Tea has been a popular hot beverage consumed by people for hundreds of thousands of years, noting the many benefits that come along with it such as high levels of antioxidants and flavonoids. However, growing popularity of tea consumption is partly due to many circulating myths about “detox tea”. The Cleveland Clinic has reported a few popular myths about this type of tea explained by dieticians.
According to The Cleveland Clinic, detox tea has been claimed to be healthier than green tea and black tea. Research from Penn Medicine explains that these two teas are made from Camellia sinensis and offer many antioxidants and flavonoids that help combat inflammation and a support a healthy immune system. Dietician Anna Taylor explains that this is a popular myth due to the diuretics and laxatives found in detox tea along with the same antioxidants and flavonoids found in green and black tea. These additions help promote weight loss due to the reduction of body waste and water weight.
Detox tea has also claimed to aid in weight loss, although this weight loss has been shown to be short-term and not sustainable. Modern day society has formed a liking to cure-all tricks and pills that result in maximum weight loss with minimal effort, forgetting that a healthy diet and regular exercise result in the most sustainable weight loss and overall health. Dietician Anna Taylor explains that the body has natural detoxification capabilities that can be enhanced by eating plenty of fiber, drinking enough fluids, consuming five to nine handfuls of fruits and vegetables each day and increased exercise.
Emeritus professor of complementary medicine, Edzard Ernst, explains that medical treatment for people with life-threatening drug addictions is a respectable, medicinal type of outside detox. Any other form of outside detox is a “bogus treatment” being sold to the general public by entrepreneurs and quacks. The human body contains kidneys, a liver, skin and lungs that are constantly detoxifying the body. Edzard Ernst compared the marketing word “detox” to the equivalent of drawing stripes on your car in hopes that it goes faster. While the supplements claiming to detox the body may aid in initial weight loss, majority of the weight is water weight and removal of a build-up of fecal matter.
According to a London psychologist, Susan Marchant-Haycox, popularity in the detox industry is just another addition to the health and wellness industry that started booming in the 70s. Following the growing population of gyms, the beauty and diet industry began to boom with more people becoming aware of the benefits of certain food groups. This area of health and wellness is a perfect place to market items that claim to offer the benefits of many different food groups in one. Nearly half a century later, the detox industry is at an all-time high offering people a calorie-free drink that not only delivers antioxidants, but also promotes weight loss and appetite satiety. Other forms of detox include fasting, which is also a growing trend in society today and often goes hand in hand with tea consumption.
Medicine vs. Myth 