SMART GOALS

S specific Listening to a video that is 3 to 5 minutes long on YouTube

every Monday and Thursday at 09:00 p.m.
M measurable Complete the Google Form provided in the listening task.
A attainable The task includes before you listen, while you listen and after you
listen. The task can be reasonably accomplished within 15
minutes.
R relevant This listening task not only improves listening skills but also
boosts your vocabulary. Consequently, you have more ideas for
speaking and writing tasks.
T time-based Deadline for one listening task is 48 hours after it is released.
Solutions for before you listen and while you listen is shown immediately after you submit your
answer.
Your answer to after you listen will be shared to Facebook Group.
 Date 23/01/2022 Level Easy Tag Personal development
Source Rebel, Upholder, Questioner, Obliger: which one are you? | Gretchen Rubin
Channel RSA Shorts
Link https://youtu.be/QmpWW-KibOo
Form https://forms.gle/8fy9Vm48B1rawYGo6

Test 1
Part 1 – Before you listen: (1 minute)
Make two lists of the phrases below, dividing them into a) outer expectations and b) inner
expectations.
 work deadline
 keep a New Year’s resolution
 request from a friend
 get back to practicing a musical instrument
Part 2 – While you listen: (10 minutes)
[1] Watch the video [2] Listen and complete the table below [3] Read the transcripts
Which one are Upholders Questioners Obligers Rebels
you?
Favorite motto (1) _______ is my If you’ll (7) ____ You can count on me – You can’t make
freedom. we why; then and I’m counting on me – and (14)
I’ll (8) _____. you to count on me. _________.
Outer Yes Maybe Yes No
expectations
Inner Yes Maybe No No
expectations
Characteristics
Upsides They’re (2) ______. Two solutions They are the type O. What rebels
They’re (3) ______. are (9) _____ They are the type that should know:
They’re excellent at and (10) ____. pairs up most easily 1. Information
(4) _______. with other tendencies. 2. Consequences
3. Choices
Downsides They can be (5) Drain and (11) Create The ultimate
___________ _________ others systems of (13) ______ solution is to
and become the (6) with their (12) around that inner show more (15)
_________ of doing ________. expectation. _________ to yourself
their own and other people.
paperwork forever.
Part 3 – After you listen: (3 minutes)
Answer these self-reflection questions.
1. What is your favorite motto?
2. How do you react to outer and inner expectations?
3. What type do you think is most similar to you? Why?
Answer
1. Discipline
2. self-reliant
3. self-starters
4. executing
5. rigid
6. mindless bureaucrat
7. convince
8. comply
9. deadlines
10. limits
11. overwhelm
12. constant questioning
13. outer accountability
14. neither can I
15. compassion

Transcript

There are outer expectations, like a work deadline or a request from a friend – and then there are inner
expectations, like our own desire to keep a New Year’s resolution, our own desire to get back into
practising guitar. So, depending on how you respond to expectations, you are an Upholder, a
Questioner, an Obliger, or a Rebel.

Upholders readily meet outer and inner expectations – they keep to the work deadline, they keep the
New Year’s resolution without much fuss.

Questioners question all expectations. They’ll do it if they think it makes sense.

Obligers readily meet outer expectations, but struggle to meet inner expectations

Then finally, Rebels. Rebels resist all expectations, outer and inner alike - they want to do what
they want to do in their own way, in their own time.

So what do you do with this information – how can it help you manage yourself better, and
how can it help you deal better with other people?
Each of the tendencies has many mottos, and my favourite motto for Upholders is “discipline (kỷ luật)
is my freedom”. And there’s a lot of great things about Upholders – they’re self-reliant (tự chủ),
they’re self-starters (năng động, tự biết bắt đầu làm), they’re very good at executing (thi hành, thực
hành), they want to meet expectations – but as with all the tendencies, the upsides are also the
downsides. And upholders can be rigid (cứng nhắc), so you want to make sure if you’re dealing with an
Upholder, they’re not turning into the mindless bureaucrat (quan chức làm việc điên cuồng) of doing
their own paperwork endlessly.

