Detox Diets, Organic Foods, & Fat Loss

Detox Diets & Fat Loss

Here's some good info on detox diets from 2 intelligent people...who know a lot more than the people in celebrity magazines that write about detox diets. There is also some great info in here about the need for organic foods.

JB: Ready for another hot button topic? Let's talk detoxification. There are a lot of wackos out there talking a lot of nonsense about detoxification. Let's come clean on detox. What is it, do we need it?

AL:
It's true, you see 'detox' on the cover of about every pop magazine these days and it seems that everybody and their proverbial uncle has 'the best' detox plan. Colonics are a waste of time and money and can be downright dangerous, so let's save the coffee for oral consumption.

The truth is — we do have important physiological detoxification systems (primarily in the liver) to help remove environmental toxins that enter our bodies. However, these systems need nutritional support.

JB: So what's your preferred detoxification strategy? I don't have to fast for a week, do I?

AL:
Fasting is actually counter-productive because our main detox organ, the liver, requires important amino acids from protein (e.g. glycine, cysteine, glutamine) in order to support detoxification pathways. Since the assault of man-made chemicals in food, water and our environment never lets up, we need daily detoxification, not some sort of spring cleaning with harsh herbal remedies once per year.

My preferred strategy is to nutritionally support liver detoxification with high quality protein (e.g. whey), which contains the amino acids that make toxins more water soluble for elimination via bile. Also important are antioxidants because the detoxification process in the liver can generate free radicals.

Also, since many of our toxins find themselves in the gastro-intestinal tract, dietary fiber (e.g. bran) can help bind them up for elimination. Probiotics, live beneficial bacteria such as that found in yogurt, can also help to transform toxic compounds in the gut and prevent their absorption.

JB: You mention soil depletion in your book. Health experts are always harping on this topic but I wonder — how much depletion actually is going on?

AL:
The limited research so far in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom does show depletion of nutrients within selected produce when compared to data over the last 25-50 years. A broad range of vitamins and minerals have been found to be lower, including vitamins A and C, niacin, riboflavin, thiamine, magnesium, iron, zinc, and copper.


JB: So is it true that we really can't get enough nutrition from our fruits and veggies?

AL:
No! You can still live a long and healthy life because, as I point out in The Brain Diet, our fruits and veggies are still loaded with those all-important nutrients. We just need to be sure we're eating enough of them.


JB: What about organic fruits and veggies; should we stick with those? And what if we can't afford the higher prices?

AL:
Great question. From my perspective, the decision to choose organic or not should be based on the potential contaminant risk. Not all produce is contaminated with pesticides and herbicides, and unless someone has tons of folding money, it makes no sense to pay big bucks for fruits and veggies which pose little threat.

It would be more prudent to follow the advice of the folks at the Environmental Working Group and choose the organic foods in cases where conventional counterparts are most contaminated.

This is a non-profit group that monitors contaminant content in produce and they update the "most" and "least" contaminated fruits and vegetables on a regular basis. I can tell you that strawberries are usually the most contaminated fruit in the marketplace today. See www.ewg.org for the list and make decisions around the data.


Click HERE to read the entire interview


CB



detox diets