Of all the detox products available, green tea may be one of the most beneficial, but that doesn’t mean it literally detoxes your body. Instead, the active ingredients in green tea support your body’s natural ability to detox. Before you try to detox using green tea, learn how the body detoxes itself, so you have a better idea about what to expect and how green tea contributes to the process.

Role of Green Tea in Detox

Green tea may help detox your body, but probably not in the way you might think. Your body detoxifies and eliminates harmful substances quite efficiently, which is a vital task considering the amount of toxins in the environment. Green tea doesn’t actively detox toxins all on its own, but it’s packed with natural polyphenols that support the body’s normal detox system. Polyphenols work in two ways: they have a direct impact on your liver, the body’s major detox organ, and they’re antioxidants that fight free radicals. The molecules known as free radicals are so unstable they must be neutralized before they damage healthy cells.

The Body’s Detoxification System

Detoxification means different things to different people. Some think of detoxing as purging stool from the colon using fiber and other supplements. Others interpret it to mean a type of diet — usually a fast or some combination of juices and veggies — that cleanses the colon while helping them lose weight. But in the medical world, detoxification refers to the body’s built-in systems designed to eliminate toxic substances. The toxin may be an environmental chemical, excess medication that must be cleared out of the bloodstream, something produced in the body, or any other type of harmful substance.

Your skin, respiratory system, immune system, intestines and kidneys all help the body detox, but a large part of the responsibility falls to the liver. When toxins reach the liver, they’re chemically altered to reduce their toxicity, then they’re sent to the kidneys for elimination in the urine. It sounds simple, but it’s not. It’s a complex process that consists of three different phases and depends on a bunch of enzymes. Your body needs sufficient protein and many vitamins and minerals to support each phase of detoxification.