Next, Questioners – and the motto of the Questioner is: “if you’ll convince (thuyết phục) me why;
then I’ll comply (tuân theo). They’re always looking at how to make processes better, they tend to love
information, they’re really great for all of us because they are the ones that are saying – why are we
doing this by Friday? Why are we doing this report? Why are we listening to you? Why are we doing this
at all? But the upsides are the downsides, and Questioners sometimes drain and overwhelm (lấn át,
choáng ngợp) others with their constant questioning. So, what do you if you’re a Questioner – or
you’re dealing with a Questioner who is stuck in analysis paralysis? One is to use deadlines. Another is
limits – ‘we can interview 5 people for this position, but we’re not going to interview 15’. Or you find a
trusted authority – if you want to buy a new great bicycle, you can spend the rest of your life trying to
figure out what is the best bicycle, or you just go to a really great bike shop - ‘the people who work here
know a lot about bikes, I can be very guided by their judgment.’

So next Obligers – Obligers are the rock of the world – they are the type O, they are the type that pairs
up most easily with other tendencies. Really the frustration of being an Obliger falls most on Obligers
themselves, which is reflected in their motto which is “you can count on me – and I’m counting on
you to count on me”. What’s the cure for this? If you want to meet an inner expectation, you must
create systems of outer accountability around that inner expectation. You want to read more – join a
book group.

Finally, Rebels. Their motto is “you can’t make me – and neither can I”. It can be challenging working
or living with somebody, where every time you ask them or tell them to do something – they’re very
likely to resist. So how do you help a Rebel – or help yourself as a Rebel? So let’s say you have a Rebel
colleague who is refusing to go to a mandatory Wednesday morning meeting. You could say to the Rebel
something like, “so I don’t know if you know we have these Wednesday 10 am meetings? It’s like -
everybody who’s at the meeting, we think about all the projects coming up in the next several weeks,
and then everybody in the meeting, we take the interesting ones, and then we leave the dregs for the
people who aren’t at the meeting. So, yeah, the meeting is at 10am on Wednesday.”
Information...Consequences... Choice... It’s up to you. I really do think this can help you show
compassion for yourself – because there’s nothing wrong with you! You’re not lazy, you don’t lack
willpower. It’s totally predictable that something that’s easy for someone else might be challenging for
you. There’s plenty of ways to work around that. And it can also allow us to show more compassion
(long trắc ẩn) to other people. Because when we understand other people, then it’s not a matter of -
one person’s right and one person’s wrong, it’s just, how do we both – or all of us - get where we want to
go?
 Date 24/01/2022 Level Easy Tag Health
Source How sugar affects the brain - Nicole Avena
Channel Ted Ed
Link https://youtu.be/lEXBxijQREo
Form https://forms.gle/u7rQUbKcaRRBkK8F9

Test 2
Part 1 – Before you listen: (2 minutes)
yogurt granola bars raw sugar honey tomato sauce
fruit juice dried fruit crunchy candies gooey cookies velvety cakes

Match the phrases above with the pictures.

1 2 3 4 5

6 7 8 9 10

Part 2 – While you listen: (10 minutes)

[1] Watch the video [2] Listen and complete the table below [3] Read the transcripts
Continue in the next page. 
Is your mouth watering? Are you craving (1) ______________?
Sugar is a term used to describe a class of molecules called (2) _______________.

Sugar hits your tongue

Sugar activates the (3) ___________________ receptors,

part of the taste buds on the tongue

These receptors send a signal to the cerebral cortex, which processes different tastes:
bitter, salty, umani, sweet

The signal activates the brain’s reward system

(4) ______________, sexual behavior, and drugs also activate reward system.
But over-activating this reward system kickstarts a series of unfortunate events:
 loss of control,
 craving,
 and (5) ________________ to sugar.
The currency of our reward system is (6) ___________________, an important chemical or neurotransmitter.
Drugs like alcohol, nicotine, or heroin send dopamine into (7) __________, leading some people to be
addicted.
When it comes to food, the brain evolved to (8) ___________ to new or different tastes. Why? Two reasons:
 first, to detect food that's gone bad.
 second, to keep eating a variety of food
Every time any sugar is consumed, it kickstarts a (9) __________ in the brain that sparks a rewarding feeling.
(10) _______________ of sugar can have addictive effects on the brain, but a small dose won't hurt you.

