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Cleaning the colon - what I did in Thailand
The word detox used to make my heart sink, because I knew there was no way I'd have the will power to do it - even just the idea of eating salads for a week, delicious as they might be, made me cross! Cross because I knew if I had the desire to eat the chocolate cake, I would, because I lacked any will power to resist it. I didn't really believe that silly old herbal concoctions would work and it annoyed me that detox packages would be on sale for huge amounts of money in pharmacies 'cos I thought they're probably just a rip-off.
Why did I feel I even needed to detox? Quite simply, years of over-indulgence and lots of niggling, sometimes screaming, health problems. It was like a last hope, a wiping-the-slate clean idea but I just never got around to it, and just put up with the status quo.
So in 1998 I discovered a rather good value place in Koh Samui, probably I'd seen it on TV, and I stuck it in my brain section entitled Things I Will Definitely Do One Day.
This place attracted me a) because it was cheap and b) something about the hard-core nature of fasting for 7 days AND giving yourself an enema twice a day - made me believe that this was the best method I'd seen yet for wiping the slate (colon) clean, kickstarting a new way of living.
However part of me remained extremely sceptical - these things only work for other people not me, I won't be able to do it, I'll just go back to my old ways. So it took me 10 years to get round to going there.
Since this post is just a summary, I'll skip the gory details and just explain that it's very controlled; you take a special juice every 3 hours, herbal pills every 3 hours, (but not at the same time as the juice) and you give yourself two coffee enemas every day, morning and evening, all for 7 days. You eat nothing. It's all very strange at first. It's not pleasant giving yourself enemas, but there's a video and books to teach you and experts on hand (NOT with you in the bathroom) to ask; you learn as you go along, talking to fellow-guests in minute detail and picking up handy hints... you get a bit weak, you can do gentle yoga, chi-gong, steam rooms, massages, beach etc. Not as cheap as the rest of Thailand but all affordable - massage £6, yoga class £5. The aim, in a nutshell, is to give your body a rest from being stuffed with food, so that it can concentrate on getting the gunk out of you, helped by herbs and enemas. You can hear more about this in other posts but suffice to say... EVERYONE has this, (unless they've been vegan and only eaten raw fruit and veg all their life), it's yuk, and you need to get it out of you, because it clogs up the colon and leads to other, potentially serious problems.
Of course, I took photos - every time I did a colema. I emailed a couple of them to my father upon my return; he said he was almost sick and he promptly gave me strict instructions never to show these to any of my boyfriends. (Of course I wouldn't!) (well, not during courtship period anyway!) Honestly, why are some people so SQUEAMISH!? People are just not getting the fact that this stuff is inside THEM too and surely it's better out than in!!
It's funny to see different peoples' reactions. There is one end of the scale, my father and brother, who shut me up loudly and almost hysterically if I even opened my mouth to say the word "enema"; and there is the other end of the scale, my friends B, P and E for example who were fascinated, examining pictures of mucoid plaque, and immediately decided they might want to do this themselves. If you are more the latter, then good for you! Follow your intuition - you KNOW that cleaning your colon is the way forward!
I did mine at the Spa Village, Spa Samui in Koh Samui, Thailand. www.thesparesorts.com
I am currently investigating UK options for the same cleanse; there aren't many so maybe I will start one myself. Once you have done it and you know what you are doing, you can use www.ariseandshine.net to buy the herbs and psyllium husks and www.cleanse.net, find a colema board and do it at home, but I wouldn't advise if you don't know what you are doing. Yes, you need to take the herbs and drinks, and yes, you really should do the enemas, (no point cleaning your house without emptying the rubbish bin) and no, you really shouldn't eat anything except drink coconut water, carrot juice, wheatgrass juice, a liver flush, vegetable broth.
I've gone into more depth in other posts.
Khmer Chicken from Cambodia
Khmer Chicken with Bok Choi (serves 2, or 1 hungry man)
Chop these thinly and keep separately in piles:
2 cloves garlic
1 shallot (Onion if you can’t be bothered to buy shallots, but only a very small amount (1/5 th of an onion)
3 small lemon grass stalks but exclude the outer skin first – chop these as finely as you can!
2 pieces of fresh turmeric (hard to get it fresh in the UK?)
1 and a half kaffir lime leaves – roll them up first then chop thinly
Galangal 1 inch square, or ginger if no galangal
Mix and smash these in a pestle and mortar (or cheat with a blender)
But they must go into it in the following order..
lemon grass, kaffir, galangal/ginger : smash a LOT to a pulp
THEN the rest except shallots; smash smash smash, and the shallots must go in last, more smashing.
