What the Hell Is Detoxification?

By Dr. Steven Long, DO, MHA, CPT
Beyond Health | Precision Medicine for High-Performance Living

Detoxification: The Wellness Buzzword

“Detox” is everywhere—detox teas, detox juices, detox pills, detox retreats. The promise? That your body is full of mysterious “toxins” and needs a cleanse to reset.
But here’s the truth: unless you’ve been poisoned or have advanced organ failure, you don’t need help “detoxifying.” Your liver and kidneys already do it, 24/7, better than any supplement or juice cleanse ever could.

What Detoxification Actually Means in Medicine

In real clinical medicine, detoxification refers to two things:

1. Liver metabolism – The liver breaks down and modifies substances (alcohol, medications, environmental chemicals, metabolic byproducts) so they can be excreted. This involves phase I and phase II enzymatic pathways using cytochrome P450 enzymes, conjugation reactions, and bile excretion.
2. Kidney excretion – The kidneys filter blood, reclaim what the body needs, and excrete waste products (urea, creatinine, electrolytes, and water-soluble toxins) in urine.

Other organs also contribute: the lungs exhale CO?, the skin releases small amounts of substances in sweat, and the gut eliminates waste through stool. This network is your natural, built-in detoxification system.
As long as these organs function, you are constantly “detoxing.”

The Popular Culture “Detox”

When wellness influencers talk about detox, they rarely mean liver enzymes and glomerular filtration rates. They usually mean:

• Juice cleanses – Restricting calories with fruit/vegetable juices, marketed to “flush toxins.”
• Colon cleanses – Enemas or herbal laxatives claiming to remove “waste build-up.”
• Detox teas and pills – Often containing diuretics, laxatives, or unregulated herbal compounds.
• Detox diets – Extreme elimination diets, sometimes unsafe, promoted as “resets.”

What the Evidence Shows

• Juice cleanses: Can cause temporary weight loss (mostly water and glycogen) but no evidence of toxin removal. May cause electrolyte imbalances if prolonged.
• Colon cleanses: No evidence for health benefit; risks include dehydration, infections, and perforation in rare cases .
• Detox supplements/teas: Largely unregulated, sometimes contaminated, and occasionally linked to liver damage .
• Fasting or restrictive diets: While intermittent fasting has evidence for metabolic health, the idea that it “detoxifies” in a unique way is misleading—it works via calorie restriction and metabolic shifts, not toxin flushing.

A systematic review in the Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics concluded that there is no credible evidence that commercial detox diets remove toxins or improve health.

Why People Feel Better After a Detox

Many who try detox regimens report feeling better. But this is usually because:

• They cut out alcohol, ultra-processed foods, and added sugar.
• They sleep more and drink more water.
• They reduce calorie intake, leading to short-term weight loss.

In other words, the benefits come from cleaner lifestyle habits, not from removing mythical toxins.

When “Detox” Is Real

• Clinical detox: In medicine, detox refers to supervised treatment for withdrawal from alcohol, opioids, or other substances.
• True toxicology cases: Ingestion of poisons, heavy metals, or drug overdoses require medical detoxification with specific antidotes (e.g., N-acetylcysteine for acetaminophen overdose).

Outside of these scenarios, commercial “detox” is marketing, not medicine.

Beyond Health’s Take

We are pro clean living, not pro detox scams. At Beyond Health, we encourage:

• Nutrition: Whole-food, clean eating.
• Hydration: Adequate water and electrolyte balance.
• Exercise: Improves circulation, metabolism, and organ function.
• Sleep: Supports brain glymphatic clearance and recovery.
• Avoidance of true toxins: Smoking, excess alcohol, environmental pollutants.

But we are wary of anyone selling “detox” pills, teas, or kits. At best, they are expensive placebos; at worst, they may harm your liver, kidneys, or electrolytes—the very organs that do the real detoxifying.

The Bottom Line

Your body already has an advanced, highly efficient detoxification system. No juice, pill, or cleanse can do what your liver and kidneys accomplish every second of every day.

If you want to feel better, skip the detox gimmicks and focus on sustainable health habits: eat well, move often, sleep deeply, and minimize true toxins. That’s how you actually “detox”—for life.

References

1. Klein AV, Kiat H. “Detox diets for toxin elimination and weight management: a critical review of the evidence.” J Hum Nutr Diet. 2015;28(6):675-686.
2. Ernst E. “Colonic irrigation and the theory of autointoxication: a triumph of ignorance over science.” J Clin Gastroenterol. 1997;24(4):196-198.
3. Navarro VJ, et al. “Liver injury from herbal and dietary supplements.” Hepatology. 2017;65(1):363-373.
4. Saper RB, et al. “Heavy metal content of Ayurvedic herbal medicine products.” JAMA. 2004;292(23):2868-2873.