Anonymous promoters of recipes «Detox» through «social» counterproductive
Doctors: Mixtures cleansing the body of toxins. An illusion and its goal is profiteering
Pages that spread misinformation aimed at pushing followers to make financial subscriptions. Archival
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Videos of people of unknown profession promoting compound drinks and popular mixtures that they described as magical to clean the body and liver of toxins spread across social media platforms Detox contains mixtures of vegetable leaves and popular herbs that have no medical basis, and their recipes have backfired on some of their users.
Followers of social media platforms said that the pages that promote magic mixtures to cleanse the body of toxins through video clips, have spread significantly in recent months, as mixtures are offered to different age groups and that some of them wear medical uniforms even though they are not doctors in order to formalize their personalities and increase the confidence of their followers in them.
While doctors warned of the danger of eating these mixtures because they may cause failure in liver and kidney functions, stressing that medically there are no mixtures or medicines to clean the body of toxins except drinking water, adequate sleep, healthy food and exercise, and that any popular recipes or drinks promoted through social media platforms are an illusion and their goal is financial profit and endangers the lives and safety of their users.
In detail, Abeer Sedky, Siham Abu Shamala, Khamis Al-Mashhour, and Fawzi Al-Saei said that they followed pages on social media platforms of people who claimed to be doctors in slimming and nutrition, wearing medical uniforms, and providing medical advice on a daily basis through short videos that do not exceed three minutes that contain paramedical information about the dangers of toxins in the body and the importance of getting rid of them.
They added that they explained a way to get rid of toxins that contains mixtures of herbs and green leaves, such as coriander, celery, lemon peel, frankincense, cinnamon and some aromatic herbs, and stated that some herbs and green leaves are mixed through multiple recipes, including boiling them with hot water at night and leaving them to cool down to be drunk on an empty stomach in the morning, or to be mixed with each other with a blender and drink them before bedtime after filtering them from impurities.
They pointed out that all the recipes and mixtures they mentioned caused them and those who ate them digestive problems and stomach pain, and that some suffered from diarrhea and nausea, adding that the mixtures «Detox» caused them adverse health results they had to take an appointment with doctors for treatment.
Infectious diseases and immunology specialist, Dr. Jihad Saadeh, warned against taking any herbal mixtures or medicines to clean the body of toxins, because the body is an integrated system and does not need drinks or meals with
It is enough for the body to take its daily need of water and sleep for enough hours on a daily basis to get rid of toxins, and that the spread of what is known as drinks or pills «detox», are only superstitions whose goal is commercial, and cause health damage because they may contain substances of unknown origin or some unpurified herbs and thus negatively affect the functions of the liver and kidneys and may lead to their failure, God forbid.
He explained that there is no need for any drinks to clean the body of toxins because drinking vegetables from mint, beetroot or parsley with water, because the benefit is in water not in what is mixed with it, and that the goal of all that is promoted is to reach the «trend» and financial profit and promote their pages through «social media».
For his part, the consultant of family medicine, Dr. Adel Sajwani, said that the spread of some mixtures «detox» through social media to clean the liver and body of toxins, is not licensed and aims to laugh at people's minds and financial profit, because the liver is the second most important organ in the body and responsible for cleaning the body of toxins and does not need a method of cleaning, and that the healthy way to clean the body of toxins is sports and healthy meals.
He explained that global studies have proven that healthy meals help the body get rid of toxins, and that unlicensed mixtures and herbs are the main cause of liver poisoning, and videos are spread indicating that one of the signs of liver poisoning is not to lose weight, headache and constipation, and that this information is inaccurate, because one of the signs of liver poisoning is yolk, nausea and fatigue, and that whoever publishes this misleading information aims to push followers to pay financial subscriptions to his account for financial profit without caring about their health, and that information must be taken Medical specialists only.
For his part, community medicine specialist, spokesperson for the Emirates Public Health Association, Dr. Saif Darwish, said that there is no substance that cleanses the body, taking any drinks to improve liver or kidney function does not benefit anything, and that drinking celery, mint and parsley to help clean the body is inaccurate, but they are beneficial to the body in the long term. He explained that the claim of benefits from mixtures spread on social networking sites is inaccurate, as they can harm their users, especially since most of these mixtures contain chemicals and their promoters laugh at patients by adding some valleys with mixtures that reduce liver enzymes and the concentrations are incorrect, and this leads to the emergence of side effects that may lead to failure in liver and kidney function.
Followers: A noticeable spread of unknown and unlicensed pages promoting complex drinks and popular mixtures that they described as magical to clean the body and liver of toxins.
Imprisonment and a fine of up to AED 500,<> for promoting goods containing incorrect data
The State Public Prosecution clarified that the penalty for misleading advertising or promotion to the consumer in accordance with Article 48 of Federal Decree Law No. 34 of 2021 regarding combating rumors and electronic crimes, stipulates that whoever commits, through the computer network, an information technology means, or a website, shall be punished by imprisonment and a fine of not less than 20,500 dirhams and not more than <>,<> dirhams, or one of these two penalties: Promoting a good or service through a misleading advertisement or method that includes incorrect data, advertising, promoting, mediating or dealing in any way or encouraging dealing in virtual currency, digital currency, stored value unit or any payment unit that is not officially recognized in the UAE or without obtaining a license from the competent authority.