The Heavy Metal Detox Smoothie Fad
Heavy metal detox smoothies, detox juice, green detox smoothie, red smoothie detox, detox tea, Gerson therapy green juice - the list goes on. Fuelled by the rise of social media where 'influencers' peddle the latest health fads, these fruit and vegetable based detoxification methods have become incredibly fashionable of late. But is there any merit to these methods of detoxing, and do any of them work?
In short, no. Despite popular opinion, heavy metal detox smoothies, detox juices, red detox smoothies and Gerson therapy green juices aren't effective ways to detox - especially when dealing with heavy metals.
Why Heavy Metal Detox Smoothies, Detox Juices, Green Detox Smoothies, Red Detox Smoothies, Detox Tea's and Gerson Therapy Green Juices Don't Work
The function of these juice and smoothie detoxes is to supply the body with an uptake of antioxidants. The rationale is that these antioxidants will alleviate oxidative stress caused by free radicals. Toxins create free radicals, so the belief is that you can remove toxins from the body by supplying the body with antioxidants. This is true to an extent - antioxidants are indeed an important component in detoxification. But they aren't the only thing required for detoxification.
If you don't have sufficient heme iron stores, detoxification is nigh on impossible. Similarly, it doesn't matter how many antioxidants you take if you have an imbalanced pH (where the body is more acidic than alkaline). It will be impossible to detox in either of these situations. So the question becomes; do things like heavy metal detox smoothies, detox juice, green detox smoothie, red smoothie detox, detox tea, and Gerson therapy green juice allow for sufficient iron intake, and do they promote an alkaline environment?
Detox Juices and Smoothies Promote a Diet Low in Iron and High in Sugar
Again, the answer is no. Some leafy greens and vegetables are high in iron, but not the most important iron; heme. On the other hand, fruits aren't known to be rich in iron and are also high in fructose and glucose. And while vegetables don't contain high amounts of fructose and glucose, they are carbohydrates, which means they are eventually broken down into glucose (sugar). There is nothing wrong with consuming such foods as part of a properly formulated diet; however, in high concentrations as prescribed by detox smoothies and juices, they tend to promote a high sugar diet.
Sugar is a leading catalyst for acid stress (a state where the body is more acidic than alkaline), so the reality is that detox smoothies and juices don't promote an alkaline environment. And so you can begin to see the problems associated with heavy metal detox smoothies, detox juice, green detox smoothie, red smoothie detox, detox tea and Gerson therapy green juice. As a curiosity, did you know that the Gerson Institute used to juice raw liver instead of fruit and vegetables?
Detox Juices and Smoothies are Unsustainable
Aside from providing antioxidants, the only other benefit to following juice and smoothie detoxes is that by restricting your diet to only fruits and vegetables, you alleviate exposure to dietary toxins (from artificial ingredients and the like). Juicing is effective because it removes the variables of a toxic lifestyle, and health improvements can be seen via eliminating these toxic variables. The problem is that this is short-lived. As soon as a patient is reintroduced to a toxic lifestyle, the symptoms of toxicity (especially heavy metal toxicity) will revisit. The point being; any benefits derived from juice and smoothie detoxes are short-lived and certainly not sustainable on an ongoing basis.
So you can see how these detoxification methods are inherently short-sighted and how they ignore some fundamental truths about toxins - particularly heavy metals. Heavy metal detoxification needs to be assessed over a two year period from the start of the intervention. This respects the four month life cycle of red blood cell formation.
Biochemical Individuality is Ignored by Heavy Metal Detox Smoothies, Detox Juice and Red Smoothie Detox
Another flaw in the argument for heavy metal detox smoothies, detox juice, green detox smoothie, red smoothie detox, detox tea and Gerson therapy green juice is that they are all generalised one size fits all approaches to detoxification. In other words, they ignore the fact that every human on the face of the earth is biochemically unique. This means that the path to detoxification will be different for every person. Take two individuals suffering from mercury toxicity, for example; one may be underweight whilst the other may be overweight. One may be a vegetarian, whilst the other may eat meat. One may have mercury amalgam fillings, and the other may not. All of these variables mean that each person's requirements to detox are vastly different. Thus, it is important to acknowledge biochemical individuality when dealing with detox.
Balancing Body Chemistry is the Answer to Detox
The only way to assess biochemical individuality is through body chemistry. Body chemistry is the process of evaluating a person's health by analysing the biomarkers in a blood sample. From this, we can identify; what toxins they are exposed to and where in the body the toxins are located; their immune function; their metabolic markers, and; their protein and iron status. Body chemistry paints a complete and accurate picture of someone's health, and from this, we can determine their exact individual requirements for getting well. Body chemistry provides a roadmap for detoxification and health.
