posted June 29, 2005 06:55 PM         

REFLUX

Intestinal reflux, gastric reflux, esophageal reflux - who cares? All the same idea. The pipes are backed up. You start eating and you're already full. Stomach juices back up and burn the delicate lining of the esophagus. Heartburn. Classic misdiagnosis: hiatal hernia, which is something rare and completely different and unrelated. Reflux is much more common and easily explained, in light of the empty, toxic, indigestible American diet we teach our children. When the overall pressure can be relieved by a colon cleanse, transit returns and reflux is no more. Reflux never was the underlying problem. Like the rest of them, reflux was just a sign of the problem: blocked pipes.

You're getting a lot of information here, more than most doctors want to think about. The medical attitude toward the colon generally takes the Sewer View. Much simpler to deal with: laxatives which force the most recent contents out by introducing a corrosive irritant drug into the bowels. But the cemented sludge remains. Some 44 million Americans depend on laxatives for elimination. With $23 billion a year in antibiotics (Chapter 3) being given to American patients, concern for normal flora repopulation doesn't get much airplay either.

The view of the colon as a living, breathing, active, vital organ is probably not something you're going to hear about at your next HMO visit. Corrosive laxatives may bring a day or two of relief, but the underlying condition persists. Antibiotics may kill all the bacteria for awhile, but why were the bad bacteria there in the first place? Rotting food. And what about the friendly bacteria also killed off by the antibiotics? Who's gonna do their job? No one.

Then there's the standard drugs most internists use. One of the most common is Prilosec. As we saw in the chapter on Enzymes ENZYMES Prilosec is a powerful inhibitor of HCl (hydrochloric acid.) The reasoning goes something like this: the patient has tremendous burning gut pain and bad digestion and elimination. Must be too much stomach acid. So Prilosec turns off the stomach acid and the burning stops. For today. But guess what else stops. Digestion. Without HCl, protein doesn't get broken down, and it sits there and rots, further contributing to the toxic build-up and cess-pooling. This is called treating the problem by harming the patient.

With reflux, clearing the colon takes the pressure off the lower part of the GI tract, allowing room for the contents of the small intestine and the stomach to move downward. No more splashing acids into the esophagus. It's simple plumbing. But natural cures are always overlooked if they interfere with drug sales.

Another drug - Propulsid - supposedly works by forcing the impacted food out of the intestines. Unfortunately, so many people have died of heart failure from it, that is was scheduled to be taken off the market after 6 months, which would be Aug 2000. (Rubin) [That's standard procedure. Even though the FDA knows people are dying from a drug, they keep it on the market for up to a year to allow the drug companies to recover some of their investment!]

In the colon, the layers of compacted inner cement prevent reabsorption of water and electrolytes, as well as the return of normal flora activity. Dehydration and indigestion ensue. The toxic debris begins to irritate and inflame the delicate mucosal cells of the inner lining. Aspirin, Motrin, and Tylenol further aggravate the lining. (Rogers)

Chronic inflammation of the colon's inner lining - colitis - is epidemic. It is a precursor to cancer. Many patients have found that after detoxing the colon and getting rid of rotting wastes that have been in there for weeks or months, suddenly their colitis is history!

COLON CANCER

is now the third most common cancer in America. Simple mechanism: blockage of inflow and outflow by rotting sludgy plaque. Surface lining cells swim in toxins day in day out, then weeks and months. Can't get nutrients, can't get rid of wastes. That about covers it for cell needs.

Colon cancer has also long been linked directly to the chlorination of municipal drinking water. (See Water chapter -www.thedoctorwithin.com) The mechanism is simple: chlorine sterilizes the colon by killing off the normal friendly bacteria which should live there. A 1989 report from Oak Ridge Associated Universities showed definite correlation between increased cancer incidence and fifteen years of chlorine in Denver's drinking water. (Eco-Update)

With no flora, sludge builds up and the delicate epithelial cells of the colon lining become packed with toxic decaying waste. Same scenario: the cells can't perform the two necessary functions of every living cell - nutrition and waste removal. Many cells die, but other simply mutate. That's what cancer is: altered, or mutated, cells.

