The latest fad in dieting is Detox Diets. You are supposed to go for weeks drinking detox drinks made from a couple of selected ingredients. These diets feel like they are doing you well and you certainly lose weight but they are very dangerous to your long-term health.

Any time you cut a complete food group or groups from your diet, you are taking a risk. Your body requires some vitamins every day for optimum health. It also needs some trace elements and it certainly needs fibre, every day. When you cut out an entire food group, you need to make up any nutritional loss by substituting foods that contain the missing nutrients.

Your body is very efficient and will go on for a long time, sometimes several months, before you begin to see the results of deprivation. You may even feel quite well for some time but the damage is happening and sometimes it is very difficult to recover.

Even in the short term, damage from deprivation can be measured. Tests done on volunteers who have been on these detox diets show muscle mass is broken down to compensate for the lack of nutrition. The tests show the participants in the detox diets, while feeling quite well, were actually becoming less fit over the time spent on the diets.

If you feel you need to detox, you should only follow a strict regime for a couple of days. Follow this with a healthy eating plan, including a large variety of fresh fruit and vegetables, and a sensible exercise program.

You need to look at your eating plan as a lifetime choice, rather than as a temporary diet. Keep away from the fads and junk foods and your weight will stabilise at a healthy level for you, and you will be healthy.