Is Detoxing Dangerous?

By Jessica Campbell, MS, FNTP

The word detox may turn you off, but once you understand what Food Foundation is all about, you may be ready for mine. You should probably know that detoxing can be very dangerous to your health which is why I designed the Food Foundation Detox to teach you how to detoxify your body safely. My ultimate goal however, is for you to fall in love with your body, your food, and your life!

I have tried the serious detox cleanse where you drink cayenne lemon water and starve yourself. The truth is, that is not very safe. You will absolutely start to release a bunch of toxins in the body; however, if your detox pathways are not clear, those toxins will circulate and land somewhere else within the body causing other problems and disease.

After intensely studying the digestive system and what the body needs from a holistic perspective, I have found that to detox naturally, we really only need about 30% healthy fats, roughly 30% healthy proteins and around 40% carbs from vegetables (with no more than 15% carbs from grains). Fruit unfortunately, is full of fructose, (sugar) and should be eaten in moderation as a treat.

Eating healthy fats signals the gallbladder to release bile.  This is important because toxins being stored in fat cells will wash out in the bile. Eating clean proteins is imperative because proteins bind to the toxins and escort them out of the system. Carbohydrates are necessary roughage: they act as prebiotics to feed the probiotics living in the large intestine, they contain vitamins and minerals and they provide quick energy to the brain.

This delicious yellow curry I created for the summer detox provides a 30/30/40 ratio. You see, the Food Foundation Detox has nothing to do with starving yourself, counting your calories, or drinking gross tonics. It is about eating REAL food.

In the summer detox, there is a 3 day OPTIONAL cleanse for those few people that are really ready to flush those toxins. During the cleanse, we drink bone broth, vegetable juices, eat cooked vegetables and eat easy to digest fats; there is absolutely no starvation. Period. This optional 3 day cleanse resembles a GAPS diet designed by Natasha McBride with foods that are easy to digest and foods that heal the gut lining. I offer this cleanse only after 2 weeks of eating clean foods, when our detox pathways are noticeably opening. You should never try to do this cleanse or any other right after a holiday period when you are more toxic than usual.

Honestly, the cleanse is not even necessary, your body will detox, (meaning flush out toxins naturally), if you simply stop putting them into your mouth and on your skin for a few weeks. I am not trying to create another diet dogma, instead I am trying to help convert people from sugar burners (eating carbs all day) to fat burners which is how the body was physiologically designed to perform. The biggest difference in my detox is that you will eat MORE fat, be MORE satiated, and feel MORE better.

My detox is not only for people who want to lose weight. It is also for those that want to gain muscle, repair their immune system, or push their brains to works through long periods of time without ADD distractions.

As the detox pathways clear up, the human body can focus on building new cells and run like a high performance machine. If you're lean, overweight, have an autoimmune issue, annoying symptoms, are pregnant or trying to get pregnant, this detox is for you. It is a simple 28 day course on how to eat REAL food, how to cook a meal for your family so they don't even know you are detoxing, and how to LOVE doing it!

If you are still on the fence, check out the closed community Facebook group and see why my past detoxers keep coming back for more.