The dangers of diet tea
After experiencing horrible cramps, stomach pain and diarrhoea Maddy Thorpe 21, realised that her new Skinny Me Tea detox diet was not everything she thought.
Fad-diets and celebrity endorsed get-skinny-quick schemes have been around for decades and in most cases provide little to no quality results. So why are teenage girls still so eager to take part in them? The past few years have seen the rise in popularity of diet teas, with more than 400,000 posts under the teatox hash tag on Instagram.
After seeing the diet promoted on social media and endorsed by celebrities, Maddy decided to try the two-week detox, thinking it would help in her weight loss journey.
Despite the serious cramps, she stuck to the diet for the entirety of the two weeks. The Skinny Me Tea website claims that the “teas are designed to help you beat the bloat and leave you feeling more energised and ready to take on the day.” However Maddy said, “[the diet] pretty much flushed me out [and] it wasn’t healthy at all and I couldn’t leave the house.”
The main ingredient found in the 14-day teatox is 2.7g of Senna Alexandrina. Commonly known as senna, the leaves have been historically used in medicine as a laxative. It comes as no surprise then that this was the root of Maddy’s stomach cramps and sever diarrhoea.
The Skinny Me Tea website states that their teas are made “from the best quality local and imported herbs and extracts.” This statement may be true, however considering the main ingredient of the detox tea is a laxative; it is not surprising that weight loss will occur.
Unfortunately, the weight that is shed is predominantly water weight, as the tea flushes out your system. This results in a lack of nutrients and dehydration.
The University of Michigan Health System published on their website the dangers of consuming senna for an extended period of time. They stated: “Chronic senna use can lead to dehydration and potentially negative effects on the heart and muscles”. They also recommend that it “must not be used for more than ten consecutive days”. This information stands in contrast to the Skinny Me Tea detox, which is prescribed for twelve consecutive days.
In an interview with Cosmopolitan magazine, Renee Leonard-Stainton, nutritionist and founder of Reneenaturally.com, confirms that this is the natural response to senna.
“Senna has a strong laxative effect and it can cause headaches, diarrhoea, vomiting and dehydration. In the long-term it can make the bowel reliant on this kind of stimulation to work.”
When asked about the health risks involved, Dr Rosanne Hazelton said: “Large amounts of laxatives will cause dehydration. Dehydration causes changes of essential body salts.” She continues to say that low levels of sodium, potassium and magnesium impact on muscle function and can cause palpitations and in some extreme cases even cardiac arrest.
She absolutely recommends that a healthy, balanced diet and regular exercise is the safest and most effective path to weight loss.
However, despite this information being public and published on multiple platforms, girls are still purchasing diet teas.
It is no secret that diet strategies, meal plans and weight loss schemes are constantly being promoted in the media to women of all ages. With a wide range of diet teas available and heavily promoted by celebrities such as Sarah Hyland, Vanessa Hudgens and Audrina Patridge; it is evident that their celebrity status also influences girls to purchase the teas.
It is unfortunate that there is little promotion for a wholesome lifestyle such as maintaining a balanced diet and regular exercise. Despite being a male, Henry Hay, 19, says that maintaining good health is important regardless of gender.
Frequenting the gym to keep his muscles toned and to reduce body fat, he says there are “three things – training, eating and sleeping right. You have to feed your muscles protein and make sure you get eight hours sleep every night to give your body a chance to recover.”
This greatly contrasts the strategy of the two-week detox promoted by Skinny Me Tea that includes a cup of tea in the morning and the evening. With increased awareness and promotion of a healthy lifestyle, Emily Sibbald, a personal trainer at North Shore Gym said: “Exercising and eating healthy food provides individuals satisfaction in themselves allowing their bodies to receive the good nutrients to keep them functioning. Exercising also releases positive endorphins in human brains which help people feel the best that they can.”
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