Detox Tea Is The Latest 'Healthy' Product You Shouldn't Be Drinking

Detox teas make the ultimate promise, don't they?

"Get the figure you want."

"Formulated for results."

They make getting fit seem almost too easy. So, what's the issue?

People don't exactly understand what they're drinking in these detox teas. That's why Dr. Lauretta Ihonor started a petition against the harmful ingredients in detox teas, like Bootea.

Dr. Ihonor is both a doctor and journalist who aims to "separate the facts from BS" in terms of health. She's also an advocate for healthy eating.

Dr. Ihonor explains one of the harmful ingredients in Bootea is senna, which is a natural laxative primarily used to help with constipation. People who use senna for this purpose usually consult a doctor and only use it for a week.

However, people who buy and drink Bootea are encouraged to drink it for two to three weeks straight to get "results."

That's super dangerous. Why?

Because taking too many laxatives to lose weight can cause major issues like dehydration. Also, there is no strong evidence to back up that these teas even help you lose weight. Either way, it's not safe at all.

Dr. Ihonor only needs around 50 more signatures to complete the petition.

She explains,

Given that there is absolutely no scientific evidence that laxatives cause weight loss or detoxify the body, there is no real benefit of laxatives in teatoxes EXCEPT to mislead customers into thinking the water and stool lost from the [diarrhea] caused by the drink is legitimate weight loss.

And it's not just the ingredients you should look out for. Many of these detox tea companies try to lure in people looking for quick weight-loss fixes with false advertising.

We spoke to Sammi Haber MS, RD, CDN, who explained the misleading language that detox teas use on their packaging to rope in unaware customers:

No teatox will help you lose weight. If there was a magic detox, cleanse or superfood that automatically helped with weight loss, we'd all be on it! The problem with teatoxes, like any other food claiming to detox' the body, is that if you lose anything at all from the laxative effect, it's only water weight. Once you stop the teatox, that water weight comes right back on

She also went on to say,

[B]e cautious of any teatox that claims it's 'natural.' The word natural isn't regulated by the FDA and has no accepted, defined meaning. A 'natural' teatox with crazy-named powders and plants might sound good, but could actually contain really useless, and even harmful ingredients.

I'm sure you've seen celebs promote detox teas on Instagram. But just because Kylie Jenner is holding it doesn't mean that a) she uses it and b) it's safe.

Look, you can get detox teas without laxatives in them. They're just slightly harder to find.

Even Bootea makes them, but it doesn't advertise them on its site.

Unfortunately, a safe ingredient that dissolves fat just doesn't exist.

It makes me sad to know men and women waste their money on these products when they could be putting that money toward a legitimately effective way to get in shape, like a gym membership or healthy food.

But if you are still interested in trying any of these detox teas, make sure you know what you're putting in your body before you take your first sip.

You can follow Sammi Haber on Instagram @veggiesandchocolate.

Citations: A doctor has started a petition to raise awareness about all the dangerous ingredients in those detox teas (Cosmo)