Body Clensing?

Hey,

I have been working on trying to loose weight for about 6 weeks now, with decent sucess, and I was talking about it with a friend... she reccomended I try a natural body clense (not one of those all you drink is water and starve yourselves ones) its called Bio firm and I would still follow my normal healthy diet. Its supposed to clean all the junk (like preservatives, toxins, artificial sweeteners....etc) out of my body, I dont want to do it for weight loss reasons, but to help me just be a healthier me. But my querstion is has anybody out there tried this in the past? and did it help at all? any suggestions/feedback?

Assuming you've got a fully functioning liver and kidneys then your body is detoxing itself beautifully 24/7.  A healthy diet and a good intake of fluids is absolutely all you need for this to keep happening.  Anything extra is really money down the drain and will do nothing either positive or negative for your health.

i read in a book on nutrition that its very healthy to do a detox every so often.  ur body does naturally regulate, but it can get overworked at times, resulting in u feeling lethargic, achy, or getting mild headaches.  it said that its good to do 1 day fasts abt once a month (drinking any clear fluids- juices, broths...) and longer ones like once a yr (6 days or so).  of course u have to ask a doc b4 u do a longer one.  my bro-in-law did a long one recently and he said he felt soo good- he had more energy than when he was eating!  he had a colon cleasing supplement while he did it but u dont necessarily need one.  after the fast, u gotta ease urself back into eating- the first day, ur gonna have to drink a lot still and just eat a little bit of light stuff.  increase to normal eating in a few days.  also, if during the fast u need to eat, u can have a lil watermelon. (but try to do that only if u really need to)
hope i helped- remember, wtvr u do, ASK A DOCTOR FIRST

I think it's all about feeling "cleansed" mentally. Physically, it's little more than engaging in glorified/normalized purgative behavior (laxative/enema use/abuse). I don't know how you could feel "energized" after depleting your body. I agree with GI-Jane. Let your body take care of itself, and it will. If it doesn't, consult with a doctor about concerns/complaints.

Directly quoted from a wellness counselor:

"Why detox? Didn't God make us in a way that the body can eliminate toxicity on it's own?

This is a good question. The body does have it's own built-in filtering systems and they work very well. If they didn't, in today's polluted world, the human race would already be extinct. So why aren't our natural systems enough to keep us healthy?

Let's compare those systems of the body to a factory worker for a moment. Consider a factory worker who works a regular 8 hour shift, doing nothing but taking out waste from the factory. This worker carries buckets of waste from the factory out to a waste dump somewhere, for 8 hours a day. Pretty tiring but most healthy workers can handle it.

Now, let's consider what would happen if the waste load suddenly tripled? How long would that factory worker survive working a triple shift?

So, how might a body triple the toxic waste within it? Oh, there are several ways to create this unhealthy situation.

Sugar Consumption - Refined sugar holds waste in the intestines far, far too long. Excess refined sugar also helps promote an environment in which candida thrives. I personally feel that the consumption of refined sugar is a major contributing factor in the development of colon cancer and of course, the link to diabetes is well-established.

There are healthy alternatives to refined sugar but these do NOT include (in my opinion) high fructose corn syrup, aspartame, saccarin sweeteners or even splenda. Consuming any of those while attempting a body detox is counter-productive, in particular, and I just don't consider them healthy any other time either. My recommendations for healthy sweetening include Agave Nectar (it is truly delicious) and Stevia (choose your stevia brand carefully as some have a bitter aftertaste).

Fat Consumption - Oxidized fat (created in every fast food french fry and onion ring we eat) and excess fat consumption overloads the liver and is very hard on the system, in general. Excess fat contributes to the development of heart disease and high cholesterol.

Lack of Water Consumption - You may have read wildly differing opinions on how much water the body needs to function normally. Here's my two cents on that subject....the human body is mostly made up of water. It is just common sense to me that the body would function and eliminate wastes best with more water than less. Consider using an ionizer system to alkalize water for even better elimination and health benefits. Detoxing the body effectively is not possible in a dehydrated system so hydrate, hydrate, and hydrate some more when you are detoxing.

I personally still follow the 64 ounce a day rule but I work to drink my water in regular intervals throughout the day and night (I keep a glass by my bed and if I wake during the night, I make a point of drinking more water). And I make sure I'm drinking good water, purified water. I also add something to alkalize my water. There are many options for alkalizing water and you can explore that on the internet. I use several different products. One is called is called Body Alkalizer and another is called Xooma.

Sedentary Lifestyle: If you are one of millions who make their living as I do, sitting in front of a computer all day, the risk of colon toxicity intensifies. There is something about sitting in one position for a long time that interferes with colon function, in my opinion. We were not created to sit slumped down in front of a computer or a tv for hours. The body was designed to move and stretch and walk."

