Don't believe the Hype
A client called me a few weeks ago looking for advice about what I call a Cleanse-In-
A-Box. These “Intestinal Cleanse” formulas are found all over the internet, on late night TV, at “health food stores” and increasingly at the local drug store. They promise great rewards through little effort. I have huge concerns about the efficacy and safety of these products.
Before you decide to purchase or take a cleansing product, please consider the following factors carefully. I know that many alternative health care practitioners advocate these products. I do not feel that they are safe or valuable for you and I want you to understand why.
Check the ingredient lists. Look for Senna, Cascara Sagrada and Psyllium.
Psyllium is a dietary fiber commonly used to improve bowel regularity. It serves this function well, although I prefer flax fiber which I feel is less likely to cause gas. However, psyllium is very inexpensive. Don’t pay a high price for a “cleanse” that is mostly inexpensive psyllium.
Senna and Cascara Sagrada are potent herbal laxatives. All the medical studies I’ve read say that it is unsafe to take either for more than seven days in a row. They can be habit-forming even in a very short time. These products work by irritating the intestinal lining. Cleansing by irritating? I don’t think that is a good idea.
These “cleanses” promise dramatic results. We see all kinds of sensational, tabloid-style advertising about the weight we can lose by eliminating pounds of waste we are carrying around and the miles of “black snakes” or “mucosal plaque” you can eliminate. Recognize that these are advertising ploys. Senna and Cascara Sagrada are laxatives that can cause you to have a runny stool – much of the weight you are losing may be water your body shouldn’t be losing. Taking some pills and tinctures may lead to some weight loss, but that you are likely to gain most of it back when you return to normal eating and stop taking the product.
Here’s the technical bit that makes me wonder about the black snakes: medical studies show that use of senna or cascara sagrada can stain the internal lining of the large intestine black. Use of senna and cascara sagrada can cause over-production of mucus, which is protective of the delicate internal tissue. Put the two together. Sounds like black, tarry mucus to me. I have not found a single medical study verifying the existence of mucoid plaque in normal individuals. Is it possible that these expensive “cleanses” actually create the “snakes” they claim to eliminate from the body?
So what to do? I suggest a dietary solution, a dietary cleanse that continues to nourish your body without irritation. You can cut back on calories, take in large quantities of fiber, have a few colonics, replenish your good bacteria with Probiotics and feel as fantastic as all these glossy, well-marketed “cleanses” say you’ll feel. Safely.
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Comments (5)
I spoke with an associate that has disected many colons. He said that the inside of every one he examined all looked the same, smooth and shiny, with none of the mucky deposits, the product pushers are fond of warning us about.
Comment #1 Posted by: Smooth | September 18, 2007 08:08 PM
WARNING: Graphic images at this link may cause Nightmares
http://www.blessedherbs.com/photos2i.html
Comment #2 Posted by: Colon Powell | September 18, 2007 08:22 PM
Heather,
Cooked meat and pasteurized dairy products are really the culprit here. Adding "large quantities of fiber" is a poor second choice, as an antidote to a predominately cooked food diet. Try a no fiber (primal diet) with all raw food; including meat, eggs, dairy, lots of raw fat and vegetable juice, and you will see for yourself, that in most healthy people, all dehydration and poor digestion issues vanish.
Comment #3 Posted by: No fiber | September 18, 2007 08:27 PM
Smooth, I've heard the same thing from gastroenterologists. Makes you wonder where all that mucoid plaque comes from, thus my assertion that the cleanses themselves create it.
"The only reason you have a laxative industry is because you've taken the fiber out of your diet."
- Denis Burkitt, MD
No Fiber, I agree that diet is the causative factor in most digestive problems. My experience with clients is that asking them to make small, measurable changes that start to bring results (like adding fiber) is successful, where asking them to make sweeping changes usually isn't. Thus, I am interested in cleansing as a way of introducing feelings of wellness they may not be familiar with over a short period of time, and then showing them the small changes that can take them there over time. Most people wouldn't know what to do with swiss chard if you put it in front of them. There's a huge learning curve here.
"I don't understand why asking people to eat a well-balanced vegetarian diet is considered drastic, while it is medically conservative to cut people open and put them on powerful cholesterol-lowering drugs for the rest of their lives."
-Dean Ornish, MD
"Meat industry officials have been as aggressive as the bulls of Pamplona in telling America's steak and hamburger lovers to keep chomping away: The carcasses are safe, healthy and every bit as real food for real people as the actor James Garner said in TV commercials they were, before he had a real fine heart bypass operation."
-Colman McCarthy, The Washington Post.
Check out more discussion about raw food at www.OjaiHealing.com.
October is Vegetarian Awareness Month. Look for me often on this soapbox!
Comment #4 Posted by: heather | September 19, 2007 02:55 PM
Thank you for your comments Heather,
No doubt, a skillful approach to nutrition is a life long, and ever changing experiment, made MUCH more challenging, by the industrialization of our food supply. I honor your commitment. If you have not heard of the Weston Price Foundation, you might benefit from reading the world wide studies on vegetarianism, and its suitability as a diet for humans.
Everything is good, for everyone it is good for, until it is no longer good for them.
-Health is our only real wealth.
Comment #5 Posted by: Jeff | September 19, 2007 06:59 PM