EST Alternative Health BLOG

The liver’s primary function is to cleanse the blood of organic and inorganic chemicals, which were absorbed from the intestine during digestion.  Today we are exposed to pesticides, preservatives and hormones in addition to the naturally occuring compounds in our food including alcohol, fats and cholesterol.  However with the heavy load of these substances in our daily diet, the liver can become overloaded.  It is important to cleanse it so that it can continue to do its job well.

You can support a healthy liver by eating foods high in antioxidants, low in fat and low chemical toxicity.  Vegetables high in beta-carotene, vitamins C and E are especially healing for the liver.

The gallbladder is a pearshaped reservoir for bile produced by the liver for the purpose of breaking down fats in our intestine.  Inside the gall bladder, the bile acids are buffered by cholesterol, which prevents acid damage to the gallbladder and intestine. Whe these are out of balance the cholesterol in the gall bladder will harden and form ‘stones’, which reduce its capacity and can block the common bile duct resulting in an inflamed gallbladder.

Many of the same foods that support the liver also support the gallbladder. Lemon juice promotes liver cleansing and apple juice will soften and reduce the size of gall stones.  If you have consistently eaten a diet high in fat, sugar or alcohol, a gallbladder and liver flush may be extremely beneficial. 

This can be as simple as one week of a cleansing diet (no alcohol, no caffeine, low fat with lots of leafy green vegatables), 5-6 days of drinking 1 quart of apple juice every day. On the evening of the last day mix 1-1/2 tablespoons of Epsom salt with 8 oz. of water drink this and two hours later repeat it.  Just before retiring to bed mix 6 oz. of olive oil with a small amount of lemon juice and drink.  Go to bed and lie on you side during the night.  The next morning you will pass the oil and any gall stones that may have been in your gallbladder.

Don Gillmore, Licensed Massage Therapist(15 yrs), B.S.- Life Sciences

E e a a u u! Do you mean ENEMAS?  Not necessarily, but they can be effective assuming there is nothing blocking the toxins from migrating through the wall of the colon and being flushed from your body.  The problem is that many of us have a mucoidal plaque that has built up over years and lines the colon.  This is a problem for several reasons.

First, it prevents efficient absorption of nutrients from our food.  Second, it blocks efficient removal of toxins through the colon.  Third, it provides pockets between it’s inner surface and your colon where pathogenic bacteria and parasites can thrive.  Fourth, it is in itself a combination of the normal mucous secreted by your intestine and undigested (putrefying) food, fecal mater and bacteria, which releases toxins into your body and continues to threaten your health.  Fourth, it adds weight and inches to your abdomen.  Sound serious? It can be.

The most commonly used method to loosen and remove this mucoidal plaque has been colon hydrotherapy also known as colonics.  This involves inserting a double walled tube into the rectum to allow a constant or pulsed (almost zero pressure) water flow into the colon while a counter flow carries fecal mater out to a drain line.  As the colon is gently stretched and relaxed by the pulsing flow, the water cleanses further up the colon and begins the process of breaking up and removing the mucoidal plaque.  In reality colonics and enemas are two procedures with different, but partially overlapping cleansing functions.  There are some advantages to colonics over an enema as the client is not required to retain a large volume of fluid (often coffee) for 15 to 20 minutes.  The colonic cleanses further up the colon than a typical enema. The enema will rarely result in loosening or removing built up mucoidal p[laque.  However, either one must be repeated several times over a short period to obtain the desired results.

Unfortunately, professional colonic equipment is expensive, trained colon hydro therapists are scarce and many people are uncomfortable with either technique.  I have one sweat detox client, who is a nurse. She is under the care of a naturopathic doctor (ND) and refuses to follow her doctor’s instructions to get both colonics and coffee enemas as part of her detox program.  When I discovered this, I immediately recommended that she order Oxy-Powder.  When taken as directed, it will weaken, dissolve and flush mucoidal plaque from your colon.  To ensure complete removal of any mucoidal plaque, the Oxy-Powder colon cleanse should be repeated.  To prevent future build up of mucoidal plaque, it should be taken on a maintenance schedule.  Many people like other similar products, but my experience over the years with Oxy-Powder has been very positive.  It is cheaper than a series of colonics, but you must be willing to put up with very liquid stools for a week at a time to perform the cleanse.  The bottom line is that if your colon is not clean, much of your other detoxification efforts are wasted!

Don Gillmore, Licensed Massage Therapist(15 yrs), B.S.- Life Sciences

Foot Bath Water after 30 mins.

