March 11, 2009

Edzard Ernst comments on Duchy Original detox products

Britain’s leading academic expert on complementary medicine, Edzard Ernst, has described the range of detox products made by Pince Charles’ Duchy Originals company as ‘quakery’ and unfounded in scientific evidence.

Edzard Ernst, Professor of Complementary Medicine at Peninsula Medical School, said:

“‘Detox’ is based on the notion that “toxins damage the body in an insidious and cumulative way. Once the detoxification system becomes overloaded, toxic metabolites accumulate, and sensitivity to other chemicals, some of which are not normally toxic, becomes progressively greater. This accumulation of toxins can wreak havoc on normal metabolic processes.” A whole industry thus supplies consumers with products that promise to eliminate poisonous substances from the body.

“The latest addition to the long list is Prince Charles’ ‘Duchy Original’ herbal detox tincture of artichoke and dandelion.It has recently become available for sale in Boots and Waitrose. This raises several important points:

1.,The pathophysiology of ‘detox’ is non-existent.
2.,As a therapeutic approach detox is implausible, unproven and dangerous.
3.,Prince Charles and his advisors seem to deliberately ignore science and prefer to rely on ‘make believe’ and superstition.
4.,Prince Charles thus financially exploits a gullible public in a time of financial hardship.
5.,Prince Charles contributes to the ill health of the nation by pretending we can all over-indulge, then take his tincture and be fine again. Under the banner of holistic and integrative healthcare he thus promotes a ‘quick fix’ and outright quackery.

“Nothing would, of course, be easier than to demonstrate that detox products work. All one needed to do is to take a few blood samples from volunteers and test whether this or that toxin is eliminated from the body faster than normal. But where are the studies that demonstrate efficacy? They do not exist, and the reason is simple: these products have no real detoxification effects.”