Why Keeping The Colon Clean

Can we be personal for a moment?

Good. Thank you.

We want to discuss a particularly grievous condition that plagues millions of people in our culture from midlife onwards. It is a condition known to be culture-specific, suffered by affluent Westerns more than by any other group of people. And its cause is said to be unknown to modern medicine. It's called diverticulitis.

Diverticulitis is a pain in the butt for millions of people, literally, since it involves the colon and rectum. What happens is that the wall of the colon, or large intestine, becomes weakened over time from increased pressure of unknown cause. The pressure within the colon causes weakened areas to pocket outwards, creating sacs for digested matter to collect and fester. These sacs are called diverticula. When you have these sacs you are said to have diverticulosis. When diverticula become infected and inflamed, the condition is called diverticulitis, which can be as painful as appendicitis and can lead to rupture of the colon wall, a very dangerous situation. The key issue involved in this condition is the creation of increased pressure within the large intestine. It is the force of this pressure that causes the sacs to form.

Knowing what causes the increased pressure, then, is essential to the prevention and treatment of this condition. At one time it was thought by medicine that the diet might be too high in fiber, causing a blockage of digestion and the increased colon pressure. But lowering the fiber of the diet did not significantly alter the condition. Then it was thought that too little fiber prevented proper elimination, and high fiber diets were recommended. Unfortunately, this did not help the condition, either. Diverticulitis is also equally common among vegetarians as it is among meat eaters. While special interest groups promoting certain diets present research supporting their dietary view as preventive of diverticulitis, there is contrasting research to balance it. So, the overall research on diverticulitis has been inconclusive regarding the cause of increased colon pressure that creates this dreadful condition. And in the absence of knowing the cause, medicine can merely offer pain relief with drugs, antibiotics for the infections, and surgery for particularly nasty, abscessed pockets. As for prevention, the current suggestion is to eat more fiber, making th bowels need to eliminate more frequently.

Of course, one thing was overlooked in the medical research on diverticulitis. The most common reason for increased colon pressure is not really a medical issue, but a cultural one. That is why medicine has missed it. Furthermore, this cultural practice causes the medical profession to suffer from diverticulitis to an even greater extent than their patients.

It all has to do with answering Nature when it calls.

We live in a society that trains us from birth to hold in our waste products. From the pressures of diaper training, to the pressures of using public toilets at school, to the pressures of working without the choice of taking needed potty breaks, or where a toilet is simply not available, our culture has pressured us into holding it in. Of course, this creates pressure in the colon. After all, one of the simplest ways to increase colon pressure is to close the anal sphincter while the intestine is contracting.

Everyone has experienced this one time or another. Perhaps the urge came when you were involved in a social situation that you could not conveniently stop simply because you had to answer Nature's call. Or it could have been while driving, and a rest stop or service station was nowhere to be found. Even if there was a convenient restroom, some people are uncomfortable defecating in a public restroom and prefer holding it in until home. Whatever the reason, the fact is that our culture makes personal waste management an issue that is not always easily resolved, promoting procrastination rather than elimination. The result is increased colon pressure and diverticula formation.

In addition to holding in waste, there is the even greater problem of holding in gas. The technical term for this is flatus retention. It's what most people are trained to do in public, from school days onward. This is why diverticulitis is more prevalent among professional, affluent Westerns, than among the poor of third world countries. The higher your status, the less acceptable your flatus. It seems that poverty buys a right to pass wind when needed, while affluence creates the need for greater discretion. Yet, the sad fact is that the pressure of the fart must go somewhere. Either pass wind or have your intestine blow up. The choice is yours.

Now you can see why medicine says the cause of diverticulitis is unknown. A cultural taboo enshrouds this topic, preventing its unbiased and honest consideration. Interestingly, there was one article connecting diverticulitis with holding in gas. It was in the British medical journal, Lancet, in 1975. The article is entitled, "Flatus retention is the major factor in diverticular disease". But the information was ignored. Medicine seems more comfortable prescribing drugs and surgery for diverticulitis than simply telling people to poop and fart more often.

For those who suffer from diverticulosis or diverticulitis, you can perform your own self study. Over the next three months, note how often you feel the urge to eliminate, but find yourself choosing, for one reason or another, to hold it in. Pay particular attention to your need to pass wind, and how often you don't. Make every effort to allow your body to do what it wants to do. If you have a partner, you may want him or her to try this self study at the same time.

