Mark, on a detox can I have caffeine?

Hi GEZ,

There are two things you should know about "detox diets":

1. Most of them are poorly-designed and not constructed by properly-trained nutrition professionals.

2. Any detox diet that tells you to stop drinking tea or coffee is (ironically) removing two of the most proven dietary detoxifiers. Coffee is associated with better liver and kidney health (the two bodily organs that are most responsible for metabolising and removing toxins from the body). So any "guru" who tells you to eliminate them is clearly not qualified to be giving nutritional advice.

I'm not aware of any evidence that caffeine "stresses the adrenal gland". It does increase the release of adrenal hormones (which is what causes the stimulation you get from a cup of tea or coffee) but this has not been shown to be harmful. In fact people who drink coffee and tea (even very large amounts of coffee) live longer, healthier lives than those who drink very little or none of these two beverages.

Finally, detox diets don't actually decrease levels of toxins in the body. However, most toxins are stored in fat cells so if you lose fat, you lose toxins to some extent. If you've had a "heavy" holiday season, just stick to fruits, vegetables (non-starchy ones), lean meats and oily fish.

If you actually think you've really stressed your liver due to long-term over-indulgence in alcohol or excessive food intake (which now causes as much liver damage as alcoholism), then drink your coffee and take NAC (N-acetyl cystein) and whey protein supplements. These last two increase levels of the body's most detoxifying and potent antioxidant called "glutathione". Of course, the best solution would be to cut out most of the sugar, starch, alcohol, and bad fats but these may support your liver in the process.

Thank you Mark. brill news for a coffee lover..:)