There’s much more to health than karela juice

In the first of a two-part series, Rujuta Diwekar debunks the popular premise of detox foods

If you think you need to 'detox' you need to think really hard. For starters think what really drives you to toxify your system. And then think what makes you think that 'detox' for 2/5/7 days will magically wipe out all the diet and lifestyle sins committed over the last 2/5/7 months or who knows years.
    Honestly, I think what we do to our bodies in the name of 'detox' is similar to what the BMC does to our neighbourhood gully two days before some big neta's visit. What happens after the netaji leaves? Our little street goes back to its dirty old self in a matter of few moments. Now what we need to do to keep our neighbourhood gully permanently clean is exactly what you will need to do to 'detox' your system. First know that it's not a one day or a one week job, it's a behaviour modification or a lifestyle change that needs to be adopted forever.
    Nutritionally what you do to your body in the name of detox is just as bad, if not worse, as things you do to your body when you are in the 'toxic' (normal) zone. 'Detox' is understood as something that you will do over few days where you will probably eat nuts, fruits, juices of various vegetable or just eat nothing to 'rest' or detoxify your system. Some really exotic detox will mean some magical potion being injected anally into your system and then all your system gets wiped clean, or so we are told. (I have never been able to understand why a running stomach is mixed with the idea of 'cleansing the system'). We subject ourselves to this torture feeling really virtous about ourselves, all the while knowing deep within our hearts that we will be back to our old dirty ways in a matter of few days, max weeks. Let's assume for a second that the torture of starving our body or limiting its intake by consuming only fruits, nuts, vegetable juices accompanied by excessive amount of water and other liquids (orally and or anally) actually cleanses and is healthy. Then why not do it for the rest of our lives? And here is the true answer, because its unsustainable. A true detox will require an approach that is reasonable, sustainable and takes into account your work timings, diet history, likes, dislikes, state of mind, exercise status, the environmental factors like humidity, heat, height from sea level etc. In short, it's hard work to come up with a detox which is not just doable (for few days) but also sustainable for the rest of our lives. Or else our life will be going along the lines of the latest buffet at five star hotels — the salad and dessert buffet. Yup, they have cracked it, they know that we are avoiding main course and eating salads in the name of detox and allowing ourselves to eat that pastry because we have 'earned it' after putting ourselves through detox.
    Here's what you really need to understand, cleansing and detoxying the system is something that needs to be practised on a daily if not hourly basis. And like the thumb rule of any cleaning process you have to begin by
    reducing the damage. The four main pillars on which our sense of wellbeing
    rests are — 1. Food, 2. Activity, 3.
    Sleep, 4. State of mind. To achieve that truly light and energetic feeling that we are hoping for after repeated attempts to detox can be achieved by reducing our abuse to these factors and simultaneously working to strengthen these pillars. Work at identifying what is your state of your mind, sleep, exercise and food patterns just before deciding to take that harsh step to 'detox'. Do you notice a sense of irresponsibility towards your body's needs? Do you typically feel like a detox after a festive season or a holiday? Is it coming from a sense of guilt or shame? Are you hoping to fit into those tight jeans or to lose weight after the detox ordeal? It's important to answer these questions if we want to get out of the salad — dessert mode. It's your responsibility to keep your body clean, smooth and light, just like it's our responsibility to put our garbage inside and not outside the BMC's garabage cans. A detox can be a disaster because it follows the now proven and well understood phenomenon — feasting and fasting or starving and stuffing. So know that other than a yo-yo weight there is nothing to achieve post a fad, whatever its name, including detox. So let's begin by getting real and by reducing the toxins that we expose our bodies to on a daily basis.
Tomorrow, I will talk of detox from the holistic angle of the four main pillars and sincerely urge you to put that glass of dudhi/ karela juice down. There is more to it than food.
(Rujuta Diwekar is the author of the popular book, Don't lose your mind, lose your weight. She is the nutrition consultant to the country's A-list)