Why You Shouldn’t Bother With Instagram-Promoted Detox Teas
You can’t scroll through Instagram without seeing someone shilling detox tea.
These teas and the stars backing them promise weight loss, energy improvement, metabolism boosts and overall positive health benefits. But they also strongly encourage product users to exercise and eat right while drinking the tea. Eating right and exercising can naturally make a person thinner and therefore make it hard to tell if a person is losing weight from a lifestyle change or from using a detox tea.
In addition to the uncertainty of the usefulness of these products, many of them are expensive and contain sometimes-harmful ingredients.
We got the chance to speak with Exercise Physiologist and Nutritionist Dr. Bill Sukala who explained that the main ingredients of detox teas are usually herbs that contain laxatives and caffeine-like energy boosts.
“The fact that these teas are loaded with laxatives and diuretics is cause for concern,” he said. “First, in people with underlying medical concerns such as heart problems, dehydration and electrolyte imbalances caused by such products could plausibly precipitate dizziness, fainting, or, at worst, a cardiac event.”
Sukala went on to state that the weight that is lost from the use of these products is mainly made up of bodily fluids and therefore once a person stops the detox there “will only be a matter of time until the body corrects itself and replaces the lost fluid and body fat (and likely more body fat than before to protect against the next artificially induced ‘famine’).”
Basically if you’re looking for a way to technically lose weight fast, then detox teas may be the thing for you. But you won’t actually be losing any fat — and you can’t expect to keep the weight off for an extended period of time.
Also, don’t feel pressured to go buy the teas being marketed on social media. Most of those products start out at $25 and only go up in price from there. Store-brought brands like Yogi and Traditional Medicinals are significantly cheaper and contain the same ingredients.
Wanting to live a healthier lifestyle is always great but remember the natural way is the best way.
