Lizzo is taking heat for promoting potentially harmful “cleanses” as well as the myth that you can “detox” your body with juices or smoothies.
On Monday, the 32-year-old shared videos on TikTok in which she said she did “a 10-day smoothie cleanse" and referred to "a smoothie detox.”
Medically speaking, of course, there is no way to “detoxify” or “cleanse” your body with juices or smoothies.
“Normally I would like just be really pissed off and angry at someone for misleading their followers… but part of me is just really sad,” said Britain's Dr. Joshua Wolrich, calling what Lizzo did “incredibly harmful.”
In a series of Instagram Stories, he called Lizzo’s videos “a f**king disappointment.” Wolrich added: “In case you need reminding, detox juice cleanses ARE NOT A THING.”
He's right. “The idea that you can flush your system of impurities and leave your organs squeaky clean and raring to go is a scam,” wrote Dara Mohammadi at The Guardian, in 2014. “It’s a pseudo-medical concept designed to sell you things.”
According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, “a 2015 review concluded that there was no compelling research to support the use of ‘detox’ diets for weight management or eliminating toxins from the body.”
On social media, fans called Lizzo out for hyping nonsense.
Actress Jameela Jamil – who previously called out Cardi B for promoting a so-called “detox” beverage on social media – weighed in on Twitter. “If you want to get bigger or smaller you can and you do not owe anyone a size or explanation,” she wrote. “However. Whichever way you go, do it slowly, and with the guidance of professionals and know that there’s no such thing as a ‘detox' only your actual natural vital organs can detox you.” (Lizzo said she sought the advice of a nutritionist.)
But, in a follow-up clip, Lizzo defended herself. “November stressed me the f**k out. I drank a lot, I ate a lot of spicy things and things that f**ked my stomach up, and I wanted to reverse it and get back to where I was,” she explained.
(Dr. Tinsay Ambachew Woreta, a hepatologist at John Hopkins Health, points out “cleanses have not been proven to rid your body of damage from excess consumption.”)
Lizzo added: “I’m a big girl who did a smoothie detox. And I wanted to share that with you guys. I got exactly what I wanted out of it, and every big girl should do whatever the f**k they want with their body.”
Last year, pop star Katy Perry came under fire for extolling the benefits of colon "cleanses" – a potentiall harmful practice doctors have warned against for decades. “Colon cleansing is a dubious and almost always useless procedure,” Dr. David Gorski wrote at Science-Based Medicine. “Colon cleansing is a load of…well, you know.”