BODY CLEANSES
By Dr.
Gordon Chang, Ph.D.
Cleansing is an age-old ritual, which has
been practiced by individuals in many different cultures. Every cleansing routine is an attempt by the
individual to rid the body of accumulated toxins and parasites and thereby
increase the efficiency of the organ systems in the body. The accumulated toxins if left untreated can
eventually cause many chronic illnesses.
It is usually suggested that an otherwise healthy individual do a total
body cleanse twice a year, once in the spring and another in the fall. If an individual is exposed to a large toxin
load, because of medicines, toxic environment (painting, pollution,
pesticides), smoking, alcohol and drug use, I recommend that an organ cleanse
be done on a more frequent basis (every 4-6 months).
Smokers and individuals who live or work in
environments which have a large amount of air pollution should consider taking
a lung cleanse on a regular basis in order to support the lungs.
Those who drink substantial quantities of alcohol,
use recreational drugs or are on medications should consider using a liver
support product in addition to frequent cleansing. Persons who have certain diseases of the liver such as hepatitis,
psoriasis, and eczema, should also consider doing a liver cleanse and also take
a liver support product such as Liver Plus.
Individuals who have a high protein diet, suffer from
gout should consider doing kidney cleanse.
Kidney cleanses by their very nature tend to involve diuretic herbs or
substances. As a result of this they
should be of short duration and low frequency.
Furthermore, it is advisable to increase your intake of potassium rich
foods such as bananas when doing a kidney cleanse.
The colon should also be cleansed on a fairly frequent
basis in order to completely remove any trapped fecal matter. The frequency of colon cleansing depends on
the diet of the individual. For
instance if your diet is high in fibre and your stools are fairly large, you
can do a colon cleanse every 6 months.
On the other hand, if your diet is low in fibre and your stools are
small then you should do a colon cleanse every 3-4 months. In selecting a colon cleanse, one should
look for high fibre content and avoid taking products that contain herbs with
laxative properties. Herbal Laxatives
contain chemical compounds that chemically stimulate your colon to produce a
bowel movement. In contrast, high fibre
products produce a bowel movement by increasing the volume of your stool, which
in turn fills the colon and then naturally stimulates a bowel movement. Use of laxatives is habit forming and should
only be used as a last resort.
All
cleanses should have two effects:
Firstly, the cleanse should increase the rate of elimination of stored
toxins; and secondly, the cleanse should also provide support for the organ
being cleansed. Support of the organ is
important because the process that produces an increased elimination of toxins
is usually associated with an increased formation of free radicals which can
potentially cause damage to the organ being cleansed. The major organs of toxin removal from the body are the kidneys,
lungs and the colon. The liver is a
special organ that helps breakdown toxins into a form which can then be
eliminated from the kidneys, lung and colon.
Additionally, the lung and the kidneys are also sites where some toxins
are biochemically altered in order to be removed.
Parasites and intestinal bacteria
are other major sources of toxins that are absorbed by the body. In order to minimize the amount of toxins
taken up from intestinal sources it is also important that individuals do a
periodic parasite cleanse. Parasites
such as intestinal worms (pinworms, tape worms), amoeba etc. can invade our
body from many sources. These sources
include raw uncooked foods such as vegetables, fruits and sushi. They can also be introduced into our bodies
from pets, flies and other insect pests.
The waste products produced by the parasites are toxic in nature and
under normal circumstances can be tolerated by a healthy individual in small
quantities (i.e. when few parasites are present). However, if the body’s toxin elimination systems are
overloaded, a large number of parasites
creates an extra toxin load which can then lead to a downward spiral in the individual’s
health, resulting in many chronic diseases.
As previously mentioned, intestinal bacteria also produce toxins which
are absorbed by the body. There are
several ways to decrease the amount of toxins absorbed from this source. You can change the balance of the types of
bacteria that inhabit your intestinal tract, increase your consumption of
soluble fibres or destroy all of the bacteria in your gut. Destroying the bacteria in your gut is not
practical or very healthy. However, it
is quite easy to change the types of bacteria that inhabit the gut as well as
increase your intake of soluble fibres.
Changing the balance of the intestinal micro flora can be easily
achieved by consuming a mixture of different species of probiotics (friendly
bacteria). Increasing your intake of
soluble fibre serves two purposes: (1) It binds to toxins and prevents their
absorption by the body. However,
different fibres bind to different toxins with different efficiencies. Therefore it is important that you consume a
large range of soluble fibres. (2)
Increasing your intake of fibre causes a decrease in the amount of time that
body waste stay in the large intestine.
The net result is a decrease in the total quantity of toxins absorbed
into the body.
