The Lemon Juice Diet Blog

Will wonders ever cease? The Lemon Juice Diet/Master Cleanse and other detoxing plans have been given the royal approval! An article was recently published in ‘The Chester and District Standard Newspaper’ on the 6th April, 2009 discussing ‘the wide spread media coverage of a ‘detox tincture‘
produced by none other than Duchy Originals. (I must have been asleep for a few days as I missed all this media furore because this is the first I have heard of it!).

Now!, Duchy Originals is a company owned by Prince Charles. What a recommendation.  If you had any doubts about detoxing,let them stop here I say. However, as I read on I found that all was not of a ‘rosy hue’.   Apparently the article states that ‘Criticisms were made by a professor of complementary medicine, Edzard Ernst, who claimed that the remedy is “outright quackery”. The professor says that “detox is implausible, unproven and dangerous” as a therapeutic approach, and that it encourages unhealthy behaviour”.  My!, my!, that’s a bit strong don’t you think?

This was denied by a company spokesperson who stated in The Guardian, that “it is not, and has never been, described as “a medicine, remedy or cure for any disease”. He states that its ingredients – artichokes and dandelions – have a “long history of traditional use for aiding digestion”.  Now you can’t get more natural than dandelions and artichokes,  (neither of which I would eat au natural) but quite fanciful as a tincture.

Before I go on any further, the name of this regal product is ‘The Duchy Herbals Detox Tincture’. So what is a tincture you ask? It is:

Noun -  a medicine consisting of a small amount of a drug dissolved in alcohol [Latin tinctura a dyeing].
Collins Essential English Dictionary 2nd Edition 2006 © HarperCollins Publishers 2004, 2006

So there you have it, I wonder if there is any alcohol in the The Duchy Herbals Detox Tincture!  I doubt it very much. I’m  being truthful here I haven’t even seen a bottle of the Prince’s tincture yet, which is a shame as I would like to try it! I will certainly be looking out for it.

I could go on outlining the arguments made by Professor Edzard Ernest but it would serve better your knowledge if I just highlighted a few points that he makes and then signpost you to the article itself.  Here goes:

“Professor Ernst says that testing the effectiveness of ‘detox’ would be simple. This could be done by taking blood samples from volunteers to test whether a toxin is eliminated from the body faster than normal. He suggests that these studies do not exist for the simple reason that these products have no real detoxification effects.

There is limited evidence for one of the specific ingredients – artichoke – in the Duchy Herbals Detox Tincture. A Cochrane systematic review found two trials (167 participants) that demonstrated significant reductions in cholesterol with artichoke leaf extract. However, the authors of the review, Max H Pittler and Professor Ernst, conclude that the evidence is not compelling and more research with larger samples and longer follow-up is required.  No trials of dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) could be found”.

How could ‘detox’ be harmful? While most ‘detox’ products will do no more than harm your wallet, others, such as those that contain herbs, can potentially damage health. Herbal supplements can contain a variety of ingredients,  many of which have not been tested for safety or for safe dosage levels.

There is also a risk that herbal products may interact with medicines and make these less effective or too effective. For example, blood thinners (warfarin) and the contraceptive pill are both affected by some herbal medicines. Indirect harms are also possible. Some believe that the idea of ‘detox’ encourages people to take a more cavalier attitude towards their health, believing they can ‘detox away’ a period of unhealthy living, such as a week of heavy drinking”.

These appear to be very good points.  But what do you think?  In my experience a ‘good clear out’ does not hurt anyone.  And as a former nurse, I can state with certainty that bowel functions and waste evacuations are a vital part of ensuring a healthy body. in other words, a detox. I will leave this discussion here and leave you to ruminate and make up your own mind about the detoxing. Head on over to the the article, there is a lot more information there.

However, remember, a detox such as the Lemon Juice Diet, Mastercleanse Diet, and the Lemonade  Diet are all very popular and have been mentioned on the Oprah Winfrey shows. Celebrities such as Beyonce and Robin Givens have used these detoxes, and many many people, male and female of all ages have shown interest for many years.  This seems to me to fly in the face of the criticism of some of the ‘experts’.  So go on, what have you to lose, only weighty baggage and poisons from your body.  How could you not feel healthier, fitter and happier?

It important of course to mention that if you are thinking of doing any of these or other diets you get appropriate medical advice before you begin.

How to Detox - These Methods Work Like Crazy

Technorati Tags: Beyonce, body cleansing, bowel, Detox, Detox diet, Duchy Originals, herbal products, lemon juice detox, lemon juice diet, lemons, Master Cleanse Diet, Oprah Winfrey, Prince Charles, Robin Givens

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