None of the above are good arguments for 'detoxing'.  They are all good reasons, however, for not...  stuffing yourself with junk-food, alcohol, excessive sugar and fats, being dehydrated, or sitting on your backside all day.

I'd draw the OP's attention to this BBC programme 'The Truth About Food' and a small but fascinating experiment they did on two groups of volunteers...  The 'detox' group's bodies functioned not one iota better than the control group at the end of the exercise. 

Common sense really.   Put less junk in, look after yourself and your body will look after you.

Well obviously the smart thing to do would be to not do these things in the first place.  The fact is, people do.  Look, all I can say is that I know 3 people who have done it, all advised by medical professionals, and they've felt really good afterwards.  And as for not really cleaning out toxins?  You should see what came out of his colon.  (a bit disgusting, but he took a pic b/c it was really incredible how much there was...)

Do "wellness counselors" have medical degrees? Experience in clinical epidemiology?

I know three people who have done narcotics, all prescribed by medical professionals, and they've felt really good afterwards. Just because something feels nice doesn't mean it's gentle on your system and doesn't make it good for your health.

Detox is a myth and cash grab, except "detoxing" with a healthy balanced diet, positive attitude, and exercise.

Even without the treatment the person who took pictures of his own excrement (and that's a fairly bizarre thing to do, incidentally)  would still have found it in staring up at him from the toilet bowl sooner or later.  That's what faeces is... the waste matter and toxins leaving your body.  The fact that it whistled out in one massive dump just means he'd been given some really powerful laxatives.

If you want to become a certified 'Wellness Counselor' just cough up $1500 and take a class one day a week for eight weeks. No wonder they talk so much about excrement.

If you want to become a certified 'Wellness Counselor' just cough up $1500 and take a class one day a week for eight weeks. No wonder they talk so much about excrement.

ROFL!!!!  That's priceless.... 

The worst part is that I see so many people who say "OOOO, it's herbal.  That means its natural and is therefore safe."  WAKE UP!  Hemlock is natural.  Nightshade is natural.  I can name at least 15 other plants that are poisonous.  There are dozens more where certain parts of the plant are poisonous.  Some things that are poisonous taken internally are quite useful if used exterally.  Many other plants contain things in them that can kill you but only if concentrated.  Still, a small dose of poison is still a small dose of poison.  It might not kill you now, but what happens after you take it every day for a month?  a year?  a decade?  How much damage are you doing to yourself?  Hundreds more herbs are toxic in combination with one or more other herbs.

I'm very wary of the "all natural herb" crowd.  I find them to be both woefully and willfully ignorant of the active properties in most herbs.  They have an almost cult like mentality about it and will attack anyone who challeges them.   I've been forcibly escorted out of a store because I pointed out that they were selling things that humans shouldn't be taking. 

This particular establishment was selling what was supposed to be a particular herbal mix that my friend wanted to try.  He asked me to see what was in it and see if it was safe.  They wouldn't tell us over the phone what was in it.  We had to go to the store and check the label for ourselves.  It contained lily bulbs (poisionous), hycanith foliage (poisonous), wormwood (toxic) and whole host of other things that ranged from poisonous to toxic to having undesirable side effects.  When I pointed this out to him, he proceeded to tell another person that started to pick the item up off the shelf that it wasn't any good because it contained poisous ingredients.  That shopper scurries off and consults the store manager.  The manager stomps over to me. 

Him:  "WTF do you think you're doing?  Why are you telling people not buy this product?"

Me: "Umm... because you're selling these people poison." 

Him: "But that's our most popular blend." 

Me (pointing to stuff on label):  "See, that's poisonous.  And that.  And that.  And that.  And this only poisionous when you take it with this so you should reformulate to leave one of them out......"

Him:  "We can't afford to loose that kind of business."

At which point he grabs me by the arm (still holding bottle), and my friend and shoves us out the door.  Snatching the bottle out of my hand, he goes back inside.  I've similarly frost receptions at other places that hand out rather dubious advice along with their supplements.

I've seen a great many really dangerous herbal concoctions for sale in otherwise reputable stores.  I actually have seen one place that sells a concotion for "cleasing" that I use to dip my dog in to keep him from getting fleas.  It's at least as effective as Advantix or Frontline, so this isn't mild tame stuff.  I don't know what it would do to a human who ingested it and I certainly don't plan to find out. 

Well said.

Please pass me the organic botulism and E. coli   :P

Interesting thread.  I'm the wellness counselor being bashed. 

 

To super-penquin:

Just to be clear, since one article was excerpted from an entire series on safe and effective detoxing, I don't recommend detoxing for weight loss on it's own.  I do suggest, and believe, that a thorough detox can help prepare the body for better results with a good weight loss, fitness and positive lifestyle change program.

 

To chris1208 with regard to:

If you want to become a certified 'Wellness Counselor' just cough up $1500 and take a class one day a week for eight weeks. No wonder they talk so much about excrement.

