Do we need to detox or do our bodies look after themselves?

Her job? Investigate some of the detox treatments on offer and try one out herself.

The test

LA being LA there's no shortage of weird and wonderful treatments. How about Dr Parla Jayagopal's Ayurvedic detox? It involves herbs and handfuls of edible Indian cooking fat. "What we do is give them medicated gee, gee is like a clarified butter, which is a fat media for these toxins to move themselves from the place of liberation to the place of elimination," he says.

If you're wondering, "elimination" means vomiting and, as the Americans call it, "pooping".

Adele Slaughter did the Ayurvedic detox to fix her water retention and heart palpitations.

"There was three days of drinking a herbal mixture to get me ready and then there was three days of drinking a combination of gee and milk and the herbs they gave me — it came with the pooping day and I pooped 12 times that day," says Adele.

Leila: "How did you feel at the end of all that?"
Adele: "Lighter."

Tempting. But all that "pooping"? Maybe not.

Time to test some less extreme detox diets.

Test one: detox in a box

Miriam Sirianni is a detox virgin. She's doing an over-the-counter pill program — a detox in a box.

"Inside my detox we've got four parts, first one is the bowel cleanse, then we have the liver tonic tablets, followed by nutrient support and finally, the digestive tablets," says Miriam.

The complete program costs about $60 in pharmacies and health food shops and is accompanied by 21 days of eating just fresh fruit and vegies.

Red meat, coffee, alcohol and sugar are all off the table.

"So this is my first tablet, I'm starting today, for the next three weeks, see how we go," says Miriam. "It's not too bad."

Test two: colonic irrigation

Our second body cleansing candidate is Dianna Terrones.

"I'm about to have a colonic irrigation. I believe that's going to shift any debris and bad stuff I've got floating around and help to reset my whole digestive system," she says.

Sounds a bit scary, but it's all happening here at Angela Stapelton's one-stop massage and colonic shop, Insides Out.

A trained colonic therapist, Angela gets the lowdown on Dianna's lifestyle.

Angela: "How much coffee do you drink?"
Dianna: "About three cups a day, with milk."
Angela: "And how much alcohol, how many times a week?"
Dianna: "Two glasses, four times a week … something like that."

There will be none of that for three weeks as all sorts of toxins are washed from Dianna's colon by a stream of water.

"Once you take the toxins off the colon wall, it allows all of the other organs to work at a more optimal level," says Angela.

And a warning for the squeamish, Angela likes to see what's coming out so she uses clear pipes, which leave nothing to the imagination. But is colonic irrigation all it's cracked up to be?

Leila's at the University of Southern California and off to visit a doctor who thinks the whole detox thing is a waste of time.

Dr Roger Clemens does research into nutrition and toxicology and is a detox debunker.

Leila: "What are some of your concerns about detoxing?"

Dr Clemens: "Many of the detox diets are really insufficient in a variety of nutrients. Combine that with, if we use detox programs that are on the market for prolonged periods of time, it can actually result in nutrient deficiencies and nutrient deficiencies can lead to serious medical conditions," says Dr Clemens.

Sounds ominous. Will either of our detox divas face dire consequences?

Test three: ionic foot detox

It's now Leila's turn for a bit of inner spring-cleaning. She heads to the Le Petite Retreat to try an ionic foot detox.

The theory goes that the ions generated in the footbath attract and pull toxins out of your body by osmosis.

Leila: "The water looks filthy, whether that's actually detoxifying me I'm not sure I believe that, but it's tingling my feet, it's nice and warm water, so it's not too painful."

Half an hour later the treatment is over.

"I can't honestly say I feel detoxified, but let's get the final verdict from our other body-cleansing candidates," says Leila.

Results

Miriam did a three-week over-the-counter program using detox pills, and a diet packed with fresh produce, plus no sugar, no alcohol and no caffeine.

"The first week I was feeling bad, really bad. I had quite a few headaches and dizziness and not a lot of energy. Towards the end I'm feeling a lot better …"

But would she do it again?

"If I was to do another detox, probably not one as strict as this one, because it's been very hard."

Now what about Dianna? She's had three colonics and a diet similar to Miriam's but not quite as strict.

"My stomach issues that I had before have cleared up. I have no kind of indigestion, no stomach problems. I'm just really happy with that side of stuff. I've lost two or three kilos and just generally I feel really energetic. I've actually cranked up my exercise schedule just because I can," says Dianna.

But detox debunker, Dr Clemens says our colons are already designed to get rid of toxins.

"Our body takes care of these toxins in a normal way. We don't need to go out and have irrigation of any kind," he says.

Conclusion

So in our final tally, Miriam's still a "maybe". Although Dianna's definitely a detox devotee.

What about Leila? "I've got to say I'm not entirely convinced. Like Dr Clemens, I think good food and exercise still go a long way."

"Balance, moderation and variety in our diet, and appropriate exercise for our physical state," says Dr Clemens.

In other words, the commonsense stuff we've all known about for years.

In the quest for health and happiness, the old principles work just fine — a sensible diet, plenty of exercise and not too many of the naughty things like alcohol or caffeine.

However, if detoxing does it for you … go for it!

Fast facts

• Many detox diets include fresh vegies. But are vegetables toxin-free? And should those diets demonise meat and bread? In fact, some vegies, like radishes, cabbage and onions, are high in naturally occurring toxins, while meat and fish often have low levels, and here's the ironic bit — the liver is more effective at breaking down toxins on the high protein diets, rich in meat and fish.