps or the hamstrings and glutes is to control the bar placement on the back.
In the high position the bar rests on the posterior deltoids (shoulder muscles) at the base of the neck, this has the effect of targeting the quadriceps muscles. In the low position, the bar rests further down the back across the posterior deltoid at the level of the middle trapezius (top of the shoulder blades) this positioning will translate into a greater load being shifted towards the hamstring and glute muscles.
This article has aimed to highlight the common mistakes that people may make in their exercise routines. Very often just an awareness of the mistakes can often remedy the situation while other problems may take time and experience to deal with like learning correct exercise technique. It is hoped that this article served the purpose of informing the reader so as to allow him/her to get the most out of their exercise routine and allow them to make educated assessments of themselves and other exercise professionals.