Keeping your bowels open At the age of five and a half I had my tonsils out. Every day a nurse would ask me if I had ‘opened my bo...
At the age of five and a half I had my tonsils out. Every day a nurse would ask me if I had ‘opened my bowels’. I didn’t have a clue what she was talking about, or why it was so important.
Traditional approaches to keeping healthy frequently included, and still does include, the idea of keeping ’regular’.
History shows us that people are very preoccupied with the regular functioning of their bodily waste disposal systems. Bodily waste is extremely toxic, after all. Today TV ads frequently press us to buy products which will ‘improve your daily digestive transit’ and bran based cereals are big business, if you’ll forgive the pun.
It is also true to say that our modern diets, high in processed food and low in fibre, have been associated with various diseases of the colon and do little for ‘regularity’, hence the current ‘five a day guidelines’. Fruit, veg, fibre, water and exercise: Easy to say, hard to do.
A Good Clearout
There is a long held belief that a good clearout, bowel wise, is a jolly good thing and very necessary to maintain good health. It has been with us in some shape or form for a very long time.
The routine use of purgatives and laxatives of various kinds has been noted in various cultures throughout the ages. The ancient Egyptians were great fans, as were the ancient Greeks thereafter. This was thought to be a sensible way of restoring the body to maximum efficiency, by clearing out any accumulated wastes and poisons that might be lurking in the guts that have not been eliminated by the normal means.
The annual routine
Traditionally, purgatives or laxatives would be used in the Spring and just before the onset of Winter. They could be used at other times, when there was a problem with constipation.
Common laxatives include things like prunes, rhubarb, senna pods, syrup of figs, Epsom salts, Castor oil and liquid paraffin. Orthodox physicians, as well as traditional healers, were very keen on purgation as a cure all for any disease. Unfortunately they overdid it a bit, causing more harm than good, which resulted in the practice falling into disrepute. Overuse of purgatives can be positively harmful, of course, and should be avoided at all costs.
There may, however, be useful psychological as well as physiological benefits to a modified version of this seasonal practice, for people today, in the form of colon cleansing.
The idea of giving the body a fresh start does have some appeal, and could lead to more fundamental positive changes of attitude and lifestyle.
Colon cleansing today
Modern day colon cleansing, can be achieved using colonic irrigation, (though there have been some safety issues with this practice owing to the lack of regulation of practitioners), and enemas, which are still used in conventional medicine before exploratory interventions, and which many people swear by, as a personal home treatment.
Least intrusive, and the one with the most positive results, judging by reports of users, seems to be the oral, herbal system which can be undertaken as a fasting regime, for nine days or more.
Fasting has long been a common practice in most of the major religions of the world for many centuries. It is a way of purifying the body, mind and spirit by clearing out all the bad stuff to make way for the good, both mentally and physically.
The vital synergy between body, mind and spirit and its role in health and well being, though long recognised in places like China or India, has largely been ignored by western medicine. Alternative approaches to healing tend to treat the whole person, rather than the symptoms.
Fasting and purging have been brought together in today’s world by alternative and complementary health practitioners in the form of colon cleansing. One of the most well respected products being Blessed Herbs Colon Cleanse, found at www.blueherbs.co.uk, which is an all natural herbal formula.
What does western medicine have to say?
Many western doctors pour scorn on the need for colon cleansing, stating that the gut is well able to clean itself. They state that no physical proof has ever been found of a bunged up colon or
‘mucoid plaque’ and that the whole thing is so much hype.
But then, there has only been very slow progress by western medicine towards accepting that there may be some value in any traditional or alternative medicine, such as acupuncture, homeopathy, chiropractic, for example. There still remains a great deal of scepticism out there, regarding alternative approaches to health care.
I wonder how these sceptics took to the idea of using maggots to help heal wounds and leeches to take down swelling – both these procedures are currently being used, successfully, in major NHS hospitals.
It just goes to show, you have to keep an open mind. Old remedies can often be found to be more effective than anyone thought possible.
Why do people try a colon cleanse?
Anyone choosing to undertake a colon cleanse will have reasons; maybe they are feeling sluggish and generally unwell; maybe they have put on too much weight and want to kick start a new healthier diet; maybe they suffer from constipation or frequent diarrhoea and maybe they are feeling low both physiologically and psychologically.
There are any number of reasons why a person might just want to give it a try to see if the process can help them change their lifestyle and improve feelings of health and well-being.
If you are in a road accident or are diagnosed with a brain tumour, you need orthodox medicine, without question. If you simply don’t feel ‘quite right’ and are experiencing digestive difficulties of one kind or another and have perhaps a general feelings of malaise, then you have to look elsewhere. A colon cleanse is one choice you could make.
Your choice
Making a clear choice to do something, anything, positive about your physical and mental well being is a significant step-change in life.
A colon cleanse, which incorporates both the ideas of thorough internal cleansing with that of fasting, which is an important spiritual ‘cleanse’, could mark a new beginning.
We all need to feel in control of our lives and to recognise further steps we can take as individuals to remain in control. A colon cleanse could be an important first step towards a healthier lifestyle.
