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Weight loss has increasingly become one of the key health targets for the Indian public and there is good reason why. India is known as the diabetes capital of the world, and the threats of rising obesity, high cholesterol and heart diseases has compounded the need to lose weight and get fit. But while this is truly understandable, the nation—in fact, the whole world—is also obsessed with a concoction that has become very popular in recent years: morning detox drinks for weight loss.
From the celery juice cleanse to green tea, from apple cider vinegar to herbal infused water, there is no dearth of morning detox drinks that have been popularized in recent years as “miracle drinks” that will help you lose weight. Television advertisements to reels on Instagram, the benefits of these “miracle drinks” for weight loss are being propounded by most, and people who want to lose weight are really picking up on it.
But the real question to ask here is, do these morning detox drinks for weight loss actually work? Or are we all buying into something that is not backed by science and can be misleading, even harmful? Slurrp caught up with experts in the field of Indian food, nutrition, fitness and more to find out. Read on to know more.
Morning Detox Drinks: Myth Or Fact?
Jumping right into the key question here, our experts reveal that morning detox drinks do not actually help directly with weight loss. “We humans tend to find shortcuts and when it comes to health and weight loss, we want quick fixes,” says Chirag Barjatya, a fitness entrepreneur with a background in nutrition, fitness and debunking myths about both, who also founded the Project Fit Co (PFC Club). “This idea of morning detox drinks is propagated as one of the quick fixes only. People believe it because they feel they are putting some sort of effort to their health for the coming day and to erase the junk they had the previous day.”
Krish Ashok, the author of Masala Lab, who is also known for his insightful, science-backed take on all things food and flavour, agrees. “This is a particularly egregious form of fraud, because it breaks the fundamental understanding of how our body works,” he says. “There is nothing you can eat that will detox you, that is not how it works. Your kidney and liver detox you.” Ashok goes on to say that these juice cleanses, detox drinks, herb drinks, etc can actually end up doing you more harm than good by messing up with your liver. “There is no evidence that all these morning detox drinks do any good for you,” says Ashok.
What Science Says About Morning Detox Drinks
Barjatya also reiterates this very simple fact. “No there is no proof that morning detox drinks help, and they certainly don’t help directly with weight loss,” he says. What is even more incredible here is that Barjatya and Ashok aren’t the only ones saying this.
The US National Institutes for Health (NIH) says that there have been very few scientific studies into morning detox drinks and “detoxification programs” and those that support the benefits of these drinks have been “of low quality” with a “lack of peer review” (meaning that they have not been evaluated by other experts to ensure quality and validity). So, the NIH says, there is no compelling scientific evidence yet that shows that detox drinks can help with weight management or in eliminating toxins from the body.
So how was the idea that detox drinks work even born? “Some people feel they get better washroom routine or bowel movements after drinking something, but that is mostly placebo,” Barjatya says, and Ashok believes the same. “People sometimes pick up morning detox drinks as a part of their healthy lifestyle change, which would include eating less and eating right,” Ashok says. “So, when they observe changes and lose weight, they attribute it to the drink and not the other lifestyle changes. People like the simplistic idea that here’s this magical ingredient and if I drink this it will make great changes. This is a fallacy.”
So What Actually Works For Weight Loss?
“Eating or drinking anything to detox is a contradiction, because to do that for weight loss you have to either fast or eat a very light, mild, not very oily or deep fried and not very ultra processed food so that your body and organs have more time to put into detoxing instead of digesting,” Ashok explains. “That is how your liver and kidney will function normally. A diet that supports your liver and kidney function is all you need, not these detox drinks.”
What matters more, Ashok says, is acknowledging the fact that our Indian food culture is based on eating more carbohydrates and fats rather than a balanced diet and then changing this by adopting better practices. “People have to create good eating environments instead of trying to find these so-called heroes for weight loss,” he says.
Barjatya explains further that there is a basic universal rule to weight loss that people simply need to accept. “Calorie deficit with optimal protein intake and regular workout will help you with weight loss and weight management,” he says. “There is no special magic detox drink.” He also adds that there is one underrated ingredient that people miss out on, but should be consumed for both weight loss and good health. “Simple plain water is the best choice,” he insists. “Some people don’t like the taste of the water first thing in the morning, so they can add lemon to it. But please don’t add honey or sugar.”
