Are detox diets effective?

This puts a strain on your liver during the holidays, you're a little bloated, and your scales call you to order. How to compensate for the excesses of the holidays? Is detox the miracle cure? Our journalist disentangles the true from the false.

Excess during these holidays, everyone made it unnecessary to feel guilty.

Foie gras, turkey, cheese, and logs, all accompanied by one or more glasses of alcohol ... After the holiday excesses, many people wonder how to eliminate them!

Detox products like tea

In supermarkets you can find detox products such as teas, juices, food supplements, there is 'food and drink' in the area of ​​detox. The 'detox' argument is also well put forward on the packaging. But are these products really effective?

Dr Corinne Chicheportiche, nutritionist, doctor, warns about these very marketing detox products!

'Scientific medical support for all of this is very weak if not nonexistent. In any case, certain foods can detoxify us in this sense.
We have an organization that is fully equipped to perform these functions.
We have a liver, two kidneys, it is their job, among other things, they have other functions in particular the liver,  but one of the important functions of this one is to ensure this permanent detoxification.

The role of the liver

The liver is located in the abdomen, below the diaphragm. It is the largest organ in our body. In adults, it weighs almost 1.5 kg and measures about 28 cm. It is made up of several lobes.

It is a very versatile organ. The liver makes bile, which helps in the digestion of fat.

It stores glucose, vitamins, and minerals and releases them into the blood when the body needs them.
It is also able to rid our body of certain toxins. The blood arrives loaded with wastes, such as alcohol, which is purified by the liver.

Is lemon useful?

To relieve the liver, it is often mentioned the superpowers of lemon. Lemon is, like many citrus fruits, a nutritionally interesting food. It is very slightly sweet.

Here are its other strengths:

•  It contains a lot of vitamin C necessary for the proper functioning of our body, to fight against fatigue.
•  It also contains antioxidants which help slow down the aging of our cells.

Drinking lemon juice in the morning on an empty stomach is the fashionable detox ritual on social media. All beauty influencers do it.

Prof. Gabriel Perlemuter, head of the hepato-gastroenterology and nutrition department at Antoine-Béclère hospital in Clamart, explains that lemon can help the digestive system and the liver function. But it should not be attributed to magical powers either. Better to focus on food hygiene at the same time.

You have to use common sense and favor a healthy and balanced diet ... Fruits and vegetables, water, especially to rehydrate after consuming too much alcohol. The secret is to listen to your body after the holidays, according to Dr. Corinne Chiche-Portiche.

There is no miracle recipe and a lot of poison in detox!