Oh facebook and your unending perpetuation of useless “cleanses” and weight loss scams. I saw this one about cleaning your kidneys by drinking cilantro or parsley water.
The thing is, toxins don’t accumulate in your kidneys. The kidneys act as filters, removing waste products from your blood, and excreting them in your urine. They don’t hang onto these waste products (1).
Okay, so cilantro and parsley won’t rid your kidneys of toxins, but is there any truth to their use as “detoxifiers”? Well, parsley acts as a diuretic (i.e. it makes you pee more) so, in the sense that it will speed the removal of waste products from your body via urine it’s kind of true. However, it won’t remove any more waste than would be eventually removed if you just waited a little longer to pee.
Years ago, it was reported that a cilantro soup increased excretion of mercury following removal of mercury fillings (2). Since then, cilantro has been popularly touted as a detoxifier via chelation of heavy metals. Unfortunately, since that initial study, there has been little research to support the ability of cilantro to remove heavy metals from the body.
If you like cilantro and parsley water and tea, go ahead, there’s no evidence that consuming it will harm you. However, it’s not going to remove toxins from your kidneys, and it’s unlikely that it will remove toxins from elsewhere in your body.
May 28, 2014 at 12:41 am
I love these posts. I first found bite my words when researching nutribullet. It sounded like bullshit to me and after days and days i finally found a website that wasn’t selling the crap. i get so sick and tired of posts on facebook about weight loss ‘miracles’. I wish everyone could read bite my words. I’ve been telling everybody for years that your body detoxifies itself.
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May 28, 2014 at 6:15 am
Thanks so much Susan! I too wish that everyone could/would read my blog :)
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Aug 10, 2017 at 4:36 pm
U totally missed the boat on this one. Yes kidneys are filters which pass toxins into urine to be excreted. Like most filters, however,they are sometimes clogged with toxins that they can’t excrete like heavy metals or simply overworked by having to filter too much alcohol, refined sugar, etc. At this point a cleanse has the same effect as cleaning the filter on a vacuum or dryer. Routine cleaning allows the filter to perform its job effectively. Failing to do the occasional cleanse is like failing to change the oil filter on a car. The dirty fluids cause the machine to function poorly and eventually fail.
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Aug 10, 2017 at 6:13 pm
There is no evidence to support the use of cleanses or that your kidneys become clogged with toxins. The human body is not the same as a vehicle. Obviously excessive consumption of alcohol and other toxins is unhealthy and increases risk of many diseases. However, adoption of a healthy lifestyle is the best thing you can do for your health. Not doing a cleanse.
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Aug 22, 2017 at 6:22 pm
I ave ckd and my nephrologist told me that my kidneys were no longer filtering like they should and are not getting rid of the creatine are protein like they should so why do you tell people that these different fruits and vegebles want help but my nutritionist say they will
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Aug 22, 2017 at 6:31 pm
Creatine and protein are not heavy metals so even if cilantro is beneficial in helping your body excrete them (which is dubious) it have an effect on creatine and protein metabolism. Continue to follow your nephrologist’s advice and check that your nutritionist is a registered dietitian. Best of luck.
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Sep 1, 2017 at 3:04 am
Is Diane a doctors pet? Parsley tea changed my life from frequent uti. Didnt follow doctors medications just parsley tea. How much commission do you get from a Money hungry doctors?
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Sep 2, 2017 at 7:18 am
Nice to know that you have found relief. That doesn’t mean that cilantro cleanses work though.
To set the record straight; my name is Diana, not Diane, and I don’t receive any money from doctors, or anyone for that matter.
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