Part 3 – Post-listening task: (3 minutes)

Answer these self-reflection questions.
1. Name three foods containing sugar that you often eat.
2. Describe your ideal breakfast, lunch and dinner.
3. Do you think you have a balanced diet? Why?
Answer
1. dessert
2. carbohydrates
3. sweet-taste
4. socializing / socializing
5. increased tolerance
6. dopamine
7. overdrive
8. pay special attention
9. domino effect
10. overconsumption

Transcript:

Picture warm, gooey cookies, crunchy candies, velvety cakes, waffle cones piled high with ice cream. Is
your mouth watering? Are you craving dessert (món tráng miệng)? Why? What happens in the brain
that makes sugary foods so hard to resist?

Sugar is a general term used to describe a class of molecules (phân tử) called carbohydrates, and it's
found in a wide variety of food and drink. Just check the labels on sweet products you buy. Glucose,
fructose, sucrose, maltose, lactose, dextrose, and starch are all forms of sugar. So are high-fructose corn
syrup (đường hóa học từ mía), fruit juice, raw sugar, and honey. And sugar isn't just in candies and
desserts, it's also added to tomato sauce, yogurt, dried fruit, flavored waters, or granola bars. Since sugar
is everywhere, it's important to understand how it affects the brain. What happens when sugar hits your
tongue? And does eating a little bit of sugar make you crave more?

You take a bite of cereal (ngũ cốc). The sugars it contains activate the sweet-taste receptors, part of the
taste buds on the tongue. These receptors (thụ thể, cảm biến tiếp nhận) send a signal up to the brain
stem, and from there, it forks off into many areas of the forebrain, one of which is the cerebral cortex.
Different sections of the cerebral cortex process different tastes: bitter (đắng), salty (mặn), umami (vị
bột ngọt), and, in our case, sweet. From here, the signal activates the brain's reward system. This
reward system is a series of electrical and chemical pathways across several different regions of the
brain. It's a complicated network (mạng lưới phức tạp), but it helps answer a single, subconscious
question: should I do that again? That warm, fuzzy feeling you get when you taste Grandma's chocolate
cake? That's your reward system saying, "Mmm, yes!" And it's not just activated by food.

Socializing, sexual behavior, and drugs are just a few examples of things and experiences that also
activate the reward system. But overactivating this reward system kickstarts (kích hoạt) a series of
unfortunate events: loss of control, craving, and increased tolerance (tăng mức chống chịu) to sugar.
Let's get back to our bite of cereal. It travels down into your stomach and eventually into your gut. And
guess what? There are sugar receptors here, too. They are not taste buds (nụ vị giác), but they do send
signals telling your brain that you're full or that your body should produce more insulin to deal with the
extra sugar you're eating. The major currency (đơn vị tiền) of our reward system is dopamine, an
important chemical or neurotransmitter. There are many dopamine receptors in the forebrain, but
they're not evenly distributed. Certain areas contain dense clusters of receptors, and these dopamine hot
spots are a part of our reward system. Drugs like alcohol, nicotine, or heroin send dopamine into
overdrive (sự quá tải), leading some people to constantly seek that high, in other words, to be
addicted.

Sugar also causes dopamine to be released, though not as violently as drugs. And sugar is rare among
dopamine-inducing foods. Broccoli, for example, has no effect, which probably explains why it's so hard
to get kids to eat their veggies. Speaking of healthy foods, let's say you're hungry and decide to eat a
balanced meal. You do, and dopamine levels spike in the reward system hot spots. But if you eat that
same dish many days in a row, dopamine levels will spike less and less, eventually leveling out. That's
because when it comes to food, the brain evolved to pay special attention to (chú ý tới) new or
different tastes. Why? Two reasons: first, to detect food that's gone bad (bị hư). And second, because
the more variety we have in our diet, the more likely we are to get all the nutrients we need. To keep
that variety up, we need to be able to recognize a new food, and more importantly, we need to want to
keep eating new foods. And that's why the dopamine levels off when a food becomes boring.

