#dailydigest

I’ve met Jonathan Hirshon. I know what Jonathan Hirshon looks like. You probably don’t, and neither does Google or Facebook. That’s just how the PR professional wants it.

Hirshon is shorter than most, and balding. He wears glasses. He’s friendly, and well liked in the tech industry. Back in the late ’90s, he did in-house PR for Apple.

At 48, Hirshon was an adult well before the Internet was a mainstream tool. Though he’s a pro when it comes to getting his clients publicity, he’s dead-set against his own image being online.

It must have worked, since a Google image search for his name doesn’t return a single picture that’s actually him.

This was my first detox diet, and Gilmore says taking a break from certain foods is something everyone should do on a regular basis. “Our bodies encounter environmental toxins on a daily basis, including pollution, mold, heavy metals, and more,” she says. “While we don’t have much control over that, what we can do is help lighten the load placed on our crucial detox organs, like the skin, liver, and kidneys, by reducing our intake of processed foods and artificial ingredients, and eating more nutrient-rich whole foods instead.”

If your goal is to drop a couple pounds, detoxes can help with that, too. I’ll admit: my holiday free-for-all affected how my clothing fit, and my wardrobe options were becoming limited. By day four, my stomach was flat and my jeans fit again. And by day 10, I had lost six pounds.

Toxins impact the scale, says Gilmore. “Exposure to toxins can prompt weight gain, regardless of calorie intake or exercise,” she says. A study published in the Journal of Medical Toxicology found that rats exposed to insecticides gained weight without increased caloric intake or decreased exercise. In just four months, these rats experienced a significant increase in body fat when compared to rats not exposed to the same toxic chemicals.