Sections of the colon can collapse and become very narrow, like ribbons, easily blocked with hardened waste. This creates a condition called Crohn's Disease, and the narrow sections are called strictures. Extreme force is then necessary to propel waste past these blocked narrow passageways. Between the narrowed sections, outpocketings of toxic poisons can then balloon out, due to lack of normal transit of wastes. These pockets are very hospitable environments for bad bacteria and parasites to set up shop. Imagine the potency of by-products given off by pathological bacteria who are themselves feeding off toxic sludge. Autointoxication advances.

A desperate reflex to try and expel the mounting poisonous load commonly results in violent and painful cramping of colon wall muscles - Spastic Colon. The problem is not with the colon. The problem is with the human who keeps poisoning himself.

Resection, or cutting away a problem length of the colon, is a common medical recommendation in the persistent "problem colon" case. Sometimes the impacted waste has become like hard rubber or even calcified like a cement. Laxatives and drugs just won't do the trick. Standard medical thinking is, when drugs fail, something has to be cut out. The Kragen Method: the body is an automobile. Not a very holistic or long-term outlook, but it pays the bills. And it's got quite a tradition. Usual result is that the scar tissue which forms after the surgery can soon form as much obstruction as the original undigested cement load.

For colon cancer, resection is routine. Cleansing is not even a medical option at that point. What they'll never tell you is that one third of all colon resections for cancer end up in recurrence of the cancer later on. (Yamada p 1801) Stands to reason: if you don't remove the cause of the cancer in the first place - autointoxication - what's to keep the cancer from returning?

The connection between Leaky Gut and

ALLERGIES

should now be apparent. Allergy symptoms are one of the signs of autointoxication. Most allergies are food allergies, and Leaky Gut Syndrome is one mechanism and one explanation of that entire process: indigestible food, rotting in gut, leaking into bloodstream, symptoms of allergy. When the doctors "can't find the cause" of your allergies, here it is. Read the chapter on allergies: The Threshold of Reactivity (www.thedoctorwithin.com).

Time for a reality check. The colon should be seen as a life center of the body, in my opinion, not as a sewer. Conserving water and minerals, creating a hospitable environment for the life-promoting probiotic bacteria, and providing an unobstructed path for waste elimination - these are indispensable functions of the colon, and should be the only goals of any treatment program.

Back in the 1920s Nobel Prize laureate Dr. Alexis Carrel began his famous experiment in which he proved that living cells could be kept alive indefinitely by simply controlling the nutrients and waste removal in the surrounding solution. After 28 years, the original chicken liver cells were still alive in the petri dish, and Dr. Carrel's point was proven. For living cells, there are two main requirements: proper nutrients, and unobstructed elimination of wastes. With a blocked colon, all the body's cells suffer: autointoxication poisons the entire body, all its tissues, and all its organs. This can be the cause of practically any disease, especially those conditions listed in the pathology books as "cause unknown." JH Tilden, MD actually went so far as to say that this type of chronic blood poisoning was the only disease. (Toxemia Explained)

That's a brief overview of how the colon should work. For the majority of Americans, it doesn't. Death rates from colon cancer have been increasing since 1971. So the other side of the coin is that a clean, unblocked colon can dramatically boost the health of the entire body, allowing the body's natural defenses to start defending. Disease cannot coexist in a healthy body.

Provided with the preceding information, what kind of shape do you think your colon is in? Impacted? Diagnosed pathology? Pregnant Buddha? Average functioning, but some cement layers suspected? Even the healthiest colons can benefit from periodic roto-rootering.

SOLUTIONS

Colon hydrotherapy when performed by a licensed professional is more than just an enema. My opinion is that its real value is as a jumpstart to cleansing. To get weekly maintenance colonics may not allow the normal proliferation of the body's own friendly bacteria, because they are always getting flushed out. But to get things moving in the person who has decided to detox and cleanse, colonics can certainly be effective.

