Detoxing this January useless but a long term effort may help: British Liver Trust

By Dr. Ananya Mandal, MDJan 2 2012

While many believe in detoxifying their systems after the season of indulgence, the British Liver Trust warns regarding January detoxes and urges people to think about their long-term health instead.

Dr Mark Wright, consultant hepatologist at Southampton General Hospital, said, “Detoxing for just a month in January is medically futile. It can lead to a false sense of security and feeds the idea that you can abuse your liver as much as you like and then sort everything else with a quick fix… It makes about as much sense as maxing out your credit cards and overdraft all year, then thinking you can fix it by just eating toast in January. The figures just don't stack up.” Providing the liver has no lasting damage, it can repair itself very quickly, taking as little as 24 hours to go back to normal. Dr Wright added that detoxing created its own problems.

The British Liver Trust is launching a national awareness campaign for the month, which will see pop-up liver clinics offering health checks. There will be a Love Your Liver road show that will visit London, Birmingham, Liverpool, Exeter and Glasgow, and members of the public can have their livers tested for free.

As part of the campaign, it also advises eating well and exercising regularly. “If you are overweight you increase your risk of liver disease by three times if you drink alcohol too. Cutting down on your daily food indulgences and not overloading on sugary drinks will all help to optimize your liver function,” the Trust's website says.

Andrew Langford, the trust's chief executive, said, “While people believe the hype and go on January detoxes to 'rejuvenate' their liver, it would actually be more beneficial to adopt a more long-term attitude to achieving good liver health. People think they're virtuous with their health by embarking on a liver detox each January with the belief that they are cleansing their liver of excess following the festive break. A one-hit, one-month attempt to achieve liver health is not the way to approach it. You're better off making a resolution to take a few days off alcohol a week throughout the entire year than remaining abstinent for January only.”