No one-day course for me Chris.  I have been studying natural healing for decades.  I also have lived to be a healthy 54 and have probably used prescription drugs (mostly the occasional aspirin) less than a dozen times in that life.  I walk my talk.

 

To morrighu, in reference to:

The worst part is that I see so many people who say "OOOO, it's herbal.  That means its natural and is therefore safe."

So right, morrighu.  I spend a lot of time educating people to the fact that just because something is natural does not mean it is safe and, even if considered safe for most people, anyone under a doctors care should always check with their doctor for possible interactions with drugs before taking natural supplements.  In fact, I have an ongoing section on my site that lists side effects of natural supplements.

I see the same kind of ignorance among those who take prescription drugs.  Just because a doctor prescribes it, that doesn't mean it's safe.  Last time I saw statistics, there were over a hundred thousand deaths a year from prescription drug complications and drug recalls happen almost every month it seems.  Drugs that are approved as safe are recalled because they are killing people.  I highly recommend that those who trust the doctor for their health be very pro-active in deciding which drugs they accept from that doctor.

I totally agree that some herbal detox formulas are pure bull and some are dangerous.  The ones that I've seen which are most dangerous are those where natural active ingredients are extracted and concentrated, tossing off the synergistic co-ingredients existing in nature.  Example, herbal phenphen.  Most those formulas contained about a hundred times more ma huang than a person would be apt to eat naturally.

 

To gi-jane with reference to: 

Assuming you've got a fully functioning liver and kidneys then your body is detoxing itself beautifully 24/7

In a perfect world, yes, we would get all we needed from a healthy diet to detox naturally except for times when we might be exposed to some type of extraordinary pollutant. 

However, breathing in and drinking or eating anything exposes us to pollution that wasn't here on earth even 80 years ago.  Our farm lands are depleted of natural minerals and full of man-made, very harmful pollutants.  Our seafood is full of mercury.  Our water contains prescription drug residue, pcb's, chlorine and other contaminants.  Our energetic fields are constantly bombarded with EMF waves.

Detoxing is a way to rid the body of accumulating toxins so that the system does not get overloaded. 

I just posted stuff about the same thing on another persons forum. Here is what I had to say (I just copied and pasted, so much easier than retyping! haha) Oh, it may seem a bit rambled, but I'm sure you'll understand what I mean.

 

If we still lived the way our ancestors did we wouldn't have to worry about doing any sort of clense. They were so incredibly healthy! But think about it, they ate only stuff that was good for them and not all this processed foods and garbage that we shove into our bodies.

ACTUALLY...  I too have done a LOT of research. I'm not looking for a "lose weight in a matter of seconds" plan or anything like that. I am wanting to just get my body healthy. There are a lot of mixed opinions about the colon clensing out there, that's for sure. Just remember, if you do decide to do it, you are infact flushing out a lot of nutrients that your body needs, but at the same time you are flushing out SOOOO much "junk" that your body has built up over the years. It is almost impossible for a lot of people in this day and age to reach their fitness goal no matter what diet and excersize they do because in the end they still have pounds of CRAP (literattly) still inside them. That's why it seems like your stomach fat will never fully go away. I have not done the clense  myself, yet. But plan to in the next week or so. After all the research I have done, and after talking to a doctor, I have learned that after the clense it is of HIGH importance that you get the good stuff that you flushed out of your body back in it asap. And I have also been told by MANY profensionals that it is ok to do. But don't use it for only weight loss.

This part is going to be a little bit gross, just warning those with light stomachs.... I have learned that the clenses that you take by mouth don't normally work properly. They are more of a laxitive and he side effects could be really bad. The best method is the type you actually have to bed over and stick up in there yourself. Doesn't sound too fun, I know. I am not going to name products because I don't want to sound like a person just trying to push a product, but there are actually kinds out there that you can get that after you do the first flush and you are sure you are "drained" there is a second mix of stuff that you use to put the "good stuff" back. If that makes sense... I really don't know how to explain it with out getting too graphic.

Another things people don't realize is that you don't just do it once and expect your stomach to be flat and your colon to be clean. It is actually best to do it over a weeks time, every other day. You will know you are "all clean" when a tar like substance comes out. Gross, I know. And remember to drink A LOT OF WATER!!!!!! This will help flush out excess water in your body so you will lose all that water weight and pretty fast.

My best friend also did this all. She was 5'3 and 210 pounds. First she drank A LOT of water for a week to get rid of water weight. She lost 10 pounds in just that week!!!! Not even kidding. Then she did the clense and lost a little over 30 pounds in that 2nd week. She felt so much better about herself and with just that she was motivated to get into a healthy lifestyle. We used to be the chubby buddies but now she is down to a good healthy size and I'm still wearing plus sizes..

funxsize, please tell me you aren't going to cut and paste the same stuff on every old thread there is on cleansing/detoxing?