Now, back to that meal. What happens if in place of the healthy, balanced dish, you eat sugar-rich food
instead? If you rarely eat sugar or don't eat much at a time, the effect is similar to that of the balanced
meal. But if you eat too much, the dopamine response does not level out. In other words, eating lots of
sugar will continue to feel rewarding. In this way, sugar behaves a little bit like a drug. It's one reason
people seem to be hooked on sugary foods. So, think back to all those different kinds of sugar. Each one
is unique, but every time any sugar is consumed, it kickstarts a domino effect (hiệu ứng domino) in
the brain that sparks a rewarding feeling. Too much, too often, and things can go into overdrive. So, yes,
overconsumption (tiêu thụ quá nhiều) of sugar can have addictive effects on the brain, but a wedge of
cake once in a while won't hurt you.
 Date 24/01/2022 Level Easy Tag Health
Source Your Body's Real Age | NPR's SKUNK BEAR
Channel NPR’s Skunk Bear
Link https://youtu.be/Nwfg157hejM
Form https://forms.gle/JqstyESzunsVykrm6

Test 3
Part 1 – Before you listen: (2 minutes)
fingernails scalp skeleton heart
skin care muscles red blood cells neurons

Match the phrases above with the pictures.

1 2 3 4

5 6 7
8

Part 2 – While you listen: (10 minutes)

[1] Watch the video [2] Listen and complete the table below [3] Read the transcripts
Continue in the next page. 
How old are our bodies actually?
Because if you think about how we're constantly being (1) __________; what actually remains?

Body parts What happens?

Hair A hundred hairs fall out every day.

(2) __________ Every six months

The (3) __________ of your Those cells get replaced every (4) __________ due to constant exposure to
stomach and intestines acid and bile.
Outer layer of skin Every few weeks

(5) __________ cells Every four months

Skeleton Every (6) __________

Muscles Every 15 years

But there are a few things that stick around for your entire life

Body parts What happens?

About half of your (7) __________
The vast majority of your neurons
Your lens
because those cells are replaced very slowly
It's the (8) __________ between those neurons that are constantly
changing.
Its (9) __________ has remained the same since the moment you
first opened your eyes.

So how old is your body really?

Some of it is (10) __________ and some of it is as old as you are.

Part 3 – Post-listening task: (3 minutes)

Answer these self-reflection questions.
1. How important is it for you to eat healthily?
2. Which sport do you play or do regularly?
3. Do you think you have enough free time to relax?
Answer
1. regenerated
2. fingernails
3. lining
4. few days
5. red blood
6. 10 years
7. heart
8. connections
9. core
10. brand new
Transcript
Hi, I'm Adam Cole.
This week we've got a question from Lulu Miller, the host of NPR's Invisibilia podcast: How old are our
bodies actually? Because if you think about how we're constantly being regenerated our physical matter
is being shed and replenished ... what actually remains?

Good question, Lulu!

Well, your hair obviously doesn't remain the same and I'm not just talking about the style each hair on
your head is replaced every 2 to 7 years A hundred hairs fall out every day and new ones grow back in
their place And look at your fingernails - they're completely new every six months or so it turns out it's
just a matter of time before almost every part of your body refreshes itself in a similar way The lining of
your stomach and intestines gets pretty beat up -- it's constantly exposed to acid and bile and so those
cells get replaced every few days Every few weeks, your outer layer of skin is completely renewed Every
four months you have a fresh army of red blood cells A hundred million new cells are born every
minute and a hundred million old cells are destroyed It's actually the breakdown products of these red
blood cells that turn your bruises and urine yellow Every 10 years, you've got a new skeleton a special
team of cells breaks down old bone and another builds new bone Every 15 years your muscles are
refreshed You might think you gain and lose fat cells when you gain and lose weight but the actually just
get bigger and smaller Over the course of 25 years though, most of them turn over But there are a few
things that stick around for your entire life About half of your heart stays with you from birth to death
because those cells are replaced very slowly Certain parts of your brain add a few new neurons over the
course of your life but the vast majority of your neurons developed before you were born It's the
connections between those neurons -- the circuits that store memories -- that are constantly changing
And there's one more part of you that lasts your whole life Months before you were born, a little cluster
of cells stretched and filled themselves with transparent protein As you grew, even after birth, more and
more fibers were added, but that center endured This is your lens the window through which you are
watching this video right now and its core has remained the same since the moment you first opened
your eyes So how old is your body really? Some of it is brand-new and some of it is as old as you are To
learn how scientists figured all this out, check out our post at skunkbear.tumblr.com And listen to
Invisibilia -- the latest episode is about whether or not personality persists throughout your entire life If
you have science questions send them our way and please subscribe to our channel!
 Date 24/01/2022 Level Easy Tag Psychology
Source Klexos: The Art of Dwelling on the Past
Channel Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows
Link https://youtu.be/pxN1YnVUfjM
Form https://forms.gle/JgE1UNaQMG4Lxiiz8