Sydney Ross Singer is a medical anthropologist and director of the Institute for the Study of Culturogenic Disease, located in Hawaii. His unique form of applied medical anthropology searches for the cultural/lifestyle causes of disease. His working assumption is that our bodies were made to be healthy, but our culture and the attitudes and behaviors it instills in us can get in the way of health. By eliminating these causes, the body is allowed to heal. Since most diseases of our time are caused by our culture/lifestyle, this approach has resulted in many original discoveries into the cause, and cure, of many common diseases. It also makes prevention possible by eliminating adverse lifestyle practices. Sydney works with his co-researcher and wife, Soma Grismaijer, and is the author of several groundbreaking health books.

Sydney's background includes a B.S. in biology from the University of Utah; an M.A. degree from Duke University in biochemistry and anthropology; 2 years of medical school training at UTMB at Galveston, along with Ph.D. training in medical humanities.

If you want the full scoop on poop, see our book, Get It Out! Eliminating the Cause of Diverticulitis, Kidney Stones, Bladder Infections, Cervical Dysplasia, PMS, Menopausal Discomfort, Prostate Enlargement...and More! And visit our website http://www.SelfStudyCenter.org

Sydney Ross Singer and Soma Grismaijer can be reached at the Institute for the Study of Culturogenic Disease, P.O. Box 1880, Pahoa, Hawaii 96778 (808) 935-5563. sydsinger@gmail.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sydney_Ross_Singer

Clean Colon, Stronger Health

Looking for a homemade colon cleansing diet with foods that cleanse your colon? You're not alone!

Most people who are new to the whole colon cleansing movement don't want to go the medical procedure route with enemas or irrigation. Most people are looking for alternative, natural, and safe methods. And this is where food comes in.

A good colon cleanse recipe containing the appropriate food can be a great start to a homemade colon cleansing diet.

But before we begin to discuss the actual food, let's discuss how a lack of food can also be beneficial to your colon.

It's true, there are foods that cleanse your colon. But refraining from eating certain types of foods (called fasting) can also cleanse this most important area of your body. Using this fasting method you simply go on a liquid only diet for several weeks. The results are phenomenal. Not only do you help to detox your colon but you also help to detox your entire body (not too mention this is an excellent way to lose weight).

Just make sure you consume only vegetable or natural fruit juices. Also, if you're diabetic, water your juice down because they are very high in natural sugar.

But, if you're like me, and you can't go long periods of time without solid food you may want to try another approach with a colon cleanse recipe that contains solid foods!

This homemade colon cleansing diet should contain specific types of food that are natural digestive aids.

Foods high in fiber such as whole grain and bran cereals. You can add flaxseed to your cereal in the morning for a little extra fiber boost.

Food. Yes, real, solid food that will fill your stomach.

Some of the best foods that cleanse your colon are dark green foods or leafy green foods. Try a colon cleanse recipe filled with chard, broccoli, spinach, and other various leafy green foods. Not only are they good for your colon but they are excellent for your overall health.

And any homemade colon cleansing diet should definitely contain fruit. Fruit is one of the best, if not THE best food you can consume for your colon health. Certain fruits such as blackberries and prunes have incredible amounts of fiber in them. Just about any other fruit will work well with this diet to help you with natural bowel movements to help clean your colon.

The purpose of any homemade colon cleansing diet is to try and force the toxins out of your body. Sometimes food may not be enough. There are natural colon cleansing products you can purchase online that can benefit you greatly if you are looking for a total colon cleanse.

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Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Blake_Allen

Simple Meditation, the first secret

The moment we hear the word meditation it brings to mind a person sitting cross legged, eyes shut and a serene smile on the face. You assume that this person's mind is absolutely at peace and no thoughts are bothering him/her at the moment. In fact we tend to assume that no thoughts are arising in this person's mind and he is free from worldly clamor and connected with a higher power.

You could not be further from truth. Sitting cross legged and shutting the eyes makes most people restless. The mind takes flight, thoughts about the past and the future keep arising and the last thing on the mind is the awareness of the present moment. If you have tried meditating you must be aware of this state of mind. Most people give up on meditation after a few attempts because they find it tedious to sit down calmly even for five minutes.

What is the use, my mind keeps running away. I went thorough these stages till I met my teacher who guided me step by step in the basic meditation technique. He made it so simple that I had no excuse not to meditate. Finally when I could see the results for myself meditating became an inherent part of my daily routine. Gradually I started enjoying those quiet moments with in my mind and life took a new meaning all together. I would encourage you to join me in this simple yet profound journey of life and be a participant. You will be able to discover and know yourself as you have never done before.

I would suggest you to go slow and take it step by step as we progress from simple daily meditation to more intense forms such as Kundalini meditation. I would like you to keep in mind a simple phrase my teacher used over and over again with me each time we sat for a meditation session. "Nothing to achieve nothing to attain"

http://basic-meditation.blogspot.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sandeep_Khara