Alternative medicine quacks like Dr Oz and Junger, celebrities, and your lunch table buddies, have claimed that our bodies gather up toxins from our food, drinks and air we breathe. No one ever specifies what these so-called toxins really are, so there’s no way these claims can be tested explicitly for a particular chemical. 

So are these toxins real? We dive into the toxin pond to figure out what's going on.

Further Reading and References

1. Bloodletting: https://www.bcmj.org/premise/history-bloodletting
2. Functional Medicine: https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/functional-medicine-the-ultimate-misnomer-in-the-world-of-integrative-medicine/
3. Vaccines: https://www.berationable.com/rationable-blog/2019/7/20/antivax-poking-holes-in-their-arguments
4. Ayurveda: http://www.holistic-online.com/ayurveda/ayv-treatment-panchakarma.htm
5. Chinese Medicine: http://www.itmonline.org/arts/bleeding.htm
6. Unani: http://www.greekmedicine.net/therapies/Hygienic_Purification_Therapies.html
7. Poisons & Toxins: https://www.sciencelearn.org.nz/resources/364-poisons-and-toxins
8. Botulism: https://www.medicinenet.com/botulism/article.htm
9. Venoms: https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/agricultural-and-biological-sciences/venoms
10. Plant toxins: https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/medicine-and-dentistry/plant-toxin
11. Apple seeds and Apricot Kernels: https://www.berationable.com/rationable-blog/2019/5/31/3ndxjj5ynmu7qz0rbvejj34ve201uh
12. Poison Mushrooms: https://www.britannica.com/list/7-of-the-worlds-most-poisonous-mushrooms
13. Metals: https://rarediseases.org/rare-diseases/heavy-metal-poisoning/
14. Particulate Pollutants: https://www.toppr.com/guides/chemistry/environmental-chemistry/particulate-pollutants/
15. Creatinine: https://www.kidney.org/atoz/content/what-creatinine
16. Liver: https://www.webmd.com/digestive-disorders/picture-of-the-liver#1
17. Intestines: https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/the-dubious-practice-of-detox
18. Kidneys: https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/kidney-disease/kidneys-how-they-work 
19. Detox your liver: https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/wellness-and-prevention/detoxing-your-liver-fact-versus-fiction
20. Lose weight: https://www.berationable.com/rationable-blog/2017/02/06/lose-belly-fat
21. Juices: https://www.soundbitesrd.com/6-food-myths-dietitians-love-hate/
22. Fibre: http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20181231-is-juicing-actually-good-for-you

Science Based Medicine

1. https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/the-one-thing-you-need-to-know-before-you-detox/
2. https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/detox-scams-are-worthless-and-potentially-dangerous/ 
3. https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/top-ten-signs-your-detox-may-be-a-scam/
4. https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/detox-what-they-dont-want-you-to-know/
5. https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/the-detox-scam-how-to-spot-it-and-how-to-avoid-it/

Other articles on detoxing

1. https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/wellness-and-prevention/detoxing-your-liver-fact-versus-fiction
2. https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/detox-products-market
3. https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/the-dubious-practice-of-detox
4. https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/wellness-and-prevention/detoxing-your-liver-fact-versus-fiction
5. https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/dec/05/detox-myth-health-diet-science-ignorance
6. https://www.self.com/story/myths-detoxing-totally-false

Intro and outro music: Don't Stop performed by Nothing More, from their album, The Stories We Tell Ourselves. The sound clips have been used with their permission.

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 @berationable and on Facebook @Rationable. Join the conversation on the Rationable Conversations  Facebook group and email me at [email protected]. For more content like this, visit www.berationable.com

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