Common sense and scientific research support the wisdom and efficacy of most popular diet detox plans. Especially as statistics show just how widespread the obesity epidemic has become in modern industrialized nations, and as studies poignantly have pointed out how many children suffer morbid obesity, systems combining cleansing and weight-loss have gained acceptance and popularity. Economic distress also supports healthy diets, because fresh fruits and vegetables cost less than meat and processed foods, juices and water cost less than soft drinks, and home cooking costs considerably less than dining out. More and more, naturopathy becomes a synonym for "good sense."
As people become convinced of homeopathy's and naturopathy's benefits, however, some of alternative medicine's riskier practices gain favor, too. When Harvard researchers claim "antioxidants are good; eat more tomatoes," ordinary folks ought to pay attention. When militant homeopaths stridently recommend radical cleansing procedures, however, everyday folks have reason for careful scrutiny.
Three homeopathic practices especially warrant further study before they move into the mainstream: Liver flushing, chelation, and colon hydrotherapy may not pass the first Hippocratic litmus test-do no harm.
Liver Flush
Neither dangerously invasive nor potentially toxic, experts most commonly object simply that liver cleansing causes a great deal of discomfort for little or no significant health benefit.
The most common liver flushing procedure requires you to drink two glasses of apple juice every two hours for two days. Because apple juice has unusually high concentrations of malic acid, it may break-down calcium and fat globules that contribute to gallstones, helping the body pass them in normal elimination. During the two-day apple juice regime, you eat nothing but fresh fruits and vegetables, getting the benefits of their antioxidants. And, at the end of your two-day juice- and fruit-rich cleansing, you drink an Epsom salts solution with an olive oil and lemon juice chaser. Epsom salt and olive oil supposedly relax and dilate smooth muscles in your digestive system so that it easily can expel larger globules, and lemon juice supposedly stimulates peristalsis to speed the benefits.
Following this old-fashioned liver flush poses no serious health risks, but you may suffer explosive diarrhea, severe abdominal cramps, and violent vomiting, which put you at risk of serious dehydration. The cleansing may deplete your immune system, so that you become more vulnerable to colds and flu.
Chelation
Both traditional and alternative medicines define chelation as a systematic biochemical therapy for removing heavy metals from the bloodstream vital organs-especially intestines, the liver, and kidneys-by means of a "chelate" or metal-attracting agent. Healthcare professionals most often recommend the process in cases of mercury and lead poisoning, and in some cases, they have experimented with its use in detoxification from exposure to radiation. According to homeopathic theory, chelation serves as a prime example of how "like cures like," because the metal attracting agent removes heavy metals, neutralizes them, and helps the body eliminate them via urination and defecation.
Naturally, as with most homeopathic practices, debate rages. Traditional physicians most commonly prescribed chelates in liquid or tablet form shortly after World War II, when many shipbuilders and armaments workers showed serious symptoms of lead and other heavy-metal poisoning. Concomitant research showed only slightly greater success with chelates than with placebos, so that most traditional physicians abandoned the practice by the middle of the 1950's.
In recent years, however, as researchers find greater concentrations of heavy-metal and complex chemical contaminants in metropolitan water supplies and processed foods-especially in canned goods-chelation, once again has become relatively common practice among homeopaths. As researchers also become more suspicious about the link between thimerasol and autism, they more frequently recommend chelation as a therapy for developmental disorders.
Colon Hydrotherapy
More invasive than a common enema, colon hydrotherapy irrigates the entire gastrointestinal system, triggering expulsion of all the colon's, upper and lower intestines' contents. Most colon hydrotherapists strongly caution against do-it-yourself equipment and kits, because they easily can damage or compromise sensitive tissue and chemical equilibrium in your digestive tract. Working with a properly trained, experienced homeopath or naturopath who adheres to the best practices in colon hydrotherapy, you incur little risk, and you definitely will relieve bloating and blockage. A reputable practitioner may introduce a few herbs and nutrients into the mix for the sake of protecting your system during the cleansing. Although good sense requires you ask lots of questions about the herbs and their reputed benefits, make especially certain they are all-natural and perfectly safe, the most common enhancements will do you some good.
Both traditional and New Age physicians very strongly caution against colon cleansing agents and practitioners who discuss "intestinal plaque," displaying graphic and grotesque pictures of their patients' waste products. Approximately every thirty-six hours, your body fully digests and eliminates metabolic wastes from everything you eat. Several very reputable myth-busting studies have shown the active agent in so-called "plaque removers" is compounded from the same chemical that causes clumping in kitty litter. Yes, everything in your digestive tract will adhere to the "plaque remover," including all the healthy bacteria and some of the protective lining. Even the most strident advocates of healthy colon hydrotherapy sternly caution against working with a practitioner who persists in promoting the myth of intestinal plaque.
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