Apr 24, 20235 min read

Detoxifying Your Body? You Don't Need A Fancy Spa Day, Your Body Does It All the Time!

Updated: Apr 28, 2023

Hello everyone! The topic of today is the ongoing scam that is 'detox treatments.' I came across this idea when I did my daily scrolling through the news, though it wasn't an article that inspired me, it was an advertisement to one of these spas. Honestly, I'd never really dwelled on this topic until now. "Detoxifying...?" I originally thought it was for people with medical conditions that need a type of therapy for it. I was under the impression that detoxing helps people with dangerous levels of alcohol, drugs or other poisons in their system (since that is the medical definition of this treatment.) I was proven wrong by finding out that people without any of these conditions are 'detoxifying' their body in pursuit of better health... or something. This is nothing more than a pseudoscience, so it's pure snake oil. But why do people believe this? Let's go back, and by back, I mean to a time in which rituals took place and were the norm.

Humans aren't new to the beliefs of purifying and 'detoxifying' these practices go back to ancient civilizations and even ancient religions. From Shinto to Christianity, there are purification rituals in all types of forms. These rituals offered a chance to clean yourself and rid yourself of all worldly sins and 'dirt.' Despite how different and unique the religions of the world, are they seem to agree on this: "Humans are unclean and need to be cleaned." There are many example of this, so I will only list a few:

In Japanese Buddhism, a basin called a tsukubai is provided at Buddhist temples for ablutions. It is also used for tea ceremony.

This type of ritual cleansing is the custom for guests attending a tea ceremony or visiting the grounds of a Buddhist temple. The name originates from the verb tsukubau meaning "to crouch" or "to bow down", an act of humility. Guests attending a tea ceremony crouch and wash their hands in a tsukubai set in the tea garden before entering the tearoom.

Another example of ritual purification the traditions of many Indigenous peoples of the Americas. One of the forms of ritual purification is the ablutionary use of a sauna, known as a sweatlodge, as preparation for a variety of other ceremonies. The burning of smudge sticks is also believed by some indigenous groups to cleanse an area of any evil presence.

Some groups like the southeastern tribe, the Cherokee, practiced and, to a lesser degree, still practice going to water, performed only in moving bodies of water such as rivers or streams. There are many more examples, but we'll use these two. For many years, humans believed that they weren't clean, corrupt, or weren't pure. (I mean, they aren't wrong...)

As our knowledge of biology grew, these fears manifested as “autointoxication.” Clean out the bowels, went the theory, and you could cure any illness. Science led us to discard autointoxication by the 1900’s as we gained a better understanding of anatomy, physiology, and the true cause of disease.

People have gained the belief that the buildup of 'toxins' are caused by the food we eat, air we breathe, and things we drink. This belief is nothing more than a meaningless term, but it sounds believable enough to entice people into following these trends. The funny thing with these is that they never actually distinguish each 'toxin' or what the treatments are trying to get rid of. The ads are usually vague and have similar use of wordage. This is kind of similar to the belief in healing crystals. People purchase the crystals and believe that they will feel more energetic or happy. This is nothing more than a placebo.

They don't 'clean' or 'promote' certain things like weight loss, there isn't even evidence to back it up! The body actually detoxifies itself. Specific physiological processes help remove these toxins from our body via the liver, lungs, kidneys, and the digestive system without requiring external 'detoxification agents.' The intestine destroys and eliminates foreign substances and pathogens, and the skin releases toxins via sweat.

A healthy lifestyle can keep these organs performing optimally, eliminating the need for detox therapy and saving you a lot of time and money. While it's completely okay to have a spa day once in a while and treat yourself, don't depend on it to boost your health or whatever mumbo jumbo they promise. "Researchers in a 2012 study took an in-depth look at the IonCleanse foot bath and found that the foot detox did nothing to reduce toxin levels in the body. They also concluded that the foot bath didn’t stimulate the body to remove toxins by itself, such as through the kidneys or liver." There is some benefits like exfoliating, improve circulation, and can even help with athlete's foot.

Another example of these treatments are saunas, particularly infrared saunas. They certainly are relaxing for some (not my cup of tea) and some even turn to it for weight loss, euphoria, and to get better skin.

"Infrared saunas use infrared light to heat the body from within rather than the air from without, as a traditional sauna does. Because of this, the saunas are able to operate at a lower temperature, usually about 157 degrees Fahrenheit, as compared with upwards of 200, while providing the same (science-supported) cardiovascular benefits."

Infrared-sauna makers claim that the light penetrates skin more deeply than the heat of a traditional sauna, which leads to more sweat, which leads to a more abundant release of "toxins."

Apparently, you are also able to change the LED light colors to 'encourage' certain traits and benefits. They give the customers a guide, green for cancer, orange for wisdom, etc. Also, the sweat emitted from infrared light releases more toxins that the average heating system. Experts have actually proven that the liver and kidneys do the toxifying job, so sweating doesn't help or really do anything to detoxify as much as those organs do.