Spinal adjustment can have immediate and dramatic effects on colon pathology, especially with Spastic Colon. The nerve plexus through which the brain controls the action of the colon, those nerves exit the spinal cord in between the lumbar vertebrae. The nerves turn the colon ON and OFF. Any spasm is a blocked reflex arc: the OFF switch is stuck. Specific adjustment of the involved vertebra can break the stuck spasm reflex instantaneously, and restore normal function of the colon. No colon diagnosis should ignore this simple biomechanical approach.

Visceral massage by a trained therapist can certainly be temporarily beneficial.

There are a variety of effective natural colon cleanse programs. You won't find out about them at Kaiser or your HMO. They don't involve drugs or surgery; therefore insurance doesn't cover them. Big surprise. There are several effective holistic cleanses, and most are herbal.

The simplest and safest formula that I have tested is an herbal blend called Colon Care. ( ORDER PRODUCTS ). No corrosives or irritants, with sufficient water intake, these herbs seem to unclog blockages for most people, usually with immediate results. To scrape away all the layers of impacted debris pasted onto the colon walls like stucco - that takes weeks or months. But the patients generally see immediate evidence that they're working toward that goal with these herbs.

Another cleanse was devised by Dr. Richard Anderson of Mt. Shasta, California, who also has a detox clinic in Mexico. Dr. Anderson's focus is to remove the Mucoid Plaque, the thin rubbery layer of old hardened mucus from the entire length of both the small and large intestines. Mucoid Plaque is well-documented in dozens of medical citations given throughout Dr. Anderson's book.

My view is always towards convenience, simplicity, and working in complete holistic sync with the body, trying to restore patterns that have been lost. Build up the flora, begin a cleansing diet, and restore normal digestion and effortless elimination. No magic bullets here; for 60 days we need

THE PROGRAM

60 DAYS

1. Affix New West Diet to refrigerator door, with magnet, in a location of maximum guilt potential
(www.thedoctorwithin.com).

2. No dairy: pasteurized milk, cheese, butter, yoghurt, white dressings, creamy soups, ice cream.

3. No white sugar: cookies, donuts, soft drinks, candy, junky desserts

4. Eat a lot, but from the New West Diet. Never be hungry.

5. Drink 2 liters of water per day (not tap water).

6. Three whole food enzymes caps, three times a day.
(DigestAMeal -- See Enzymes chapter - www.thedoctorwithin.com)

7. First month: 2 - 3 herbal cleansing caps per day. Go for max. (e.g., Colon Care - 800 488 4339)

8. Two - six flora caps per mealtime (blends, e.g. Total Body Flora, not single species --see Products)

9. Consider stopping all drugs unless it is life-threatening to do so, both prescription and over the counter

10. Get the lumbar spine adjusted.

That's it. A 60-day colon detox. Doing part of it is a waste of time. It's a unit.

In the unlikely event that this program fails, the next step would be the Plan B Cleanse:

1. Psyllium cocktails with one tablespoon Hydrolyzed Bentonite, 1-3 per day
2. 5 - 8 herbal caps per day (e.g., caps)
3. 8 - 18 flora caps per day (Total Body Flora)
4. Fruit and vegetable diet for 6 weeks, then one week of juice fast. Continue until mucoid plaque is passed

The difficulty with Plan B is that it is a full time occupation for the two month period.
THE HEALING CRISIS

Natural cures are different from drugs; first of all, drugs don't cure anything, nor is that their intent. The focus of drugs is to cover up the symptoms. The underlying problem may remain, but so what? There's always one more drug to try - that's why there's 12,000 of them on the market at any one time.

In an actual healing situation, especially one involving detox, there may be some new unpleasant symptoms that are the result of a temporary shifting back to normal. These include transient dizziness, disorientation, gas pains, or skin rashes. Holistic healers are quite familiar with the healing crisis, and generally regard it as a good sign that the body is responding and making a needed change.

