Heller - The only cleanse : a 14-day natural detox plan to jump-start a lifetime of health

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THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED TO:

My sister Susi who lights up the world with
her intelligence, beauty, creativity, insight, compassion,
sass, and zany sense of humor.

CONTENTS

Boost Energy

Ignite Your Inner Cleansing Systems

Ramp Up Your Health

Dodge Disease

YOU DESERVE TO FEEL FANTASTIC and healthy. You want to be energized and vibrant. Thats why you picked up The Only Cleanse . The Only Cleanse is the only evidence-based, common-sense approach you need to fire up your bodys purification systems, boost energy, and dodge disease. This is not your typical, run-of-the-mill cleanse or detox program. Those fads and trends, while popular, do nothing to keep your body running at its peak. Your body already knows how to cleanse itself. It is cleansing and detoxing 24/7. The best way to cleanse your system is by supporting your bodys innate, amazing, complex, integrated detoxification systems. These systems, including the skin, liver, gastrointestinal tract, and kidneys, are detoxifying toxins, fighting off microbial invaders, cleaning up metabolic debris, and seeking inner balance every second of every day. What you eat, how you think, and the quality of your sleep all affect your health and well-being. The Only Cleanse offers an easy-to-follow, fourteen-day, multi-phased plan designed to nourish, energize, and revitalize your body and your mind.

Through the years everyone from St. Augustine to King Louis XIV to Beyonc has partaken in cleanses, fasts, detoxes, and purification rituals. Detoxing is wildly popular, and devotees are fierce in their beliefs that all manner of cleanses, from water fasts to yogurt enemas, are going to purify and purge their bodies. As a bonus, they will lose weight and look decades younger. The allure of detoxing and purification has been around for centuries, but the notion itself is flawed. The fact is, the human body would cease to exist if it were sterilized from the inside out.

The Only Cleanse is designed to fully integrate the bodys biochemical balance. And since your mind is inextricably connected to your body, a mental and personal-space cleanse is an essential part of the process. Concrete changes such as altering your external environment are combined with a flexible-yet-structured physical, dietary, and psychological guide that will help you optimize your total body health. This is a refreshingly truthful, clean approach that will help you understand what your body needs and why.

There is enough physiological evidence that making lifestyle changes like those outlined in The Only Cleanse can have a significant impact on your health in two weeks or less.

The Only Cleanse reveals the bizarre past and current use of enemas, fasts, juicing, pills, teas, and products that claim to cleanse and detoxify the body, cure lethal diseases, and rid the body of deadly poisons. There are hundreds of thousands of detox products on the market. The Only Cleanse dives into the vat of controversy to untangle the twisted mass of confusions and claims, myths and medicine.

The Only Cleanse is not some faddy detox. Its a lifestyle, a change that you can keep forever. Its not deprivation-based, complicated, impractical, or unrealistic. Simply put, it will get you and your loved ones on a healthy track so you can focus on enjoying the rest of your life. Please join me on this journey. Youll be so glad you did.

NOTE: All the stories in this book are true. I have changed the names of friends, colleagues, and patients to protect their privacy.

Bottoms Up: The Colon

A Brief Yet Fascinating Tour of the Anatomy and Physiology of the Colon

Fiber Fest

Short-Chain Fatty AcidsA New Miracle Food?

Classical Gas

Colon or bowel cleanses, enemas, and high colonics have been around for eons. The idea that you can scour stinky, noxious goo from your colon to prevent or cure disease or obliterate harmful toxins seems like a good one. After all, poop is made up of the bodys waste materials. But there is a whole lot more to your colon than being a holding tank for body waste. Trying to render this complex organ all shiny and clean can lead to serious, even life-threatening problems. However, there are times when a foray into the bodys exit portal may be necessary. Here we will separate fact from fiction.

Your Colon

Your colon may not be a hot topic of conversation on Jimmy Fallon, but in some circles its all they talk about. While younger people rarely give their colons a second thought, older people obsess about theirs. It makes sense because as we age we become more prone to gastrointestinal (GI) problems like constipation, diverticulosis, or diarrhea. Unfortunately, this paradigm is shifting, and globally more people of all ages are being diagnosed with inflammatory and irritable bowel diseases and other gastrointestinal malfunctions. If you or someone you know is suffering from a GI disease or disturbance, you know how it can take over your life. With the surge in bowel diseases, and with colon cancer being the third most-diagnosed cancer in the United States, colon health may just become the newest Twitter trend.

How It Works

We should all have a love affair with our colons and treat them with great respect. The colon plays multiple roles in maintaining the bodys immune system, ridding the body of toxins and keeping it well nourished. In fact, 70 to 80 percent of your immune cells reside in your GI tract. The GI tract houses trillions of bacteria (yes, trillions ). The colon plays host to over four hundred species of bacteria. These microcreatures have far-reaching effects on total body health (see , The Microbiome, for more). Our lifestyle and what we eat affects their ability to keep us healthy.

The colon, also called the large intestine or bowel, makes up about five feet of your gastrointestinal tract and is the major site for the absorption of water, salt, and certain vitamins. The colon is the lower part of your digestive tract that begins where the small intestine ends and ends at the anus. This wrinkled tube has several distinct sections:

The cecum

The ascending colon

The transverse colon

The descending colon

The sigmoid colon

The rectum

A lot goes on in the colon before fecal matter is formed and makes its exit from the body. This doesnt make great dinner conversation for sure, but its a good idea to have a basic understanding of how your body works. You may be surprised to learn that the primary function of the colon is to absorb water and salt. A slushy mix of partially digested food from the stomach, called chyme, wends its way through the small intestine and eventually arrives at the colon. By this point most of the vitamins, minerals, fats, carbohydrates, and proteins have been broken down and absorbed in the small intestine and are on their way to being metabolized. However, vital nutrients remain in the chyme that can only be broken down and utilized by the colon. The chyme moves through the colon at about two inches (five centimeters) per hour. The slow pace ensures that almost all of the remaining nutritional value is absorbed.