Some time ago at work a colleague told me that she was doing a detoxification diet of “Forever”, based on aloe vera. She hoped to lose a few kilos and benefit from the positive effects of detoxification. In other words, it is practically a reset: Reduce the body to zero and then make a change in diet to permanently maintain the new weight and simply live healthier.
At about the same time a friend of mine travelled to the island of Sylt to do a one-week fasting therapy there. My brother and his wife also live for one week every year, roughly speaking, only on broth and possibly a few potatoes and say each time that you feel like a newborn and as a positive side effect you lose a few kilos.
Purification, detoxification, detox treatment, fasting – whatever you call it, it is definitely “in”.
What I find interesting: All these people from my immediate environment are healthy and not unathletic, no couch potatoes, but all of them wanted to lose 2-3 kilos.
“A purification,” as you can read, “helps the body detoxify.” But aren’t we forgetting here that our body is perfectly capable of doing this itself? This is why we have a liver and two kidneys, among other things. On the other hand: When this miracle of nature – the human body – was created, there was no fast food, no coffee, no cigarettes, no alcohol, no kind of industrially produced sweets, no smog… – the list is long.
Our body can absorb and balance out an incredible amount of toxins, but I don’t fail to see that for people who lead a rather unhealthy lifestyle – for example, people who like to eat fast food or ready-to-eat meals and perhaps don’t get too much exercise – support in the form of a detox treatment might be very useful. Above all, and in my opinion this is where the real benefit lies, if this goes hand in hand with a change in diet and lifestyle, if you then eat at least a little healthier overall and perhaps get a little more exercise – and then you can also “sin” from time to time without any worry but with great pleasure.
But what about healthy, sporty people? Does a healthy body need support in detoxification? I think the answer should be clear: no.
But it wouldn’t do much harm either, would it? And since it seems that afterwards you feel absolutely great mentally and physically, I was quite curious.
I wanted to know and so, together with a friend, I carried out a self-experiment last weekend.
Since I was only interested in the detoxification and mental effects and I do not want to lose weight under any circumstances, a long fasting cure was out of the question for me. Therefore we chose a reduced version of the “Forever” programme of my workmate. This detoxification and weight loss programme normally runs over nine days, with the actual detoxification taking place on the first two days and the subsequent days being used for weight loss and dietary changes.
The internet confirms: You can purify efficiently in two days.
With “Forever” – and this is one of the reasons why I chose it – according to the brochure, the body gets everything it needs in the form of food supplements in capsules – so there is no deficiency caused by fasting. Another basic component of this programme is the aloe vera gel, of which one must drink a sufficient amount every day to naturally detoxify and at the same time supply the body with important vital and nutritional substances. By the way: I like this stuff! The gel tastes slightly bitter for me, interestingly enough less in the morning than in the evening. It is said that the more “contaminated” a body is, the more intense is the gel’s taste.
So last weekend the time had come: Two days without sport – we only wanted to go skating on Saturday – should be perfect for this test. So on Thursday evening after Bodyattack we filled our stomachs completely and started very curiously into the Friday. The following schedule was planned for both days:
- Breakfast: two chrome capsules, one vitamin capsule, aloe vera gel
- Morning snack: dietary fibre (in the form of a powder dissolved in water)
- Lunchtime: two chrome capsules, one vitamin capsule, aloe vera gel, one protein shake
- In the evening: two chrome capsules, aloe vera gel
- You may also eat two vegetable snacks (e.g. a pepper or tomato) and a fruit snack (e.g. an apple) and you must make sure that you drink enough water.
But I won’t keep you in suspense for long…
The result: disastrous! At noon (after the various capsules, an apple and illegally two shakes) I almost tipped over and decided to stop the whole thing. I don’t want to write too much about the trembling legs, the nausea, the dizziness and the circulatory problems… My buddy held out until dinner, then he did the same (apparently he had more energy reserves than me).
My conclusion: I clearly advise against any kind of fasting for people who exercise intensively and therefore have a high daily calorie turnover as well as little to no fat reserves (i.e. do not want/should not lose weight) and who maintain a healthy lifestyle. I am convinced that our body can DE-FIBEEER itself very well.
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