Detox Teas: How Good Are They Really For Your Health?

The detox tea industry has made huge leaps since first appearing on the weight loss scene. Promising to boost metabolism, quell cravings and enhance energy, detox and weight loss teas have a huge market of users out there, ensuring individuals everything they want from a dieting experience. The theory goes that the natural ingredients inside the teas help to cleanse your system and boost your body’s efficacy at burning through energy. With such lofty claims, however, can it really be true?

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In fact, food experts have spoken out time and again against the use of detox teas, calling them a waste of money at the very best. In the worst cases, the mix of ingredients can seriously interact with digestion, unsettling the natural balance that your body already has in place. While others teas might contain stimulating chemicals like caffeine and polyphenol, the quantities are simply too low to have a lasting effect on the rate of your metabolism. With natural varieties have little effect on the size of our waistlines, then, how can chemically enhanced versions do our bodies any good?

Detoxifying teas tend to work by hype marketing. Teas that claim to cleanse your system are simply likely to contain ingredients that will stimulate your gut, causing you to go to the bathroom more frequently. While products like senna, a laxative, might have natural origins, not all of them are FDA approved, and this is where the health problems can begin to set in. The use of laxatives as a weight loss aid can become dangerous, especially when implemented for longer stretches of time. Laxatives irritate the lining of your bowel and if they are consumed too frequently, they might lead to all sorts of long term gastrointestinal issues. Worse still, osmotic laxatives might even interfere with your kidneys, causing issues to their functioning.

(source: news.health.com)

While there are certain types of natural teas that can help to boost your health, they won’t contribute to weight loss in the same way as healthy eating and exercise. Green tea, for example, can help your body to cut down on free radicals and maintain better health in the future. Oolong tea is also believed to be good for the body, helping you to maintain a healthy weight when included in a balanced diet and lifestyle. Products that claim to detoxify your system and cut down on bloating will do so principally by interfering with your digestive system and bowel habits. Once you stop using the teas, you’re likely to go back to normal without noticing any lasting differences to your weight.

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If weight loss is really something that interests you, a healthy diet and exercise are the two most important things that you can take into consideration. A balanced nutritional intake and sufficient movement will affect your metabolic rate unlike anything else, bringing about lasting results. Expecting a detox tea to change your dieting habits is unfortunately not going to work. Miracle products often seem to be too good to be true and for the most part, it’s because they are.