The popular ionic foot bath systems are a technique of body detoxification, cleansing and balancing. The client’s feet or hands are immersed in an electrically conductive water bath where metal electrodes connected to a direct current (DC) power source create negative (OH) ions, which are absorbed into the body by osmosis. Cells are energized by the ions to release oils, acids, heavy metals, fats, cellular debris, and other toxins which have accumulated in your body’s tissues and joints over your lifetime. These body wastes and toxins color the foot bath water. Although the colors and accumulated flotsam that appear in the foot bath are dramatic, too much emphasis is often placed on them. They are indicators of which systems or areas of the body need detoxification. The primary detoxification occurs during the next 24-36 hours when the lymphatic and other body systems are stimulated to detoxify themselves through the urinary and intestinal tract. Foot bath sessions usually run from 30 to 45 minutes. Five to ten repeated sessions at from one to three sessions per week are recommended.

Ion Cleansing detoxifies the body more effectively and faster than any herbal or fasting protocols with little or no stress to the patient. Used properly, the Ion Cleanse provides a comfortable and relaxing way to rid the body of toxins without healing crises and Herxheimer’s reactions. It can also indicate specific systems, which may need further detoxification. In my opinion, this is an excellent detoxification tool especially when used in conjunction with liver & gall bladder flushes, colon cleansing and sweat detoxes.

FIR Sauna Full Body Sweat unit

Because we offer both foot bath detox and far infrared sauna sweat detox sessions, clients often ask me “Which one is better?”, “Do those foot patches really work?”, “What’s the best way to detoxify their body?”, “Should I do a liver and gall bladder flush?”, “What about a fast?”, “How long should I fast?”, “Is a water fast better than a juice fast?”, “I don’t like enemas (or colon hydrotherapy). Do I have to do those?”

The questions are as varied as the clients and so are the answers. Where do you start? The first thing to determine is(are) the reason(s) you want to start a detoxification program in the first place. We often hear about environmental toxins in our air, food and water and suspect that after 30, 40 or 50 plus years, we have stored too much of them in our adipose (fat) tissue and joints. Others are concerned about specific heavy metals such as lead or mercury. Some are concerned about reduced nutrient absorption or parasites in the digestive tract. Some have heard that it might be a good way to lose weight. Others have serious physical, emotional or mental symptoms that have been linked to one or all of the above conditions. Maybe a friend tried a foot bath detox and said it was ‘Great!’ So you’d like to try it.  Hair analysis is often the first step in determining mineral levels (toxic & essential). Depending on the lab doing the testing, it  can also provide pertinent information about your metabolic rate, energy levels, sugar and carbohydrate tolerance, stage of stress, immune system and glandular activity.

The next most important issue is time.  You see if you are serious about detoxifying your body, it will take time.  It has taken years to accumulate what ever is in your body.  It will take time for repeated detox, liver flush, colon cleansing or fasting sessions.  You don’t want to start a detoxification program just before going on a trip for instance.  Once you complete an initial period of detoxification you should let your body rest for a few weeks then repeat it.  Maybe more than once.

Once you have identified why you want to start a detox program and that you have at least a month for the initial cleansing sessions, you can discuss it with an experienced alternative health care provider to outline which treatments are most likely to help you achieve your goal.

Look for my next post on this subject where I begin to discuss the detoxification process and some of the potential side effects.

Detox Foot Bath Water after 30 mins.

This is the first post in what I intend to be a series of in depth discussions regarding alternative therapy detoxification strategies and specific methods.

Detox, Detoxification or Detoxifying the Body – refers to a myriad of therapies, which are intended to rid the body of accumulated cell wastes, drugs, environmental chemicals, heavy metals and parasites (fungus, mold, pathogenic bacteria, virus, or worms). It may also include the elimination of negative thought patterns and emotions. The liver detoxifies our blood, but may have been stressed to the point that it can not detoxify itself. The lymph system filters fungus, mold, and bacteria from our blood, but may also harbor these organisms in a latent state. Gallstones are usually a combination of cholesterol, bile and/or mineral salts, which can accumulate in the gall bladder. Kidney stones are crystalline structures, which can accumulate in the kidney. Drugs and environmental chemicals can be stored in our adipose (fat) tissue. Due to cosmetics, antiperspirants or lack of sweating our skin pores may be blocked from normal elimination of cell wastes. Our colon may harbor parasites (fungus, mold, pathogenic bacteria, virus, or worms).

Therapies my include, but are not limited to: detoxification diets, fasting, colloidal silver, ozonated water or air, colon hydrotherapy, massage, manual lymphatic drainage, liver detox, gall bladder flush, use of heat (saunas) to induce sweating, ioncleanse foot bath, and pulsed electromagnetic therapies.  Many people are now going to holistic dentists to have mercury amalgam fillings removed and replaced with ceramic fillings.

Look for my next post where I will discuss planning a detoxification strategy.  Sylvie Beljanski has an well thought out and well written article “Detoxification for Optimum Health“, which I recomend for further reading on this topic.