Test 4
Part 1 – Before you listen: (4 minutes)
From German “klecksography”, the art of making images from inkblots, famously used in Rorschach
psychoanalytic tests. Interpreting their ambiguity is thought to illuminate the subconscious of the
patient.
Answer the following questions.
1. Search Google for Rorschach test. It is named after Hermann Rorschach. Which country was Hermann
Rorschach born in?
2. What do you see in these photos?
Part 2 – While you listen: (6 minutes)
[1] Watch the video [2] Listen and complete the table below [3] Read the transcripts
Full transcript:
Your life is written in (1) ____________ ink. There's no going back to erase the past, (2) ____________ your
mistakes or fill in missed opportunities. When the moment's over, your fate is (3) ____________.

But if look closer, you notice the ink never really dries on any our experiences. They can change their
meaning the longer you look at them.

Klexos.

There are ways of thinking about the past that aren't just (4) ____________. A kind of questioning that
enriches an experience after the fact. To dwell on the past is to allow (5) ____________ to trickle in over the
years and fill out the picture; to keep the memory alive, and not just as a (6) ____________ of itself. So you
can look fairly at a painful experience, and call it by its name.

Time is the most (7) ____________ in the universe. It can turn a giant into someone utterly human, just trying
to make their way through. Or tell you how you really felt about someone, even if you couldn't at the
time. It can put your childhood dreams in context with (8) ____________ or turn a universal consensus into
an embarrassing fad. It can (9) ____________ in a relationship that once seemed perfect. Or keep a friendship
going by thoughts alone, even if you'll never see them again. It can (10) ____________ your greatest shame
into the source of your greatest power or turn a (11) ____________ into something petty, done for the wrong
reasons, or make what felt like the end of the world look like a natural part of life.
The past is still mostly a (12) ____________, so we may be doomed to repeat it. But it's still worth looking
into if it brings you closer to the truth.

Maybe it's not so bad to (13) ____________ in the past, and (14) ____________ in the memories, to stem the
simplification of time, and put some craft back into it. Maybe we should think of memory itself as an art
form, in which the real work begins as soon as the paint hits the (15) ____________. And remember that a
work of art is never finished, only abandoned.

Part 3 – Post-listening task: (3 minutes)

Answer these self-reflection questions.
1. For what in your life do you feel most grateful?
2. Do you ever wish life had play, pause, rewind and fast forward buttons? Why?
3. If you could time travel and meet your 10-year-old self, what would you say?
Answer
Popular resonses: bat, butterfly, moth
This card is a relatively easy one in the series, with
much of any asosciated stress in dealing with it being
trying to understand how to conduct a new task.
Popular responses: two humans, four-legged animal
such as a dog, elephant or bear
Many subjects interpret the red as blood, which can
display how the subject might respond to feelings of
anger or physical harm. Some also associate the
blood with power & have sexual responses to the
card.

1. indelible
2. tweak
3. sealed
4. nostalgia or regret
5. fresh context
6. caricature
7. powerful force
8. adult burdens
9. expose cracks
10. flip
11. jolt of pride
12. blank page
13. dwell
14. muddle
15. canvas

Transcript

Your life is written in indelible ink.

There's no going back to erase the past,
tweak your mistakes,
or fill in missed opportunities.
When the moment's over, your fate is sealed.
But if look closer, you notice the ink never really dries on any our experiences.
They can change their meaning the longer you look at them.

Klexos.

