Disclaimer: None of the information in this article constitutes medical advice, and is just the opinion of the writer(s). We recommend that patients follow their doctor’s guidance in regard to detoxification.
Mega Clean is a liquid herbal supplement sold by a brand called Detoxify. The product costs over $39 for a single serving, and Detoxify claims that their supplement will “support full body cleansing by stimulating your urinary, circulatory, and digestive detoxification systems."
But can a liquid herb blend actually detoxify the body? Does Detoxify Mega Clean contain ingredients shown in research studies to support detoxification? Does it contain any unhealthy additives? And why do we take issue with some of the health claims on the Detoxify website?
In this article we’ll answer all of these questions and more, as we analyze the ingredients in Detoxify Mega Clean to give our take on whether or not the supplement is likely to support detoxification, and whether or not it's healthy overall.
We'll also highlight some questionable health claims on the Detoxify website, and compare the supplement to other popular detoxification supplements like High Voltage Detox to pick our winners (and losers).
Mega Clean contains a large number of active ingredients, so we’ll break our ingredient review down into two sections: vitamin & mineral blend, and herbal blend.
Key takeaways:
- Contains some herbal ingredients shown to have detoxifying effects
- Contains more added sugar than Coca-Cola
- We do not currently recommend Detoxify Mega Clean
Ingredient Analysis — Vitamin & Mineral Blend
The Detoxify Mega Clean vitamin and mineral blend is shown below:
It contains 18 vitamins and minerals, such as riboflavin, selenium and vitamin B12.
We have not come across any medical evidence that supplemental vitamins and minerals detoxify the body, nor does Detoxify cite any such evidence on their product page.
Added sugar is included at a dose of 42 grams (g). This is nearly twice as much sugar as in a regular-sized Coca-Cola, and is an absurd amount for a “health” drink to have in our opinion.
Added sugar in excess is clinically shown to be associated with increased risk of obesity and cardiovascular disease.
There is not one ingredient in this blend that we consider to be effective for detoxification. It’s essentially a multivitamin with more added sugar than a Coca-Cola.
Ingredient Analysis — Herbal Blend
The herbal ingredients in Mega Clean are shown below:
Some of these active ingredients have been shown to support detoxification.
Milk thistle was shown in a medical review published in the Phytotherapy Research journal to reduce the effects of liver injury, and its active chemical compound silymarin “may act as a toxin blockade agent” that inhibits toxins from binding to cell membrane receptors in the liver.
Uva ursi leaf extract is an herbal extract derived from an evergreen shrub that may be effective for treating kidney stones, as we detailed in our High Voltage Detox reviews article. However, kidney stones aren’t always caused by toxins and can be caused by poor diet or medical conditions.
Citrus pectin is included in Mega Clean at a dose of 173 milligrams (mg), but our research indicates that this ingredient is a gelling agent, while modified citrus pectin is the fibrous material sourced from citrus plant pulps that’s been studied for detoxification support.
A 2006 clinical trial found that intake of 15,000 mg of modified citrus pectin increased urinary excretion of toxic elements.
Our research suggests citrus pectin and modified citrus pectin are different ingredients with different biological effects, so we do not consider citrus pectin likely to be effective. However, we urge Detoxify to clarify whether there is a difference and if so, why they chose to use citrus pectin.
We cannot identify any medical studies suggesting that the other herbal ingredients in this blend are effective.
Overall, we consider Detoxify Mega Clean to be potentially effective for detoxification support, however we do not recommend the product given the high dose of added sugar, and the fact that the herbal active ingredients are included in a proprietary blend that fails to publish the individual ingredient doses.
Are Detox Supplements Unsafe?
We generally recommend that consumers avoid dietary supplements promoted for detoxification, because we haven’t come across much medical research suggesting that healthy adults need supplemental detoxification.
The liver and kidneys detoxify the blood very efficiently (that’s their function), and we don’t consider it logical to treat medical conditions which require detoxification with dietary supplements.
An example of a health condition that may require a medically-assisted, supplemental detoxification protocol is liver disease. We would strongly recommend that a patient with liver disease seeks medical assistance rather than takes sugary dietary supplements to treat their condition.
Our overall point is that the category of health conditions that require exogenous detoxification tend to be quite serious, and poorly-suited to over-the-counter (OTC) treatments.
In the 3-minute TED talk below, a doctor explains how the body naturally detoxes and why cleanses may be ineffective:
Questionable Health Claims on Brand's Website
There are a number of questionable and uncited health claims on the Detoxify website.
As shown above, Detoxify claims that the “formula behind this product has been time tested to help rid your body of toxins at a moment’s notice.”
There is no citation for this claim. We cannot find any evidence that Mega Clean has been tested in clinical trials, so we don't understand how the brand can make such a specific health claim.
The brand also claims that “Mega Clean is formulated to work indiscriminately on any toxin in your body.”
There is no citation for this claim. We consider this to be an unscientific claim given that most clinical research on exogenous detoxification involves a specific type of toxin (like heavy metal, pesticide, etc).
We suggest that consumers entirely disregard health claims made by supplement companies that provide no proof of such claims, and we consider this to be a sign of a low-quality brand.
Detoxify Mega Clean vs. Popular Detox Supps
Here's how Detoxify Mega Clean compares to other popular detoxification supplements in terms of potential effectiveness and healthiness, in our opinion:
High Voltage Detox
Contains artificial flavors, which are clinically shown to have toxic effects in some mammals.
The High Voltage Detox formulation is significantly worse for health.
Winner: Detoxify Mega Clean
Duck Flower Detox
Beyond being unhealthy, this is one of the few detox protocols we've reviewed to date on Illuminate Health that we consider actively dangerous.
Some of the chemical compounds in this detox are clinically shown to be damaging to the kidneys, as we documented in our duck flower detox review article.
Winner: Detoxify Mega Clean
Stinger Detox
Formulation is less likely to be effective and less healthy than Detoxify Mega Clean
Winner: Detoxify Mega Clean
Can Tea Support Natural Detox Processes?
We don't recommend the use of food products or supplements to "cleanse" or "remove toxins" from the body.
However, there are compounds which can naturally support the body's own detoxification processes for consumers intent on doing so.
Rooibos tea was shown to support optimal liver function in a clinical trial published in the Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity journal.
The study authors concluded the following:
"Results from this study suggest that the daily intake of unfermented rooibos herbal tea or a derived commercial rooibos supplement may benefit human health by providing the liver with an enhanced antioxidant capacity to reduce damage induced by toxicants."
Pique Rooibos Tea is our top rooibos tea pick, because it's conveniently in crystallized form and only hot water (no teapot) is needed to make it. The only ingredient in this product is organic rooibos.
We are not suggesting that rooibos tea should be used to treat any specific health condition.
Detoxify Mega Clean Pros and Cons
Pros:
- Contains some research-backed ingredients
- Milk thistle is one of the most well-studied ingredients for liver support
Cons:
- Contains 42 g of added sugar per serving
- Doesn't appear to be clinically tested
- We can't find any clinical evidence suggesting this product helps people pass drug tests
- Expensive
- Exogenous detox support products have questionable efficacy
- Mediocre online customer reviews
- Brand website contains questionable and uncited health claims
