It’s the time of year when every man and his dog are trying to flog you the newest magic potion – promising to make you slimmer, fitter, leaner… And while the results may be tempting enough to convince you to engage, it may not be your healthiest option.

I can see why people enlist themselves into detox programmes. From a psychological point of view, it is a clean break from old eating habits, and an enormous change. If you convince yourself that you’re going to go with Cleanse 9, Herbalife, Slimfast or the Forever Living Aloe Cleanse for a certain number of days – the chances are you’ll stick to it for that time period. However, cleanses and detoxes don’t make sense to me as a student of science, or as a primary healthcare practitioner. Here I’m going to run you through my main 3 reasons why you should ditch the detox – and what to do instead!

Liver and Kidneys

The unsung waste removal system of the body. The idea that by drinking a special drink you’ll remove toxins from your body and make yourself healthier is just a flat lie. Your liver and kidneys are continuously cleansing your body of waste products and toxins, and there’s nothing magic you can consume that will replace their function.

A lot of detox teas are actually just laxatives – so you may end up feeling a bit perkier, but the effects are very short-lived.

Metabolism

Going on a liquid cleanse can wreak havoc with your metabolism. This is less true of actual food based diets like a week’s worth of vegetable juice, and more aimed at meal-replacement cleanses and diets – where you might be having a shake, tea or powder mixed with water to replace all or some of your normal meals.

Your body goes into a kind of metabolic panic, thinking that there must be no food available, and will try it’s best to cling on to energy you have already stored as fat. This is what can give you a lazy, low energy feeling when you suddenly restrict calorific intake.

Relapse

The stricter a diet is, the more chance is you’ll quit. Some people relapse off a strict diet so badly, that over all they actually end up gaining weight. Total self-depravation is miserable – no meals out with family and friends, no weekend treats, no cheeky Friday glass of wine. Nobody wants to miss out, and that’s why cleanses can be attractive as a short-lived fix. However, in reality a week’s starvation is no supplement for real healthy living.

So what to do instead?

Everyone hates this answer. Eat less processed rubbish. Do more exercise. Drink loads of water. Get some fresh air.

A lot of us have really sedentary lives now – doing nowhere near as much movement as our bodies were designed to do. And now, calories are readily available to us in enormous quantities.

Try to change the proportions of your meals to include more fibre from salad and vegetables, and more lean proteins, while reducing the amount of refined carbohydrates and sugars. This will reduce the calorific intake of your meals, and result in weight loss.

In order to lose 2lb of body fat a week, you will need to put your body into approximately 500 calories worth of deficit a day.

Enlisting a personal trainer can tailor your calorific intake goal for your daily needs by working out your basal metabolic rate – the number of calories your body needs every day just to stay alive and healthy – and how much you will burn with your daily activities and exercise. This will give you a personal goal for calories every day – and the maths will prove itself in sustainable and healthy weight loss.