We don’t often do procedure reviews on such topics at The Lean Berets, but considering the amount of colon cancer and digestive problems in America today, this is worth a series of posts. It’s my personal story. I’ll do my best to be very straight forward and honest in description for educational purposes. There is a lot of misunderstanding on this topic I think, so I hope this will help.
I’ve always had a fascination with the digestive tract. It was one of my favorite areas of study in college anatomy. “Grossly” underrated and disrespected–don’t poop for five days, and you’ll find out how important it is for health! As someone once said, it’s not that you are what you eat, it’s that you are won’t you don’t s***. There is a lot of truth in this when you think about it…
We had the opportunity a couple of years ago to do a Lean Berets Show with Registered Nurse Donna Florimonte in Clarks Summit, PA at our favorite organic store called Everything Natural. Donna has been doing colonic cleansing for years in PA–many of her patients come to her via medical referrals with physicians to get cleaned out “organically” without the harsh chemicals commonly used before a colonoscopy. I have wanted to do a colon cleanse ever since. Fast forward a few years, and the subject came up again with a colleague, so I took the plunge…or rather “plunger” and found the Pure Center off Sunset in Los Angeles. To my understanding, a thorough cleanse takes about three treatments, so here it goes…in sequence of events…Part I of III.
Doo Doo Disclaimer: Proceeding was my personal decision after speaking to a number or professional people about colon hydrotherapy. I try to keep an open mind about health issues. I have had to re-evaluate MANY subjects post-graduate school that I never learned in school, or that I learned were wrong–then I found this not to be true. I’m not telling anyone to do this. It is a very personal decision. Do your own research. It’s YOUR BODY. Do what is best for you.
Pre-Cleanse Communications: I contacted owner Karin Nahmani with some general inquiries. She promptly wrote me back, and we set up a phone chat. I had some specific questions on the hygiene and cleaning processes since I already knew the general information on the colonic hydrotherapy from Donna’s show. She informed me all the items used with medically sealed and disposable except the bedding which is laundered appropriately. Their website was simple and easy to navigate–straight forward, prices right up front, nothing hidden. Hygiene is critical when something is going inside of your body; I highly recommend checking for yourself on such procedures with the practitioners.
Cleanse #1: I arrived on time. My colon hydrotherapist was Shanna Smilovici. She was pleasant and helped me fill out some paperwork then prepped me on what was going to happen. It seemed very calm and low key which was nice. The office was simple but clean. After a little explanation of the machine and how it worked and what was going to happen, I dropped my clothes and got into the medical gown. Shanna came back and began the “insertion” process. The end of the hose has a banana like probe end called a “speculum.” Organic coconut oil was used for lubrication. It was rather uncomfortable the first couple of inches–not exactly used to medical devices up my rectum, so might have been nervous too. There was a slight uncomfortable feeling at the very tip–but I don’t know if everyone would experience this. Once fully inserted, the purified and pre-warmed water began to gently fill my colon and intestines. It goes really slow, so I never felt a “stream” of water rushing–just sort of a gentle pressure after a while. The patient is in control assured Shanna, so nothing was ever forced, but it is best to get a fair amount of water in so you can loosen the stool. After a minute to two, she released the valve and the water ran back out into the machine and through the “Poop Tube.” You can literally see it rushing past on the way to the sewer. Interesting to watch feces in a tube I thought. Interestingly, about half way through Shanna started massaging pressure points in my feet. I told her a story from taking a “Sole Training” foot massage class at last year’s American College of Sports Medicine Summit. The practitioner leading the class was joking about how people have great bowel movements after massaging their feet. I was a bit constipated at the conference which is often the case while traveling due to eating differently and rushing around, and sure enough, I had three healthy bowel movements that day getting me back on track! Amazing! Anyway, back to the procedure, the whole cycle of ins and outs during my session took about 45 minutes. I actually felt a lot better at the end than I thought I would. I was a little “crampy” towards the end, but after visiting the restroom to clear out a bit more, I was fine.
Day #1 Summary: There is a mindfulness to doing this because you really focus on your digestive tract. It makes you think deeply about the process of eating food, metabolizing food for nourishment, then voiding leftovers…and more importantly, it forces you to think critically about what is NOT coming out the other end. While you might have thought this got into my rear–it actually got more into my head because I got connected to my digestive health quite a bit over the course of a few days surrounding my first visit. I thought I might not feel well afterwards, but I felt great. I went down the street to an organic market and bought a small bowl of healthy soup and a protein drink then drank some coconut water. That night I ate light again and had some seafood. The night prior I also ate lightly with soup and plenty of water. The morning before I ran a few miles, had some coffee and coconut water, and some wheat toast with honey. No problems doing all the above, so that’s what worked for me.
Day #2 & #3 to be posted ASAP.
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