In the example of colon detox, the body often protects itself from a toxin - drugs, chemicals, additives, etc - by encapsulating it in fat cells and mucoid layers. In this way toxins can remain for years in many areas of the body, including the colon, walled off and unable to do direct harm to the body. It's a survival mechanism, well documented. Then when the person begins an herbal cleanse, these toxins may suddenly be liberated and re-enter the bloodstream as the protective encapsulations are broken down by the herbs. Slight dizziness or nausea may occur, but only for a short time. Unless they have been informed, patients unfamiliar with natural cures may become anxious and think 'something is wrong,' especially if they have lived their lives conditioned to take a drug for any and every symptom.

The best course of action is to drink several glasses of water in order to facilitate the cleansing of the blood. Many a morning hangover could have been avoided by the inebriate having drunk two glasses of water prior to passing out the night before. It's the dehydration due to the high concentration of the toxic alcohol that brings on the "hair of the dog." Same idea in colon detox. Look for that healing crisis. Don't freak out. Everybody detoxes at a different rate. Just back off a little on the herbs for a day or so, and continue.

SBO AND JSH

The latest in the barrage of supplements which represent the explosive Junk Science Hustle are flora capsules containing "soil-based organisms." Don't be taken in by this scam. One of these SBO flora things boasts 38 strains of good bacteria. The implication is that here are 38 strains of normal flora found in the human colon, but closer examination reveals that only 5 of them have any possibility of being found in the human tract. The rest are found in rootlets of plants; ergo, SBOs. Now everyone knows that bacterial organisms are necessary in the rootlets of plants in order for mineral absorption from the soil into the plant. But it's the farthest stretch of unsupported whim to try and equate soil bacteria with the ones that belong inside the human colon. This is ludicrous! Such bacteria cannot be thought of as probiotic. There are no legitimate studies whatsoever to support such a notion. Someone is capitalizing by taking an extract of barnyard dirt and pretending it has value in the human body. This is Alternative Marketing gone wild. Don't fall for it.

Sometimes you might hear claims of fabulous cures from taking one of these colon cleanses that contains soil-based organisms. It is probable that such individuals were so toxic that the body was desperately craving any herbal triggers for release. Most SBO products contain some proportion of traditional herbal cleansers; so they obviously can have some beneficial effect. But such a patient is cleansed in spite of the SBOs, not because of them. It seems better advised to choose a product that only contains non-corrosive herbs, omitting the introduction of foreign microorganisms into the rarefied environment of the human colon.

LEVELS OF DETOX

How long should you detox? When will you know if you "got it all"? Good question. My opinion is that initially, your goal is just to get yourself eliminating on a daily basis much more than what you're accustomed to, but with no real discomfort. At some point, one day you will experience a catharsis, or major cleansing ejection. A few people get nervous when this happens and call the doctor, thinking their "brains have come out" or some other such illusion. Most will experience a feeling of lightness and clarity they haven't had for years. That is the beginning of detox. At first I thought that this catharsis was the final goal of detox. But the more people I talked to and read about, I learned that there are many levels of detox. The initial catharsis is just the beginning. Like a geologist digging deeper into the earth to find prehistoric layers of rock, detoxification can gradually uncover and liberate deeper levels of preserved toxins within the colon, the fat cells, and elsewhere. Think back to your teenage years and your twenties and all the trashy foods you ate - years of toxification. If all that poison came out at once, the result would be death. The body won't allow that to happen; gradual detox is a protective mechanism.

Even people who have extremely clean diets, who may be vegetarian and eat mostly raw foods, often go on routine fasts, colon programs, and liver cleanses and get surprising results. They are going for optimum clean blood - maximum purity of the biological terrain, just like in Dr. Carrel's petri dish. This is the true objective of any detox program - excavate deep and bring the old debris out, level by level. Then keep it clean.

The rate of detox should be controlled so that extreme fatigue and prolonged nausea are avoided. What's the hurry? Except for transient, momentary discomforts, a detox program should bring new energy and strength, almost immediately.

YOU KNOW IT DON'T COME EASY

For the average American, The Program is very difficult. For those with a colon problem, it's almost impossible: Candida and other organisms are gonna crave their little milk and sugar fixes. But it's counterproductive to think you can take some magic bullet like Intestinal Cleansing Formula and all your colon problems will be gone in a week. The only way that's going to happen is when a lifestyle change, involving all the above steps, allows your body to heal itself.

