Cynics say that a detox is just a fancy word for a diet. But detoxes are proving popular because they get the results, writes Bernice Harrison
Blame Carol Vorderman. One minute she was on Countdown with flat brown hair, a pleasantly plump figure and clothes a maths teacher would be proud of - the next, she had become a red carpet celeb with a figure to die for, a sparkly new wardrobe and the energy levels of a Duracell bunny.
In interview after interview, she tossed her shiny locks and said, no she didn't have the smorgasbord of cosmetic surgery the dramatic makeover seemed to suggest, her newly reduced figure and vibrant image was all down to detox. Not surprisingly, her first detox book became such a hit that she has continued writing more books that are basically variations on the same detox theme. All are bestsellers.
Vorderman couldn't have timed it better. Her popularisation of the idea of detoxing during the past four years has come at a time when we are starting to look at what we eat more critically. You don't have to be entirely health obsessed to wonder about the chemicals that go into food; to worry about the heavy emphasis on processed foods in most of our diets; and to question the imbalance caused by too much carbohydrates often at the expense of protein and fats.
Cynics have been quick to jump in and say that a detox is a fancy word used by people who are too embarrassed to say they are on a diet and it's a fair point. A detox sounds all self-aware and holistic; a diet is an announcement to the world that you think you are fat.
But a good detox is different from a calorie-counting diet in that a detox can kick-start a programme of healthy eating that can last long after the planned internal cleansing programme is over.
Detoxes are so in vogue simply because they work - whether the regime is a short sharp three-day one or the 30-day one favoured by Vorderman. Most people who try them report some weight loss, clearer skin, reduced bloating and a rise in energy levels.
Most regimes are essentially variations on a similar theme. No caffeine, meat, dairy, sugar, salt, wheat, alcohol, chocolate, refined carbohydrates or processed food. Vorderman allows detoxers to replace those modern dietary staples with fruit teas, fresh and dried fruit and vegetables, nuts, oats, lentils and wholegrains.
Extras such as linseed are encouraged, as is water - at least two litres a day. Other, more strict detoxes, discourage fruit because their aim is to take sugar out of the dietary equation and that includes fructose.
It's day four of the New Year and there are bound to be hundreds of people out there who have already given up on the diet they embarked on as soon as the last verse of auld lang sine was sung.
But now that the first heady rush of resolution is over, this week is the perfect time to start planning a detox. It's not something that you should read about this morning and start this evening - think Roy "fail to prepare, prepare to fail" Keane.
"You have to be single minded about it, totally focused for the three days or however long your detox is," says Melanie Morris, Irish Times beauty writer who has tried several detoxes. "And you have to prepare, it's not about simply stopping eating, it's about changing the way you eat."
Cloona Health Centre in Westport advises would-be detoxers coming to stay at the centre to eliminate tea and coffee from their diet for four days before arriving and suggests that chocolate and sugary foods should also be minimised, if not totally eliminated.
Big, heavy meals should also be tapered off. The idea is to minimise the withdrawal effects - anyone with a heavy coffee habit who has ever tried to give it up only to be immediately rewarded with a series of blinding headaches will know all about withdrawal.
Home detoxers should prepare in the same way. Then there's shopping. Going on a detox when there is only two shrivelled apples in the fruit bowl is doomed.
Vorderman's detox is impossible unless the larder is full of pulses, lentils, nuts and fruit and at least a couple of boxes of Nairns delicious oatcakes.
A full diary doesn't help either - it's simply too discouraging to start a month-long detox when your diary is full of birthday parties and family events.
"Don't try to do too much," says Morris, whose favourite detox is the one she did while staying at Shrubland Health Clinic in Suffolk, England (see panel).
"Day one you might manage a short walk, day two you won't have any energy so maybe consider getting a massage, or at least give yourself a dry body brush, and by day three you'll have the energy again for a walk."
She favours the Shrubland detox because she found it gave great results in a short space of time and it allows fruit so the body doesn't go into sugar withdrawal. "You don't get as many of the detox horrors you get in other regimes," she says.
For this writer, Vorderman's detox, which allows nuts, lentils and brown rice, was much more manageable - and a far easier New Year's resolution to keep up.