What Is a Full-body Detox?

Detoxification — or a full-body detox — is a popular buzzword. It typically implies following a specific diet or using special products that claim to rid your body of toxins, thereby improving health and promoting weight loss.

However, the body “detoxifies” itself naturally and doesn’t actually require special diets or expensive supplements to eliminate toxins.

Detox diets often involve the use of laxatives, diuretics, vitamins, minerals, teas, and other foods thought to have detoxing properties.

The term “toxin” in the context of detox diets is loosely defined. It typically includes pollutants, synthetic chemicals, heavy metals, and processed foods, which can negatively affect health.

However, popular detox diets rarely identify the specific toxins they aim to remove or the mechanism by which they supposedly eliminate them.

Moreover, no evidence supports the use of these diets for toxin elimination or sustainable weight loss (1, 2).

Your body has a sophisticated way of eliminating toxins that involves the liver, kidneys, digestive system, skin, and lungs.

Still, only when these organs are healthy can they effectively eliminate unwanted substances.

So while detox diets don’t do anything that your body can’t naturally do on its own, you can optimize your body’s natural detoxification system.

Summary

While detox diets have a seductive appeal, your body is fully equipped to handle toxins and other unwanted substances.

Your liver metabolizes more than 90% of the alcohol you consume (3).

Liver enzymes metabolize alcohol to acetaldehyde, a known cancer-causing chemical (4, 5).

Recognizing acetaldehyde as a toxin, your liver converts it to a harmless substance called acetate, which it eliminates from your body (3).

While observational studies have shown that low to moderate alcohol consumption benefits heart health, excessive drinking can cause many health problems (6, 7, 8).

Excessive drinking can severely damage your liver function by causing fat buildup, inflammation, and scarring (9).

When this happens, your liver cannot function adequately and perform its necessary tasks — including filtering waste and other toxins from your body.

Limiting or abstaining entirely from alcohol is one of the best ways to keep your body’s detoxification system running strong.

Health authorities recommend limiting alcohol intake to one drink per day for women and two for men. If you currently do not drink, it is recommended not to start as the risk outweigh any health benefits that come with drinking. (10).

Summary

Drinking too much alcohol reduces your liver’s ability to carry out its normal functions, such as detoxifying.

Ensuring adequate quality sleep each night is a must to support your body’s health and natural detoxification system.

Sleeping allows your brain to reorganize and recharge itself, as well as remove toxic waste byproducts that accumulate throughout the day (11, 12).

One of those waste products is a protein called beta-amyloid, which contributes to the development of Alzheimer’s disease (13, 14).

With sleep deprivation, your body does not have time to perform those functions, so toxins can build up and affect several aspects of health (15).

Poor sleep has links to short- and long-term health consequences, such as stress, anxiety, high blood pressure, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and obesity (16, 17).

You should regularly sleep 7 to 9 hours per night to help promote good health (18).

If you have difficulties staying or falling asleep at night, lifestyle changes like sticking to a sleep schedule and limiting blue light before bed are useful for improving sleep (19, 20, 21).

Summary

Adequate sleep allows your brain to reorganize, recharge, and eliminate toxins that accumulate throughout the day.

Water does so much more than quench your thirst. It regulates your body temperature, lubricates joints, aids digestion and nutrient absorption, and detoxifies your body by removing waste products (22).

Your body’s cells must continuously repair themselves to function optimally and break down nutrients for your body to use as energy.

However, these processes release wastes in the form of urea and carbon dioxide, which can cause harm if they build up in your blood (23).

Water transports these waste products, efficiently removing them through urination, breathing, or sweating. So staying properly hydrated is important for detoxification (24).

The adequate daily water intake is 125 ounces (3.7 liters) for men and 91 ounces (2.7 liters) for women. You may need more or less depending on your diet, where you live, and your activity level (25).

Summary

In addition to its many roles in your body, water allows your body’s detoxification system to remove waste products from your blood.

People often attribute sugar and processed foods to many of today’s public health crises (26).

Research links high consumption of sugary and highly processed foods to obesity and other chronic diseases, such as heart disease, cancer, and diabetes (27, 28, 29).

These diseases hinder your body’s ability to naturally detoxify by harming organs that play an important role, such as your liver and kidneys.

For example, high consumption of sugary beverages can cause fatty liver, a condition that negatively impacts liver function (30, 31, 32).

You can keep your body’s detoxification system healthy by consuming less junk food.

You can limit junk food by leaving it on the store shelf. Not having it in your kitchen takes away the temptation altogether.

Replacing junk food with healthier choices like fruits and vegetables is also a healthy way to reduce consumption.

Summary

Excess junk food consumption is linked to chronic diseases like obesity and diabetes. These conditions can cause harm to organs important to detoxifying, such as your liver and kidneys.

Antioxidants protect your cells against damage caused by molecules called free radicals. Oxidative stress is a condition that results from the excessive production of free radicals.

Your body naturally produces these molecules for cellular processes, such as digestion. However, alcohol, tobacco smoke, a low nutrient diet, and exposure to pollutants can produce excessive free radicals (33).

These molecules cause damage to a range of cells. Research suggests that free radical damage plays a role in conditions such as dementia, heart disease, liver disease, asthma, and certain types of cancer (34, 35).

Eating a diet rich in antioxidants can help your body counter oxidative stress caused by excess free radicals and other toxins that increase your disease risk.

Focus on getting antioxidants from food and not supplements. Taking too many antioxidant supplements may increase your risk of certain diseases. (36, 37, 38).

