Word of the Week: Cleansing

Noun. The act of making something clean. In reference to diet, cleansing is often defined as detoxifying or removing harmful substances from the body. Typically a cleansing or detox diet involves a dietary regimen that attempts to remove toxins from the body. While there are many different types of detox or cleansing diets, some of the most common include fasting or eliminating major food groups, consuming large amounts of juice or fiber and using laxatives or other herbal supplements.

So does cleansing work? While many supporters say that cleansing diets provide many health benefits like weight loss, increased energy, decreased inflammation and better digestion, there is not any strong scientific evidence to support this. The good news is your intestines, lungs, liver and kidneys effectively remove waste from your body every day.

Used in a sentence:

Although cleansing diets have little scientific evidence to support their health benefits, many believe it can help remove toxins from their bodies and leave them feeling more energized and healthy.

_{The image “juicing” by bertholf is licensed under CC BY 2.0.}