Oh, the high colonic. The use of it has been attributed to increasing your health. John Harvey Kellogg of cornflakes today, of course, is said to have used them to manipulate the intestinal flora. In the late 1800s, he founded a sanitarium in Battle Creek Michigan. During this time, he promoted a vegetarian diet as well as the use of tonics and colonics to promote overall health. There was a test kitchen here that offered classes on healthy cooking. The Battle Creek sanitarium was somewhat portrayed in the movie Wellville. Like today, there are many people that believe that this kind of manipulation and cleansing is helpful for the body. People traveled from across the country to go to this “health spa” in the hopes of better wellness. Kellogg was credited with a lot of experimental surgeries including circumcision, which he felt would prevent males from masturbating (an unhealthy and sinful practice), as well as increased cleanliness (from not masturbating).

I saw a social media post the other day that announced a person’s intention to start a month-long cleanse. Apparently, it’s that time of the year that the liver is overwhelmed and that it is necessary to perform a cleanse so that that organ works properly. Okay, if doing some wellness things makes you feel better overall, then do them. But Nursie poo will be the first to tell you that they are 100% unnecessary. The liver itself does a wonderful job of not only cleansing blood but also of metabolizing both food and medications. There is no need to cleanse or clean the liver (unless you plan to eat it with some fava beans and a nice Chianti). Unlike the feature on your oven, it is self-cleaning. In the previous blog, I talked about the supplement industry. This industry has made oodles of money to “promote health”. This statement which in and of itself is questionable, and often morally underhanded. Until recently, the supplement industry had a champion in Senator Orrin Hatch. Reason being, a great number of supplements are produced in his home state of Utah and used in multilevel marketing, cause there’s nothing Mormons like more than a good Ponzi Scheme. Just look at home many sell Mary Kay, doTERRA, Scentsy, those health wrap things, and anything else that allows them to, “be their own boss.” In short, he was protecting the interest of his constituents, and his own assets. He protected those businesses by essentially banning any requirement for any kind of scientific verification or quality control of what goes into a supplement. This literally means you have no idea whether you’re truly getting St. John’s wort or St Patrick’s wort? Is it really ephedra or just twigs off a tree? We say that with somewhat joking context, however, the scary part is it’s true.

When ephedra, which is a stimulant, was blamed in several deaths due to heart arrhythmias. Steve Bechler was a major league baseball player who was 23. He used ephedra extensively. He developed an arrhythmia that caused his premature death. The immediate response was, of course, to pull ephedra from the market and limit its use as a supplement. But over the hill rides Senator Hatch to push that the ban be lifted and introduces legislation to stop the FDA’s oversight. So, what does a Senator know about this that the FDA doesn’t? He knows how to line his pocketbook, that’s what he knows, and those supplement manufacturers are practically begging that their industry not be monitored by the FDA.  Let that sink in here, no oversight with substances that have drastic physical effects.

So, do you need to “detox” your liver to increase wellness and lose weight? There are a ton of ads on the internet. In fact, me just typing this will cause a flurry of ads in my Facebook feed, since Facebook looks for those kind of things. Bottom line is that you don’t need to do this. We have talked in this blog about eating healthy and exercise. The good news is that you can save hundreds of dollars on supplements by doing just that, and send the extra money my way to help with this blog. Any balanced diet will work if there are sources of fiber (which promotes both intestinal motility and heart health). Healthy protein, which surprisingly, we only need about 4oz per meal, and you can get this from plant-based proteins. So, eating meat is up to you. Personally, Nursie knows quite a few vegetarians and vegans that are very healthy and have well balanced and tasty diets. Of course, here in the intermountain west, most people think the vegetarian option is a salad at a restaurant. I would challenge you to find a vegetarian place in your town and enjoy the fare. Healthy fat and carbohydrates come into play of course, in moderation. Lastly, plenty of fluids, preferably water, to the tune of about 64 oz a day. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but that’s it. No special diet is going to do it. Yeah, you can do Keto or Paleo and lose like a million pounds, but it’s not sustainable for the average person. Even those on those diets report falling off the menu requirements on a frequent basis.

Your body has a great waste processing plant that is happy to detoxify you every day, let it do the job.