The truth about detox teas and weight loss

Influencers and celebrities are littering their Instagram timelines with detox teas, promoting them and claiming that they work to give you a flat tummy in just a matter of weeks.

No cardio, weight lifting, dieting, nothing, just a tea you take in the morning and night and boom, dream body. Sounds enticing right? Miraculous even! But you should be weary of something that sounds too good to be true because chances are, it’s probably bullshit or in better terms, a scam.

Detox teas will often have labels that spark an interest in us - words like ‘detoxifying’ ‘organic’ and they will throw in some herbs like chamomile and what not. You will look at the packaging and think to yourself, not bad. Sounds worth a try.

Matter of fact, in addition to the enticing labels, detox teas will promise a lot…like, a lot!

Some of the most common promises include:

-Of course, weight loss – aka flat tummy

-Reduce bloating

-Boost immunity

-Suppress appetite

-Detox your body

Hmm fair enough.

Weighing scale (Courtesy) ece-auto-gen

But, what’s actually contained in these detox teas, to give all those benefits?

The main ingredient in detox teas is something called senna which is basically a natural laxative. Senna leaves have a chemical called sennocides, which when consumed, they irritate the lining of the bowel which in turn, creates a ‘fake’ bowel movement which makes you diarrhea, and that’s supposed to be the so called “detox” aka, your body getting rid of toxins. Listen! This is only good if you’re constipated as it will help you get rid of that fecal matter that's stuck in the rectum. Otherwise, if your're in good health, the only thing you are doing to your body by taking detox tea is removing the water from your body – mind you, this is water that your body actually needs. So, when you get rid of the water, which occupies a large percentage of your body, you may look and even feel slimmer, heck you may even weigh less. But, the minute you in take water again, it’s back to square one, not to mention, without water, you will be dehydrated and your body will not function as well as it should cause water plays a huge part in assisting most of those bodily functions.

In short, detox teas only make you loose poop and water weight. So yes, it helps with bloating but no, it doesn't help lose any body fat.

Belly fat [Credit: Fiftiness] Pulse Nigeria

What are some of the dangers of using detox teas?

If you use these teas for long, your bowel will start relying on these sennocides or laxative if you like, for you to poop, instead of functioning on its own.

Another con is that this habit can also lead to electrolyte disturbances in your body which in turn can cause muscle weakness and even liver damage. If anything, you don’t wanna use these teas for longer than two weeks, if you must!

Bottom line?

Your body is very capable of taking out toxins on its own. That’s why you have the liver, kidney, etc., because these organs are self sufficient and you do not need to take detox teas for your body to be able to take out toxins. It can do that just fine on its own, if you’re healthy. All these celebrities, fitness people and influencers are simply taking advantage – they earn a lot of money to post those teas on Instagram and lie to you. The only way to get yourself a flat tummy is simply to workout in the gym. There’s no shortcut like detox tea. Your hard workout and diet will give you your dream body, not detox tea. Again, if it sounds too good to be true, think twice! And, these teas are not cheap, you’re basically wasting so much money for nothing! Matter of fact, there’s no scientific evidence to show that detox tea helps in weight loss.

Now you’re in the know!