Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Understanding Body Cleansing: The Process of Elimination

Herbs can have what herbalists call a cleansing effect on the body. Herbs that cleanse are herbs that help the body to eliminate built-up waste materials—some people refer to these waste products as toxins. When toxins build up in the body, they can be the cause of many irritating and depleting ailments. Many times, by just cleansing the body, the ailment you were suffering from disappears. This is basically what a cleanse is.

When we cleanse, the toxins will exit the body faster than normal. Therefore, you might expect some extra activity at your body’s exits! These exits are the four elimination channels, which carry off waste products:

1. The bowel
2. The lungs
3. The kidneys
4. The skin

The skin eliminates uric acid waste products through the pores of the skin; the urinary tract carries off liquid waste products; the respiratory system (lungs and sinuses) carry off gaseous wastes and excess mucus; and the bowel eliminates solid waste matter.

This natural elimination process not only speeds up through an herbal cleansing, but it also speeds up naturally if the body is trying to rid itself of a foreign invader, such as a cold virus, bacteria, or a parasite.

The process of cleansing, eliminating, or detoxing may include a variety of symptoms, including a runny nose, a rash, or diarrhea. The mistake that many people make is to stop this natural process with a medication designed to stop or suppress these annoying symptoms. By medicating the symptoms, however, you are actually plugging up the elimination channel and allowing the bug that caused your body the problem to stay inside your body. This can allow the toxins to settle back into your body tissues and cause another problem sometime later. I see this constantly with people who experience recurring sinus infections. When you help the body eliminate its invader, you will help put a stop to this vicious cycle.

Many times a cleanse offers a breath of fresh air to organs that have been suffocated with mucus build-up. The colon, for instance, can harbor wastes that can fester in the body for years—and sometimes even decades. Most people who are in general good health can benefit from an herbal cleansing before starting on a nutritional/herbal program.

Cleansing the bowel and digestive tract periodically will help ensure that nutrients will be more efficiently absorbed and properly utilized by the body. Natural cleansing can consist of a three-day cleanse or several weeks, depending on the type of cleanse and how toxic your body tissues are. The act of cleansing first and then building is like cleaning out your refrigerator before going shopping for more food. Ridding yourself of old, moldy cucumbers and cleaning the bins before you put new, fresh foods back in is a good idea for your body, too.

Many cleansing herbs will be bitter to the taste and are best taken in a pill form.
Examples of some cleansing type herbs include:
  • Cascara sagrada Helps clear the bowel
  • Burdock root Helps cleanse the blood
  • Yellow dock Helps cleanse the blood, liver, and bowel

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