DETOXES in January are a popular way of redressing festive over-indulgence, but they have been slammed by the British Liver Trust.

Charity chief Andrew Langford said: “While people believe the hype, it would actually be more beneficial to adopt a more long-term attitude to achieving good liver health.

“People think they’re virtuous with their health by embarking on a liver detox each January with the belief that they are cleansing their liver of excess following the festive break.

“A one-hit, one-month attempt to achieve long-term liver health is not the way to approach it.

“You’re better off making a resolution to take a few days off alcohol a week throughout the entire year than remaining abstinent for January only.”

Dr Mark Wright, consultant hepatologist at Southampton General Hospital, added: “Detoxing for just a month in January is medically futile. It can lead to a false sense of security and feeds the idea that you can abuse your liver as much as you like and then sort everything else with a quick fix.

“It makes about as much sense as maxing out your credit cards and overdraft all year, then thinking you can fix it by just eating toast in January.

“The figures just don’t stack up.”

The criticisms come as the trust prepares to launch the first-ever national liver awareness campaign in the UK.

As part of Love Your Liver, the trust has teamed up with alcohol-free wine maker Eisberg to stage a roadshow in five cities at which people will be able to have their liver health tested.

The Love Your Liver campaign can be followed via love yourliver.org.uk; facebook.com/loveyour liveruk; and Twitter@love yourliveruk.