CLEVELAND, Ohio — It’s a multibillion-dollar industry and it just keeps growing —detox drinks and quick-fix cleanses promoted by celebrities and Instagram influencers. But medical professionals say it’s a scam and could easily be dangerous to your health.
- A University Hospitals toxicologist says the average person has no reason to detox
- He says fad diet teas or juice cleanses don’t work and can cause dehydration
- Some products use activated charcoal and can render medicines like birth control or heart medication ineffective.
“I think the biggest problem is that this whole market has kind of convinced people that they have a problem, they have toxins that they need to get out of themselves. And that's, that's not really true,” said Medical Toxicologist Dr. Ryan Marino at University Hospitals.
He says the average person has no reason to detox.
“If you have a working liver and kidneys, your body's going to be clearing kind of waste products and things that we would consider to be true, true toxins,” said Marino.
True toxins —like a drug overdose or industrial chemical product exposure.
“At the very basic end... I mean it's a scam, these products aren't going to do the things that they claim. If you drink a tea that gives you diarrhea, I mean, maybe you will lose some weight at the end of the day, but it's probably making you dehydrated, you're losing your body's water weight,” said Marino.
New products are coming out using activated charcoal, which if used incorrectly, can render medications like birth control and heart medication ineffective.
“We have kind of this desire for like a magical solution. And nothing, nothing is going to be that easy,” Marino said.
