If you were to peek into my kitchen cabinets, you’d find the usual bowls and plates, but you’d also discover two shelves completely filled with “The Meal Planning Binders.” These shiny plastic organization buddies are categorized, alphabetized, and stuffed to the brim with recipe lists and photos I’ve found enticing throughout the years. This love of food might not surprise you, given my chosen profession, but in times past distorted food planning has threatened to upset the delicate balance between myself and my body.

The one binder you won’t find in the cabinet anymore is the “Anita’s Cleanse Plan” binder. This binder used to make its appearance right around now as I struggled to accept the fact that heavier comfort foods had entered my body in greater amounts during the winter season. I would feel guilt for “indulging” in sweets, treats, and creamy casseroles, and felt (catastrophizingly) anxious that if I didn’t take action to cleanse my body of the “toxic residue” of these foods, that my future health was doomed. Of course, the desire to lose winter weight was never far from my mind, but I always tricked myself into thinking this was all about “wellness.”

Like most diets, “Anita’s Cleanse Plan” was restrictive, and pleaded with me to cut out some variation (I updated it each year to reflect current trends) of the following: sugar, meat, cheese, milk, eggs, grains, chocolate, coffee, potatoes, fruits, beans, cooked food, and/or all food in general.

You probably know where this story is headed. Trying to follow my orthorexically-designed “cleanse plan” never worked very long. I’d cut out some of the foods for some number of days, but eventually they’d sneak back in as I “gave in” to “temptation.” I’d feel weak and cranky and curse my life; I’d take a spoonful of ice cream and melt into a puddle of guilt and despair.

This experience didn’t do anything to change the balance of physical toxins in my body, and it certainly caused me to accumulate a few extra “mental toxins” I didn’t have before: anxiety, failure, black-and-white thinking, shame. But I can be forgiven for trying. After all, look at the cover of any popular health or women’s magazine as January rolls in and you’ll find tip after tip for spring detoxification and cleansing, from food lists to supplements to “get-slim detox tea” that “flushes away water weight” (this from Women’s World’s Easter 2015 cover, which also features timeless advice like “Triscuits stop stress” and “sweet treats to make with Peeps.”)

The idea that eating a restrictively simple diet will scrub our insides shiny clean of waste would seem to make sense in a world of every-increasing environmental toxicity, but this concept isn’t actually new. The desire to remove internal waste has much deeper roots in the religious traditions of ritual purification. Humans have been undergoing intentional fast periods for centuries, but the ultimate purpose of these penances has traditionally been spiritual enlightenment, not health. When we buy a pill that promises to cleanse not only the body, but also the “mind and spirit” of toxins, are we looking just for regular bowel movements or is deeper salvation our secret hope?

It’s an important question to ask, because the problem with linking body and spirit in such a way is evident when we look at how complicated eating has become as a result: any foods on a pre-approved “clean” list are by definition tainted, and by definition we become (morally) “bad” people for eating them. Follow this prescription for a lifetime, and we lose touch with what actually makes our body feel good.

This puritanical approach to food, one that tries to strip eating of the “sin” of pleasure, is especially insidious in today’s natural medicine community. During my graduate school years at a naturopathic college, planning for a spring cleanse felt de rigueur. Classmates seemed sometimes singularly focused on “detox,” and entire (light-headed with malnourishment) class periods concentrated on the “fun” of designing detox menus for our future clients.

In truth, intentional “detox” isn’t actually necessary for health. We can find balance following the body’s internal cues, rather than external rules: a rich bowl of macaroni and cheese might be just the ticket for warm satisfaction on a cold November day, for example, while a fresh green salad really does pair nicely with the blue skies of spring. But beyond this natural equilibrium embedded into restriction-free intuitive eating, science does actually show us that a life without detox tea and spring cleansing is not automatically a life of dangerously escalating internal poisons.

In fact, a healthy, well-fed body is really good at performing detox every day of our lives. Even while we sleep! Our master detoxification organ is the liver, which helps to process and eliminate not only external contamination like pollutants, but also the “metabolic wastes” that daily build up in every human body through the process of being alive. This beautiful system requires nutrients to work, however, including energy (calories), protein, and vitamins and minerals. Start a complete fast, and liver detox will actually slow down!

There is some evidence that eating certain foods can help increase the rate of liver detox by providing nutrient fuel for the process (especially colorful fruits and veggies, most notably the cabbage or Brassica family), but there is no evidence that eating these foods in isolation works any better than including them in a balanced diet. In fact, there is no convincing evidence that any specific “detox diet” plan increases the rate of liver detoxification above and beyond a regular balanced diet.

Other “organs of elimination” like the skin, kidneys, and bowels help our body detox daily, and supporting these organs every day of our life is the best way to ensure that our body keeps processing wastes well, without need to turn to extremes. Our skin eliminates waste products through sweat, and finding movement we enjoy can keep sweat flowing. As we move through our day, we can also remind ourselves to drink plenty of water and other fluids, which flush extra minerals, medication residue, and other toxins right into the toilet bowl. Pale yellow to clear urine means we are well-hydrated. To support our digestive system, which traps the most waste in large fluffy stools, we can include fiber-rich foods like whole grains, nuts, seeds, fruits, and vegetables in our daily meals when possible. We can also consider the impact of stress: when we eat in a calm state and allow ourselves enough food and body acceptance to soothe the mind, we activate the “rest and digest” parasympathetic nervous system, which increases gut motility and regularity.

Medicine is not magic, and when we delude ourselves into thinking that food can heal the distress of the spirit, we always end up worse for wear. I still love a good green smoothie now and again, but if I want to enjoy a slice of cake in January, I definitely do! My “Cleanse” binder is (mercifully) gone now, its former pages neatly tucked into “Salads” and “Summer Drinks” where they belong. The beauty of permissive intuitive eating is that it has allowed me the freedom to lean into seasonal changes without the icky shadow of restriction waiting behind. I enjoy harvesting nettles for soup this time of year, but a slice of strawberry-rhubarb pie with vanilla ice cream also perfectly hits the spot! I have learned that food isn’t clean or dirty, good or bad, it is just food. By listening to my body’s internal signals as well as my taste buds I can feel much more satisfied (physical, mentally, and spiritually) all year round, no penance required!