Examples of antioxidants include vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin E, selenium, lycopene, lutein, and zeaxanthin.

Berries, fruits, nuts, cocoa, vegetables, spices, and beverages like coffee and green tea have some of the highest amounts of antioxidants (39).

Summary

Consuming a diet rich in antioxidants helps your body reduce damage caused by free radicals and may lower your risk of diseases that can impact detoxification.

Gut health is important for keeping your detoxification system healthy. Your intestinal cells have a detoxification and excretion system that protects your gut and body from harmful toxins, such as chemicals (40).

Good gut health starts with prebiotics, a type of fiber that feeds the good bacteria in your gut called probiotics. With prebiotics, your good bacteria can produce nutrients called short-chain fatty acids that are beneficial for health (41, 42).

Antibiotic use, poor dental hygiene, and diet quality can all alter the bacterial balance in your gut (43, 44, 45).

Consequently, this unhealthy shift in bacteria can weaken your immune and detoxification systems and increase your risk of disease and inflammation (46).

Eating foods rich in prebiotics can keep your immune and detoxification systems healthy. Good food sources of prebiotics include tomatoes, artichokes, bananas, asparagus, onions, garlic, and oats (47).

Summary

Eating a diet rich in prebiotics keeps your digestive system healthy, which is important for proper detoxification and immune health.

For some people, detoxing is a means of eliminating excess water.

Consuming too much salt can cause your body to retain excess fluid, especially if you have a condition that affects your kidneys or liver — or if you don’t drink enough water.

This excess fluid buildup can cause bloating and make clothing uncomfortable. If you consume too much salt, you can detox yourself of the extra water weight.

While it may sound counterintuitive, increasing your water intake is one of the best ways to eliminate excess water weight from consuming too much salt.

That’s because when you consume too much salt and not enough water, your body releases an antidiuretic hormone that prevents you from urinating and therefore, detoxifying (48).

By increasing your water intake, your body reduces the secretion of the antidiuretic hormone and increases urination, eliminating more water and waste products (49, 50).

Increasing your intake of potassium-rich foods — which counterbalance some of sodium’s effects — also helps. Foods rich in potassium include potatoes, squash, kidney beans, bananas, and spinach (51).

Summary

Consuming too much salt can increase water retention. You can eliminate excess water — and waste — by increasing your intake of water and potassium-rich foods.

Regular exercise — regardless of body weight — is associated with a longer life and a reduced risk of many conditions and diseases, including type 2 diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, and certain cancers (52, 53, 54).

While there are several mechanisms behind the health benefits of exercise, reduced inflammation is a key point (55, 56).

While some inflammation is necessary for recovering from infection or healing wounds, too much of it weakens your body’s systems and promotes disease.

By reducing inflammation, exercise can help your body’s systems — including its detoxification system — function properly and protect against disease.

You should aim to do at least 150–300 minutes a week of moderate intensity exercise — such as brisk walking — or 75–150 minutes a week of vigorous intensity physical activity — such as running (57).

Summary

Regular physical activity lowers inflammation and allows your body’s detoxification system to work properly.

Although no current evidence supports the use of detox diets for removing toxins from your body, certain dietary changes and lifestyle practices may help reduce toxin load and support your body’s detoxification system.

• Eat sulfur-containing foods. Foods high in sulfur, such as onions, broccoli, and garlic, enhance the excretion of heavy metals like cadmium (58).
• Try out chlorella. Chlorella is a type of algae that has many nutritional benefits and may enhance the elimination of toxins like heavy metals, according to animal studies (59).
• Flavor dishes with cilantro. Cilantro enhances the excretion of certain toxins, such as heavy metals like lead and chemicals, including phthalates and insecticides (60, 61).
• Support glutathione. Eating sulfur-rich foods like eggs, broccoli, and garlic helps enhance the function of glutathione, a major antioxidant produced by your body that is heavily involved in detoxification (62).
• Switch to natural cleaning products. Choosing natural cleaning products like vinegar and baking soda over commercial cleaning agents can reduce your exposure to potentially toxic chemicals (63).
• Choose natural body care. Using natural deodorants, makeups, moisturizers, shampoos, and other personal care products can also reduce your exposure to chemicals.

While promising, many of these effects are only evident in animal studies. Therefore, studies in humans are needed to confirm these findings.

Summary

Some lifestyle and dietary modifications may enhance your body’s natural detoxification system.

What is the best way to detox your body?

Your body naturally clears itself of toxins. You can support the process and your overall health with some lifestyle practices, including avoiding or limiting alcohol, getting enough sleep, drinking enough water, and eating certain foods, among others.

How can I detox my whole body at home?

Your body has a sophisticated way of eliminating toxins that involves the liver, kidneys, digestive system, skin, and lungs. Still, only when these organs are healthy can they effectively eliminate unwanted substances.

What are 3 signs you need to detox?

If you’re experiencing unexplained symptoms, such as bloody or dark urine, painful urination, yellowing skin and eyes, lasting fatigue, or frequent bruising, it could indicate a problem with one of your body systems responsible for clearing toxins from your body and typically requires a medical evaluation and care (64, 65).

How long does it take to detox your body?

A full-body detox is part of regular organ function, with the body naturally eliminating harmful or toxic substances through the kidneys, liver, digestive system, skin, and lungs.

Detox diets are said to eliminate toxins, which supports improving health and promoting weight loss.

While these diets are popular, they are not necessary. Your body has its own highly efficient detoxification system.

That said, you can enhance your body’s natural detoxification system and improve your overall health by staying hydrated, consuming less salt, staying active, and following an antioxidant-rich diet.