If you actually follow The Program like your life depends upon it, it will. Such cleanses have been life-transforming, even for people the most serious conditions. After shaking the monkey, you'll be free. The healthy body rejects any and all disease conditions. The body heals itself from the inside out, and yours is no exception. No matter how far gone you think you are, no matter how hopeless you've been told your condition is, no matter how long you've been like this, no matter what you've already tried, one fact is on your side: you're just flesh and blood. Flesh and blood has to follow immutable biochemical laws. Not that we know what all these laws are. But your body knows. Just like in Alexis Carrel's 28-year petri dish experiment, if you detox your cells, they will live.

Major forces are today being marshalled against your right to choose non-mainstream techniques like colon cleanses. You can do it; you just can't learn about it. So who's driving the bus here? Who controls the health of your body?

posted July 02, 2005 12:10 AM         

Hi!

I read this whole thing, all 3 parts.

The author is NOT saying that your body is less than miraculous.

On the contrary, the author is clearly in awe of the workings of this divine machine.

What he is saying, is that the vast majority of people dishonor and pollute their bodies, and poison themselves on a daily basis.

The colon is not to blame.
The big mac IS.

posted July 02, 2005 12:16 AM         

THANK YOU SO MUCH!

I am just beginning to open my eyes to a lot of this stuff, and have been getting super health-conscious (its my new hobby!), now that I'm no longer busy self-destructing, getting high, and trying to get high, every day.

It's been four months now and every day brings a new revelation, health-wise. I really enjoyed and appreciated this article, and I just wanted to thank you big time for taking the trouble to post this for the benefit of all your fellow knowflakes. This holistic living stuff is amazing, and I'm even playing with the idea of making a career out of it.

posted July 08, 2005 01:59 PM         

I've been meaning to get to this series of threads of yours, and today I finally did. Thank you for an interesting read.

I'll also echo HSC:

quote:

---

The author is NOT saying that your body is less than miraculous

---

Part of miracle is that no matter what sludge we put into our bodies (and I will concur that all things being of God/dess, all sludge an all old bad plumbing are also divine), we have the ability to heal ourselves.

thirteen, with the greatest of respect, do you truly see all bodies as divine and beautiful? How about bodies that way 400 pounds? Intellectually you may concede that they are God/dess, ergo divine and beautiful, but very few on earth will feel that in their hearts. How about lungs which are black from cigarettes or years working in coal mines? Hearts ravaged by hyrdrogenated oils and too many fast food burgers? Divine and beautiful? The answer lies within the Yin and Yang of all things.

Your head can spin with karma, but ultimately we choose our paths. We can indeed regard dis-ease as divine, and how we choose to approach dis-ease is also divine. Some want to heal, some don't.

Philly, in a thread Saffron created to ask me about some herbs, I listed a book entitled _Curing With Cayenne_. I would recommend it for both you and HSC, as you both seem to be interested in natural, unorthodox (according to the modern medical establishment) ways to heal our bodies.

posted July 08, 2005 02:02 PM         

I once listened to a healing practitioner speak about an AIDs patient who healed himself with mind over matter. He continued to eat junk food and used his mind to heal. I absolutely believe we have the power to do this, if we are able to harness that greatness within. But many of us need a little outside help, living in the material world and all.

posted July 09, 2005 07:20 PM         

There's a lot of interesting stuff on that website (thedoctorwithin). The guy is kind of insensitive (i.e. a prick), although much of his "no-nonsense" attitude can be explained (if not excused) by his having to explain these relatively self-explanatory processes, to people brainwashed by the media and big medicine, on a daily, sometimes hourly basis. Still, when he's talking about people "needing" their comfort foods, I really could have done without the "poor baby, baby, baby". But whatever, I need to toughen up. And he's right, - I wonder how comforting the food will be in the ICU.

I think thats pretty impressive that he's studied/practiced in so many locations around the globe, and that, during his two-year stint in Italy, it was not uncommon for him to treat as many as 150 patients in a single day!