What to know about Intestinal Detoxification
It's very ironic that as man's medicinal aptitude advances onto the next century, his fears are still placed on old known tradition that should have stayed put in the past century. Among several others in the alternative medicine scene, I am talking here about intestinal detoxification, and how, even with inclusive understanding of the workings of the colon, man is still looking for such benefit.
In the past, intestinal detoxification used to be a long-standing remedial treatment for just about any disease; you name it, intestinal detoxification is the cure for it. This also spawned in the later era several variations using the detoxification concept. This conception would be familiar to those who have heard about Kellogg's Putrefaction, that diseases are caused by toxin build-up in the gut. So whenever a disease is diagnosed, intestinal detoxification practitioners hook up the patient for a long, arduous, and often torturous practice known as enema, or bombard it with prescriptions of laxatives.
But the dilemma lies: is there really a need for intestinal detoxification? Or better yet, does these toxins build-up, what we should ultimately reduce in severity as simply feces, cause any disease to happen?
From an interesting article I've read in Quackwatch about intestinal detoxification (See Gastrointestinal Quackery: Colonics, Laxatives and More), the theory of intoxication states that matter stagnating in the colon causes toxins to be absorbed into the body. If left unattended, e.g. failing to regularly have bowel movements, the large intestine "sewage system" develops into a "cesspit", where toxins can be potentially absorbed and cause myriads of diseases. Furthermore, faeces can also accumulate along the lining on the colon and can inhibit absorption of water and minerals. Of course this article debunked such detoxification theories as utter nonsensical, and the term "toxins" nonexistent.
To understand how intestinal detoxification might not really be effective, lets review our knowledge on intestinal processes. As the chyme is expelled from the stomach and the small intestine, it arrives in the large intestine. Here the process slows down considerably, since the colon is larger. Here the chyme mixes up with mucus and the gut bacteria feasts on them. Don't get revolted, this bacteria is a exemplary model for symbiotic relationship since these bacteria primarily breaks down what's left of the food matter to produce acetate, propionate, and butyrate which are absorbed by the colon for additional nutrients. Furthermore, some bacteria, principally the lactobacillus, produce lactic acid that inhibits the growth of harmful bacteria.
Intestinal detoxification could instead damage this healthy system if one does not fully understand the implication behind it. Especially colon irrigation, whose practice is much like an enema, can instead wash away these bacteria, which does only good to the gut.
