Gwyneth Paltrow & Detox: The Scam That Never Goes Away

The number of quack science health products Gwyneth Paltrow and her company Goop sells is almost endless. From vaginal steaming to jade eggs, there is no hard science to support the majority of her claims. Her looks and celebrity are what she has going for her, as women want to buy into her aura, hoping her ambience will rub off on them. Instead of providing hard scientific data for her claims, she counters all overwhelming contrary evidence by misdirecting and deceiving. She appeals to feminism, traditional Asian medicines and Eastern philosophies for her "proof". No facts, truth, reality.

One of the primary cons she promotes is the number of detox plans and products that allegedly remove toxins and "cleanses" the body. It's all a scam, as all intelligent and reputable scientists clearly and easily attest. A simple understanding of how the human body works completely shatters her claims.

“Detox is a case of a legitimate medical term being turned into a marketing strategy – all designed to treat a nonexistent condition. In the setting of real medicine, detoxification means treatments for dangerous levels of drugs, alcohol, or poisons, like heavy metals. Detoxification treatments are medical procedures that are not casually selected from a menu of alternative health treatments, assembled from your spice cupboard, or pulled off the shelf at a health food store. Real detoxification is provided in hospitals when there are life-threatening circumstances.

"The 'toxins' that detox advocates claim to cleanse are another thing entirely. This form of detoxification is simply the co-opting of a real term to give legitimacy to useless products and services, while confusing consumers into thinking they’re science based.

"One of the widely promoted ideas about 'detox' is that it acts like some sort of cleaner for your organs. Detox marketing describes your liver and kidney as acting like filters, where toxins are physically captured and retained. It’s argued that these organs need to be cleaned out periodically, like you’d rinse out a sponge, or change the air filter in your house or car. But the reality is, the kidney and liver don’t work this way. The liver performs a series of chemical reactions, using enzymes, to convert toxic substances into ones that can be eliminated from the body through the bile or the kidneys.

"The liver is self-cleansing – toxins don’t accumulate in it, and unless you have documented liver disease, it generally functions fine. The kidney excretes waste products into the urine – otherwise the substance stays in the blood. To argue that either organ needs a 'cleanse' simply demonstrates a lack of understanding in biochemistry. Your organs will be fine without that supplement, smoothie, or fad diet. Just leave them alone.....

"Popular ideas of detoxification and cleansing have no basis in reality. There’s no published evidence to suggest that detox treatments, kits or rituals have any effect on our body’s ability to eliminate waste products effectively. 'Detox' focuses attention on irrelevant issues, giving the impression that you can undo lifestyle decisions with quick fixes. Improved health isn’t found in a box of herbs, a bottle of homeopathy, or a bag of coffee flushed into your rectum. The lifestyle implications of a poor diet, lack of exercise, smoking, lack of sleep, and alcohol or drug use cannot simply be flushed or purged away. Our kidneys and liver don’t need a detox treatment. If anyone suggests a detox or cleanse to you, remember that you’re hearing a marketing pitch for an imaginary condition."

Sources

The New Year’s detox secret THEY don’t want you to know about https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/the-new-years-detox-secret-they-dont-want-you-to-know-about/

Gwyneth Paltrow's Snake Oil https://www.medpagetoday.com/popmedicine/celebritydiagnosis/77733

Gwyneth Paltrow and Goop: Another triumph of celebrity pseudoscience and quackery https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/gwyneth-paltrow-and-goop-another-triumph-of-celebrity-pseudoscience-and-quackery/

I GOOPED MYSELF https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2019/08/what-goop-really-sells-women/596773/

The Goop Lab: a scientific review https://www.thepharmafist.com/goop-lab/

Hey Gwyneth Paltrow, a GYN says stop scaring women about bras and breast cancer https://drjengunter.com/2015/10/20/hey-gwyneth-paltrow-a-gyn-says-stop-scaring-women-about-bras-and-breast-cancer/

Next Level Snake-Oil: Women Duped by Goop https://www.mybestbuddymedia.com/2017/09/next-level-snake-oil-women-duped-by-goop.html

Celebrity Influencers Fuel Detox Tea Scams https://www.mybestbuddymedia.com/2022/09/celebrity-influencers-fuel-detox-tea.html

Detox Diets & Cleanses: Murky Claims That Need A Scrubbing https://www.mybestbuddymedia.com/2015/04/detox-cleanses..html

Food Babe Exposed For Lies About The Herbicide Glyphosate https://www.mybestbuddymedia.com/2023/05/food-babe-exposed-for-her-lies-about.html

17 Concise Health and Wellness Fallacies Every Consumer Should Know https://www.mybestbuddymedia.com/2022/10/17-concise-health-and-wellness.html

Prove It! 7 Simple & Basic Rules For Evaluating EVIDENCE! https://www.mybestbuddymedia.com/2022/04/prove-it-7-simple-basic-rules-for.html

Think On Your Feet: How To Avoid Being Duped & Fall For Lie After Lie https://www.mybestbuddymedia.com/2022/03/think-on-your-feet-how-to-avoid-being.html

7 Ways Health Gurus Dupe The Public http://www.mybestbuddymedia.com/2017/03/7-ways-health-gurus-dupe-public.html

Photo: https://www.hellomagazine.com/celebrities/20220817148522/gwyneth-paltrow-steps-away-goop-new-unexpected-venture-shark-tank/

Jerry De Luca is a Christian freelance writer who loves perusing dozens of interesting and informative publications. When he finds any useful info he summarizes it, taking the main points, and creates a (hopefully) helpful blog post.