'Detox' teas could cause "serious" harm

Friday 05 May 2017

‘Miracle’ detox teas promising health benefits and rapid weight loss sold on social media could be laxatives in disguise and pose “serious” risks, a local fitness expert has said.

Health experts and personal trainers have been warning islanders not to purchase weight-loss infusion drinks marketed through social media, after a recent spate of advertisements across popular Jersey Facebook pages with thousands of followers.

Local sellers of such drinks – including teas, coffees and supplement drops – have been making unsubstantiated claims across ‘buy and sell’ groups that the infusions could help regular drinkers drop dress sizes at a quicker rate, enjoy increased energy levels and even boost immunity.

They say that ‘antioxidant’ ingredients such as Green Tea extract, Marsh, Blessed Thistle, Myrrh, Siberian Chaga and Ganoderma all have previously untold wellness benefits and are the secret ingredient to health success.

But according to a spokesperson for Fit Jersey, a health and fitness consultancy, “…there’s no guarantee that what they say is going to be in there is going to be in there… and there’s no actual evidence supporting the benefits of the majority of those ingredients”.

Pictured: Social media sellers of such drinks say that their special ingredients including ganoderma and green tea extract have weight loss benefits - a claim refuted by local fitness experts.

Instead, the products rely upon the ingredients' - often Senna and Malva - laxative effects for weight loss to actually take place, rather than provoking any kind of natural change, which, they told Express, could do serious harm to the body.

"The main risk is dehydration – water loss. While it may seem that there is weight loss going on, there’s not actually any beneficial to your health weight loss – it’s only going to be detrimental to you losing water.

"That’s then going to affect brain function, internal organs, neuro-transmitters, salt levels in your blood, which itself doesn’t help with weight loss because hydration is probably one of the best things you can do to not only keep yourself feeling well. So it’s only going to be detrimental.

"They should be researching the ingredients because the major risk is the laxative. It’s not actually toxic this stuff, but as we noticed with herbal supplements, it seems to be a bit of a fad to put the word ‘herb’ in front of anything and actually, a lot of it hasn’t been researched or isn’t really fit for human consumption."

Specific research of ingredients in one of the popular products - Te Divina -  showed that online claims of "Lose 7lbs in 7 days" did not stand up in evidence. Chamomile, for example, can help Type II diabetics, while ginger can reduce the risk of Coronary Heart Disease, but, as the health and fitness expert observed, the, "...amounts of each herb required to produce these benefits would not be found in the trace amounts provided in a cup of ‘magic tea’."

Pictured: Ginger - a herb frequently included in 'detox' products - can have a positive effect on Coronary Heart Disease, but only in larger quantities.

"Malva leaves were found to help with digestion due to their laxative effect (Jabri et al. 2017). They only tested water rats (not humans), and found that a 250g rodent needed 400mg of malva for this benefit to take effect, therefore, a 60kg (9 and a half stone) human would need 96,000mg which equals a helluva lot of cups of magic tea!" they added.

Another product - Xervéo coffees - has been advertised on Facebook, saying that it "boosts immune response" and helps with "blood chemistry reguation", but nonetheless carries the strapline: "These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA (Federal Drugs Association US). This product is not intended to cure, diagnose, treat, mitigate any disease, ailment or health issue."

But Sue Campbell-Bisson, an independent distributor who has used similar products for "about 20 years", praised the benefits of "light cleanse" products. In a progress report in February shared with Express, she said: "In the 6 days i lost 1 and a 1/2 kilos. i could of probably lost more... Love all of these products, can't wait to get some more. one of the main things i noticed was i felt my brainfog had eased and i felt sharper and more alert as opposed to irritable. [sic]"