I was asked by a reader to comment on the use of intestinal cleansing for health improvement. He wanted to know if it was beneficial.

The Short Answer is NO. The long answer as to why is below.

Let me review briefly the anatomy and physiology of your digestive tract.

The organs of digestion and solid waste elimination are:

• the mouth, teeth and saliva
• esophagus
• stomach with it hydrochloric acid producing cells
• Small intestine
• liver, gallbladder and pancreas
• Large intestine

We start the digestive process by thoroughly chewing our food and mixing it with saliva, a digestive enzyme. We swallow and the chewed food is transported to our stomach by the esophagus. The Stomach churns the food, mixes it with acid and breaks it down further into a liquid form. In the small intestine further digestion and absorption occurs with additions of bile salts from the liver and fat and protein digestive enzymes from the pancreas. In the large bowel certain bacteria help produce vitamin K and water is extracted from the waste. Some cholesterol is absorbed here also and if not enough fiber has been eaten things move slowly and become dried out too much. We call this problem constipation. When the stool is eliminated from the body it should be the consistency of tooth paste and be eliminated just as easily as squeezing paste from the tube. It should be soft enough to coil and twist in the toilet.

I did not mention it above but regular exercise is part of the digestive and elimination process. Without regular exercise, we don’t move digested food through the intestines as easily. Most of us in America get way too little exercise.

There is another more serious problem that I will write about next week and that is we don’t eat food, we eat processed food stuff. Food looks like it did when it was harvested. A potato should have the skin on it and look solid and brown, not sliced, frozen and in sauce. You can make it look that way in your kitchen, but not before. Meat is processed and so are fruits. Fruit juice is largely water and even if it isn’t, the real fruit with all its fiber is much better for you and you will consume less sugar by eating the raw fruit.

We often do not eat any of the number two nutrient our body requires - water. Many times my patients tell me they hate water! What!? They are accustomed to buying expensive water which has been colored, sweetened and has drugs (caffeine) added to it. These canned chemicals are not water and are bad for you.

Eat FOOD, drink WATER, and get EXERCISE.

Now, what about cleansing. Well, most of us are constipated. Yes, I know you poop every day. But your stools are hard or firm, and you have to strain a little to get them out. Did you know that 1/3 of your stool is bacteria? You have 500 different kinds in your gut. They need to be eliminated regularly. So, what these cleanses do is eliminate your back log of solid waste.

I looked at the Master Cleanse diet of Stanley Burroughs. He claims to have been inspired to “write out this diet” for a sick friend many years ago. Now a company representing Mr. Burroughs sells the components to his “lemonade diet”. Lets look at what it does.

• Maple Syrup, organic, dark mineral rich grade - 64 oz. Retail $29.95
• Light Grey Celtic Sea Salt - 1 lb. Retail $10.00
• Natural Laxative Tea Bags Retail $6.00
• Cayenne Powder Retail $5.50
• The Master Cleanser Book by Stanley Boroughs $6.50

Above are the ingredients listed for the cleanse with their prices as of 2/10/08. The instructions for this are below.

To make 16 oz. (one pint) of lemonade drink, mix the following In a 16 oz cup or 1 pint jar:

• 3 Tablespoons of Organic Maple Syrup.
• Entire juice from one lemon.
• 1/8 of a teaspoon of our Cayenne Pepper Blend Powder, or more.
• Fill the rest of the jar with purified water.

Make up 4 to 8 pints for consumption each day. If you do not know how much you will drink daily in the beginning, make 6 pints for the first day and adjust this quantity as experience dictates.

Cravings, aches, pains, mental irritability and tiredness will turn on as your toxins are mobilized.(highlights added by author of Get the Skinney) To eliminate these unpleasant sensations, you need to be sure you have two, three, or more bowel movements a day.Part of the Master Cleanse instructions are to drink a laxative herb tea each evening. Follow the directions on the box, and do not drink more than the recommended amount.

An additional step for cleansing, also part of the Master cleanse instructions is:
Each morning , add two teaspoons of non-iodized sea salt to a full quart of water.
Unprocessed Celtic sea salt is the best. Do not use ordinary iodized salt as it will not work properly.
Drink this salt water first thing in the morning on an empty stomach. “Chug” this - drink the quart as fast as possible. Within an hour several bowel movements will likely occur. If you do not have several bowel movements, try a little more salt in the water the next day until it works.

Drink the herb laxative tea at night to loosen and the salt water each morning to wash it out. (Bruce: a dose of salts!)

If you can’t drink the salt water in the morning, drink the herb laxative tea at night and in the morning. (Bruce: Ever had a colonoscopy? The solution you drink is similar but not absorbable)

This is a water fast with some lemon juice and sugar in water. Everyday you take a hyper-tonic fluid (salt water) which pulls fluid into your intestine and causes diarrhea. Most people have a backlog of poop so they will go 2-4 times per day. The pump is primed each evening with an herbal laxative drunk as a tea. They charge you $50 for some sugar, non-iodized salt and an a laxative you can brew as “tea”.

My grandparents knew all about this. My Grandmother would give you a “dose of salts” i.e. epsom salts and it really worked. Have you ever heard the expression, “Ran through like a dose of salts.” You had to stay near the bathroom after that treatment.

Not eating anything but water, salt and sugar flavored by lemon juice is going to make you hurt because you begin to look to your muscles for protein and all your glycogen for energy and eventually your fat. You will lose poop, muscle, all your stored sugar and a little fat on this diet. That is why they only recommend it for 3 days. I am amazed that the site says it is for people with ” serious health problems”. I would think only the hardiest among us should even try it.

If you want to get your excess solid waste out, eat more real food! Lots of fruits and vegetables each day (14 ounces per day). Only a little meat - size of a deck of cards - more like a side dish. Drink lots of water. Get some exercise regularly. Get enough sleep - try for 8 recumbent hours per night. We used to call advice like this common sense. Of course Albert Einstein said,”Common sense is just the prejudices we accumulate by age 18.” Anyway, you don’t need a cleanse. Put the right stuff into your body, do the right things for it and most of the time it will do what it is supposed to do.

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