There are ways of thinking about the past that aren't just nostalgia or regret.
A kind of questioning that enriches an experience after the fact.
To dwell on the past is to allow fresh context to trickle in over the years,
and fill out the picture;
to keep the memory alive, and not just as a caricature of itself.
So you can look fairly at a painful experience, and call it by its name.
Time is the most powerful force in the universe.
It can turn a giant into someone utterly human,
just trying to make their way through.
Or tell you how you really felt about someone, even if you couldn't at the time.
It can put your childhood dreams in context with adult burdens
or turn a universal consensus into an embarrassing fad.
It can expose cracks in a relationship that once seemed perfect.
Or keep a friendship going by thoughts alone,
even if you'll never see them again.
It can flip your greatest shame into the source of your greatest power,
or turn a jolt of pride into something petty,
done for the wrong reasons,
or make what felt like the end of the world
look like a natural part of life.
The past is still mostly a blank page,
so we may be doomed to repeat it.
But it's still worth looking into if it brings you closer to the truth.
Maybe it's not so bad to dwell in the past,
and muddle in the memories,
to stem the simplification of time,
and put some craft back into it.
Maybe we should think of memory itself as an art form,
in which the real work begins as soon as the paint hits the canvas.
And remember that a work of art is never finished,
only abandoned.
 Date 24/01/2022 Level Medium Tag Health
Source Products that promise "detox" are a sham. Yes, all of them.
Channel Vox
Link https://youtu.be/lw08dtKt4oY
Form https://forms.gle/sogykuTwsq1Y6PtT8

Test 5
Part 1 – Before you listen: (2 minutes)
Detox products sell an incredibly alluring idea. Have a few indulgent days over Thanksgiving or
Christmas? Just use a tea, drink a juice, take a supplement and look as fresh as Gwyneth Paltrow — no
exercise or surgery required. The truth is unless you’re a heroin addict or you’re at risk of alcohol
poisoning, you probably don’t need a “detox.” Here’s why.
The idea can be traced all the way back to the Garden of Eden: Almost as soon as we were
created, we ate a toxic apple. Since then, perhaps to atone for this original sin, many of us have fallen
prey to the idea that we are full of nasty, usually nebulously defined toxins in our bodies and we need to
get rid of them to be purer, cleaner, and lighter.
Look back to ancient Egypt: Physicians thought that toxic substances could be produced in
people’s bodies (particularly within feces), caused disease, and needed to be expelled. This idea — called
“auto-intoxication” — persisted, according to the medical journal the Lancet, and even microbiologists
believed it through the past century. By the early 1900s, however, our understanding of physiology
evolved, and scientists sent auto-intoxication “to the dustbin of medical history,” according to the
Lancet.
Before you succumb to this incredibly appealing notion, you should know that the idea of using
some product to “detox” is nonsense. But this hasn’t stopped clever marketers from selling the idea that
we can become, somehow, less toxic by using special products.

Read the text above and match the words with its meaning.

1 alluring a a doctor, one who is a specialist in general medicine

2 fall prey to b the way in which a particular living thing functions
3 physicians c attractive and exciting in a mysterious way
4 feces d a scientist who studies microbiology
5 microbiologists e be harmed or affected by something bad
 6 physiology f a person whose job is to advertise and sell a company's products
in the best possible way
7 succumb to g solid waste material that leaves the body through the anus
8 marketers h not be able to fight an attack, a temptation, etc.
Part 2 – While you listen: (10 minutes)
[1] Watch the video [2] Listen and complete the table below [3] Read the transcripts
Long story short, detoxing is nonsense. But it’s been reinforced thanks to some really (1) _________ about
how our bodies work and a whole lot of (2) _________.

Remember how we used to use (3) _________ to get out the “bad blood” when people were sick? That’s kind
of the same idea. People thought that the body would poison itself when toxins from (4) _________ were
absorbed back into the blood. They called this idea autointoxication, and it lasted for a long time. And
even (5) _________ believed in it through the last century.

But in the (6) _________of health pseudoscience, detoxing still stuck around. Gwyneth Paltrow is a fantastic
example of that, her website is just a panorama of pseudoscience.

Here’s the thing: our bodies are already (7) _________.

The best things you can do to boost your well-being and maybe even improve your long-term health
outcomes are:
 (8) ___________,
 don't drink too much,
 don't smoke,
 exercise,
 eat a (9) ____________
— and these don’t come in a magical pill form, they don’t come in a tea form, you can’t put them on
your face in a special cream.

The detox that you see on the side of a shampoo bottle, or vitamin bottle — that’s marketing hype. But
there’s actual, real, legitimate (10) _________for people who have dangerously high levels of alcohol in their
body.

The bottom line is, (11) _________ detox products just aren’t supported by science.

More extreme detoxes like (12) _________can deplete electrolytes to dangerously low levels. There have
been reports of (13) _________ of the gut and even death when people use these kinds of products.

