As a counter to all of the myths and marketing hype accompanying the detox and diet delusions in January, the British Dietetic Association is a voice of balance, reason and sense, giving five top diet tips.

Dietician and spokesperson for the BDA Dr Frankie Phillips says: "The whole idea of detox is nonsense. The body is a well-developed system that has its own built-in mechanisms to detoxify and remove waste from top to toe.

"Skin, the gut and liver and kidneys are all chemically-controlled powerhouses that respond to signals in the form of hormones to remove waste products, detoxifying the body constantly.

"There are no pills or specific drinks, patches or lotions that can do a magic job. If you have over-indulged on alcohol, for example, the liver works hard to break down the alcohol into products it can remove.

Being well-hydrated is a sensible strategy, but as we have tragically seen recently, drinking copious amounts of water can be as dangerous as not drinking enough.

"It sounds predictable but for the vast majority of people, a sensible diet and regular physical activity really are the only ways to properly protect your health for the year ahead."

At a time when diet experts are springing up all around, Pauline Douglas, chairwoman of the BDA is keen to set dieticians apart: "As a New Year brings with it an opportunity to resolve to take care of our health, diet is frequently the top of people's list.

"Consequently we know that there are many sources offering advice about diet and health, sometimes leading to dangerous effects. Good nutrition is a critical component of good health and we want to remind those working to improve the public's awareness of health and diet that dieticians are the only independently regulated experts who can translate the complex science of nutrition into practical guidance.

"Dieticians enable people to make appropriate lifestyle choices, taking into account an individual's lifestyle, budget and health and we want to make sure that people recognise and understand what dieticians do – and that their advice is to be trusted."

As such the BDA is currently running a joint campaign with the Health Professions Council to make people aware of who dieticians are, what they do and how important it is to make sure your health professional is registered.

The BDA's top five New Year diet resolution tips are:

Drink sensibly: Six to eight glasses of fluid, or about one and a half to two litres per day is enough for most people.

Keep a diet diary for a week: Be honest and record everything. Then have a look at the areas where you can make changes.

If you need to make changes to your diet do so gradually: Make small changes that you can stick to like eating one extra portion of veg or fruit each day or having a daily breakfast.

Plan your meals: Make a shopping list based on the meals you plan to have for the week ahead – it will also save money as you'll be less likely to waste food.

For resources: visit the BDA's website for free resources, meal plans, and strategies to improve your nutritional health. The BDA has a series of fact sheets designed to help people make sense of a whole range of nutrition issues, including fact sheets on fluid.