Exactly What to Eat to Help You Naturally Detox, According to Experts

12/9/2022 10:57:00 AM

After a long vacation of consistently dining out or a holiday season of parties and cookies, it’s common to want a little bit of a break. Extra bloating or overall heaviness may leave you laying off the glass of wine at dinner or opting for a salad at lunchtime, and these are great choices if they make you feel good. But if you just feel pressured to eat a certain way or detox because everyone else is doing it, should you hop on the trend? We chatted with food and nutrition experts to break down if detox foods actually work, and what you can do instead when you’re feeling weighed down.

What are detox foods?

There’s no singular food or substance that will magically flush toxins out of your body—not green tea, not lemon water, not apple cider vinegar. “It’s more about eating healthy foods that allow the body's natural detoxification mechanisms to work appropriately,” says Tom Rifai, M.D., Harvard lifestyle medicine educator and founder of FlexMD. “That’s really the better way to think about it.”

In fact, there really isn’t a strict definition of the word detox, says Abby Langer, R.D., Toronto-based dietitian and author of Good Food, Bad Diet. “It means nothing. It’s often used as a term to describe eating ‘healthier’ after a period of overindulgence,” she says. “Your body detoxes itself. Some detox pathways use components from the foods you eat. That being said, no one food or drink (like detox tea) or detox diet can detox your body.” She adds that detox supplements, juices, and cleanses are almost always a marketing scheme and should be avoided.

Healthy alternatives to detoxing

Eat a variety of foods

While there isn’t a list of detox foods that will be the magic cure, there are one-off studies showing certain foods can have a detox benefit, explains Cindy Geyer, M.D., internal medicine specialist. Cilantro, for example, has been found to prevent absorption of heavy metals like mercury, meaning it’s excreted instead of processed by the liver. Cruciferous veggies like broccoli contain antioxidant compounds that seem to aid your liver in its detox processes. Flavonoid antioxidants, found in most berries, can increase blood flow to the kidneys, helping them filter out toxins better.

But the real takeaway isn’t to load up on these foods alone. Instead, Dr. Geyer says, it's most important to eat a diverse array of plants. Not just cilantro, but parsley, too. Not just broccoli and blueberries, but beans and carrots and bananas and any other plant you can toss in the grocery cart.

Increase your fiber intake

Adding high-fiber foods to your diet can not only help you stay fuller longer so you’re not stuck snacking, but it also helps clear out your gut of any lingering problems, and keeps you regular, which is always nice.

“If there are toxins you’re inadvertently ingesting, fiber can act like a scrub brush for the colon, binding to toxins and helping you excrete them rather than absorb them,” says Dr. Geyer.

Fiber is also a key player in your gut microbiome. Plant foods are rich in prebiotics, or indigestible fibers that serve as the main fuel source for your gut bacteria. And eating lots of prebiotics ensures that you’ll develop a large, diverse, and healthy population of them. Healthy gut bacteria, says Dr. Geyer, help maintain the barrier of your digestive tract, ensuring that no toxins escape into the bloodstream where they’ll eventually have to be dealt with by the liver or kidneys. The stronger your gut bugs, the stronger the barrier, and the better equipped you are to keep toxins away from your detoxifying organs.

Cut back on inflammatory foods

While we’re always fans of enjoying everything in moderation, certain foods have higher inflammatory properties that may worsen existing feelings of bloat and heaviness and put more pressure on your kidneys and liver. The first (and most obvious) is alcohol. In order to eliminate alcohol from the body, your liver has to break it down into smaller parts, and some of these byproducts are also toxic and can damage liver cells, cause inflammation, and weaken your immune system, according to the NIH.

Dr. Rifai also warns against habitually eating CRAP (that’s “calorie-rich and processed”) foods. These packaged products pack in high concentrations of refined carbohydrates and unhealthy fats, which promote inflammation that can damage the liver over time, preventing it from doing its job effectively, he explains.

The bottom line: “There’s no short-term detox plan. It’s the choices you make day in and day out that can really help you or hurt you,” Dr. Geyer says. Langer agrees, “Limit ultra-processed foods and eat as many whole and minimally processed foods as you can. It’s not rocket science!” So, go easy on the alcohol (one drink a day for women, two for men), cut down on processed foods, and eat a variety of plants. Then let your body handle the rest.