Part 3 – Post-listening task: (3 minutes)

Answer these self-reflection questions.
1. Do you often use any detox products? Why/Why not?
2. Do you often use health supplements? Why/Why not?

Answer
1. archaic misconceptions
2. celebrity endorsements
3. leeches
4. feces
5. microbiologists
6. realm
7. fantastic detox machines
8. sleep
9. balanced diet
10. medical detox procedures
11. over the counter
12. colon cleanses
13. perforations

Transcript

In 2007, a science advocacy group called Sense About Science reached out to the manufacturers of 15
detox health products. They wanted to figure out one thing: what exactly was the toxin that those
products were targeting?

After talking to the makers of everything from smoothies to supplements to shampoos, the researchers
came back with absolutely nothing. Not a single company could identify what “toxic substance” their
“detox” product eliminated. Long story short, detoxing — for weight loss, for beauty treatments, for
fitness — is bullshit. But it’s been kept alive thanks to some really archaic misconceptions about how
our bodies work, and a whole lot of celebrity endorsements. In fact, I've created a great 48-hour detox
plan on DoctorOz.com. So how did we get here? Now when we talk about detox, we're thinking about
getting rid of things we've overconsumed, too much food, too much alcohol, or dangerous chemicals that
have entered our bodies from the environment.

But if you go back to about 3000 BC in ancient Egypt, physicians thought that toxic substances were
actually produced within people’s bodies, and that these toxins were the cause of disease, and that they
needed to be expelled. Remember how we used to use leeches to get out the “bad blood” when people
were sick? That’s kind of the same idea.
People thought that the body would poison itself when toxins from feces were absorbed back into the
blood. They called this idea autointoxication, and it lasted for a long time. And even microbiologists
believed in it through the last century. By the early 1900s, our understanding of physiology evolved, and
we stopped taking the idea of autointoxication seriously. But in the realm of health pseudoscience,
detoxing still stuck around. And a lot of that detox culture has been shaped by celebrity culture. Movie
stars and other performers will use detox products, and their stories will get written up in magazines.

Gwyneth Paltrow is a fantastic example of that, her website is just a panorama of pseudoscience. She’s
famously endorsed different types of cleanses that she allegedly uses herself. What you don’t see is that
those products are just one part of a multi-million dollar business promoting easy exercise and diet
solutions. It’s very appealing to just believe you can take something from a store shelf, take it for a few
weeks, and somehow have this very quick transformation into something that will look as wonderful as
she does. Here’s the thing: our bodies are already fantastic detox machines. We have the skin, the
lymphatic and gastrointestinal systems, the kidneys, the liver — they’re all working together to convert
toxic substances that enter the body into harmless things that your body can either store or eliminate.
But the best things you can do to boost your wellbeing and maybe even improve your long-term health
outcomes are just sleep, don't drink too much, don't smoke, exercise, eat a balanced diet — and these
don’t come in a magical pill form, they don’t come in a tea form, you can’t put them on your face in a
special cream. At the same time, “detoxing” is a real process for people suffering from substance
addiction. The detox that you see on the side of a shampoo bottle, or vitamin bottle — that’s marketing
hype. But there’s actual, real, legitimate medical detox procedures for people who have levels of
alcohol or drugs or poisons in their body that are too high, and they need to go through some kind of
treatment to get them back to levels that basically won’t kill them, or overwhelm their organ systems.
Again, that’s not something you can buy on the shelf at the grocery store or the pharmacy. The bottom
line is, over the counter detox products just aren’t supported by science. And they can also actually be
dangerous. More extreme detoxes like colon cleanses can deplete electrolytes to dangerously low levels.
There have been reports of perforations of the gut and even death when people use these kinds of
products. "And the things that these 'detox' and 'cleanse' products claim to accomplish?

Your body does those things on its own." So any time you see words like ‘detox’ or ‘cleanse’ on a product
label, remember: it’s just marketing hype. And it’s time we start treating it accordingly. One of the things
we didn't get into in this story is that Amazon, one of the world's largest retailers, is also selling hundreds
of detox products on its site. So everything from colon cleansers to help you lose weight to detox
footpads, teas. So it's not just Gwyneth Paltrow selling this stuff, it's everywhere, and it's a reminder of
how critical we need to be of health claims that seem to good to be true.