Detoxification, bowel cleansing and weight loss

Stop believing in the myth that you can lose ten pounds a week by drinking bowel cleansing tea and taking laxatives - the essence of truly healthy detoxification, bowel cleansing and weight loss is to regulate intestinal flora and establish a regular metabolic rhythm. What you lose is real fat rather than water and intestinal excretion. 90% of it depends on adjusting your daily diet and rest, and 10% requires auxiliary means. There is no need to take shortcuts at the expense of damaging the gastrointestinal tract.

Last month, in order to catch up on the wedding photo shoot, my best friend bought three large boxes of internet-famous intestinal cleansing enzymes. After drinking it for two weeks, she ran to the bathroom seven or eight times a day. She actually lost 4 pounds on the scale, but her face was as sallow as if she hadn't slept. After the photo shoot, she ate a hot pot meal and gained back 6 pounds. She also suffered from gastroenteritis and was so painful that she broke into a cold sweat. When she went to the hospital for a colonoscopy, she found that the intestinal mucosa was slightly damaged and the intestinal flora was in a mess. It took three months of conditioning to return to normal. In fact, it’s not just her. I also fell into the same trap when I first started losing weight. Later, after talking with friends in the nutrition department and a fellow practitioner who practices traditional Chinese medicine, I discovered that there are many more ways to do this than I thought, and the opinions in different fields are different. However, the core consensus is that you must not rely on violent laxatives to "cleanse the intestines."

When I went to the nutrition department for dietary advice, the doctor directly refuted the rumor: there is no standardized concept of "feces" in modern medicine, and those claims that there are more than ten kilograms of feces piled up in the human intestines are all marketing rhetoric. For healthy people with normal metabolism, the cycle from food residue entering the intestine to being excreted is 24 to 72 hours. As long as you have regular bowel movements, there is no "toxin accumulation" at all. The so-called intestinal cleansing tea is to forcibly strip the electrolytes and water from the intestinal mucosa. Half a gram of fat will be lost. On the contrary, it will disrupt the balance of intestinal flora and cause the basal metabolism to decrease faster. After eating, you will gain weight. This is a typical gain outweighs the loss.

My brother who practices traditional Chinese medicine physiotherapy does not directly deny the idea of ​​"detoxification", but the consensus with Western medicine is that we are absolutely against relying on laxatives for violent ejaculation. He said that "the spleen governs transportation and transformation" in traditional Chinese medicine. Many people with big bellies and difficulty in defecation are not "too many toxins" at all, but are caused by spleen deficiency and heavy dampness that cannot push the residue. If you insist on using bitter and cold laxatives such as senna and rhubarb to push it down, it will harm the healthy qi of the spleen and stomach. After defecation, it will become even more weak and unable to push. In the end, it will be completely unable to pass without laxatives, but it will turn constipation into a chronic disease. The idea he gave is to strengthen the spleen first so that the intestines can have their own power to move, rather than relying on external force to pull them.

I have been trying it myself for the past two years. In fact, I don’t need to buy those fancy products. A few small daily methods are enough to regulate the intestinal tract smoothly, and the weight is steadily falling, and I don’t suffer at all. A while ago, the team building of the company ate barbecue hot pot for three consecutive days. My stomach was as bloated as a small rubber ball. I didn't have a bowel movement for three or four days, and I didn't touch those bowel cleansing teas. When I woke up in the morning, I drank a cup of 300ml warm salt water on an empty stomach (just a little saltier than the usual soup). I stood and twisted my waist for ten minutes. Within half an hour, I felt like having a bowel movement. After the bowel movement, I felt lighter, and I didn't feel the cramping feeling of diarrhea at all. Also, if I usually eat too much oil and salt, I will dig out half a box of sugar-free yogurt in the afternoon and mix it with a red pitaya. The seeds of pitaya are insoluble dietary fiber. The probiotics in the yogurt help to regulate the flora. Basically, you can have normal bowel movements before going to bed at night. It is much more effective than eating bananas. Oh, by the way, unripe bananas have high tannic acid content, which will aggravate constipation, so don’t eat them blindly.

I also followed the trend and tried a 7-day fast, drinking only water and honey water. On the third day, I fainted on the subway. I went to the hospital and received a glucose transfusion before I recovered. Friends from the nutrition department said that the weight lost during fasting is basically glycogen and water, not fat at all. Moreover, long-term fasting will cause the intestinal mucosa to lose food nourishment. After being damaged, it is easier to accumulate metabolic waste. This is completely putting the cart before the horse. If you really want to adjust your diet, you don’t need to fast. Just replace one-third of the polished rice and white flour you eat every day with whole grains, such as sweet potatoes, oats, and quinoa. Drink enough 1500ml of warm water every day, which is more effective than any bowel cleansing meal.

By the way, I have also tried the enzymes that have become popular recently. I have bought several kinds. Some of them are fine after drinking, and some of them run to the toilet after half an hour. After looking through the ingredient list, I found that the one for diarrhea has senna added to it. To put it bluntly, it is a laxative with the name of enzyme. Really qualified fruit and vegetable enzymes are actually supplements of enzymes and active probiotics, which are helpful to regulate intestinal flora, but they are absolutely impossible to make you lose ten pounds in a week. Anyone who claims this effect, don’t think about it, they must have added laxative ingredients, so just avoid it.

I have been making adjustments for almost half a year now. I don’t deliberately diet. I just eat more cereals and eat more cereals. I squat on the toilet for ten minutes every morning (don’t bring a mobile phone, the more you use it, the less likely you are to defecate). Now I have very regular bowel movements. My previously protruding belly has become much flatter. Although I have only lost 7 pounds, my waistline has shrunk by 5 centimeters. Friends around me ask me if I have secretly lost more than ten pounds. Harmful, after all, detoxification and bowel cleansing to lose weight is inherently a slow process. You can’t expect to lose all the fat you’ve accumulated for half a year by cleansing your bowels in three days, right? Once your intestines are comfortable and your metabolism is in order, your weight will naturally move in a healthy direction. It’s okay not to take those shortcuts that damage your intestines and stomach.