Now you're ready to spread this mixture onto the chicken - a large organic piece of deboned thigh preferably.
On to the chicken, which you have slathered in this yummy bright yellow spicy mixture, add 2 tablespoons of coconut milk, half a teaspoon of chicken stock. Here you are supposed to add 3 tablespoons of oyster sauce, but I say either add 1 only or none at all - I am suspicious that this is the Cambodians over-doing it a bit, making it far too salty.
Over this add a couple of tablespoons of crushed peanuts - you should seriously think about keeping a jar of these in your larder - crushed to the point where some are powdery and none are left whole. (beware of using salted, but roasted should be ok)
Now, heat some oil in a pan - by the way, the healthiest oil to cook with is coconut oil - if not, then olive oil, but you do not need any other oil in your kitchen - and make sure the pan has a lid or at least something you can improvise as a lid. When the oil's hot, fry the chicky with all of its yellow mixture but don't toss it around too much, you want it to go a bit crispy so leave it in place, turning it over once or twice. When it's gone much browner, possibly 10 minutes, it's ready!
You can serve with steamed rice and bok choi.
The bok choi can be literally steamed with a bit of water, lemon juice and oil in the bottom of a pan or wok. Remember the lid!! If you want to be more elaborate, you can toss over it a bit of crushed garlic, palm sugar, fish sauce, a ladle of vegetable stock and some black pepper. The Cambodians like to add cornflower mixed with water at this point too but I thing this makes it look gloopy, you want it fresh and green. Don't oversteam, you don't want it to lose colour.
Day 8, Detox and fast on Koh Samui: BREAKING THE FAST
Jeez, can't eat till like midday as still have special flora-gro "insertion" put inside me to replenish all the good bacteria. Will NOT miss the smell of coffee I can tell you.
Weight check: 135 lbs! (lost in total, 7lbs, half a stone) (the 4lbs I put on 2 days ago must have been water, but it went the next morning)
12: 30 yuuuuuuummmmmmmyyyy papaya and mango and goat's yoghurt and bee pollen for brek. In a small bowl, but I felt stuffed!
3pm: was a bit naughty as supposed to eat only veg but spotted someone eating delicious raw vietnamese uncooked spring rolls with chilli sauce so ordered them too. Ate them in restuarant on the beach. YUMMY! Stuffed. Was only 7 mouthfuls!
8pm; another raw salad but only ate 3 mouthfuls as felt no need for food at all. (Highly unlike me!!)
UPDATE: Straight after this detox/fast, I was able to cycle across from Northern Thailand to Laos for 11 days - sometimes doing 70 miles in a day! Didn't suffer at all. Was eating normally (but Thai food is healthy generally) - and drinking a beer a night. When I got back to England, I was still the same weight I was on the last day of the fast. I think this 7lbs was the weight of the GUT GUNK that is sitting in all of our intestines.
It's now about 12 weeks later, and I am STILL the same weight - (it goes up and down a little), and I haven't been neuroticly sticking to a raw food diet in the slightest. However, I have invented loads of new salad combinations and find that I get very excited by these. You can see these on my other blog Zizzie's Tahini. (eventually!)
Day 7, Detox and Fast on Koh Samui
It's my last day of the fast and boy am I relieved not to be giving myself any more colemas, even if there is more to come out. I wish I could have put a bit more detail about them in here but you never know who's going to read it! It's definitely a skill I've been proud to learn. My body aches from being weak but I feel excellent generally. I can't wait for papaya and bee pollen breakfast tomorrow. I had such an astounding time looking at the contents of the colander after the last colema. All I can say is, do it yourself.
I feel nervous but better equipped to handle the challenges of normal life in London - maybe I'll enjoy not feeling quite so full after meals in my future healthy state.
Click here for Day 8 - Breaking the Fast!!
Day 5, Detox and fast on Koh Samui
MORNING: Time is going too fast! This morning was Day 5 of the detox and I have lost 7lbs (half a stone)! Amazing! Very happy. Except, it doesn't seem to be fat loss - stomach still seems as flobbly as norma, but never mind, I've done no exercise so that's why. After this I'm cycling from northern Thailand over to Laos for 11 days, so surely that'll shift the flobbles, (except I suppose I'll be eating normal food then!)
EVENING:
WHaaaaatt??? I weighed myself again and I've put on 4 lbs?? Bizarre, since I had 2 good colemas today. How very distressing. Oh well, typical of ME to be the only person on this detox to PUT ON weight!
Watched a film in the evening called the Ph Miracle - some sensible/interesting things to say. Then I watched something else - a guy doing a speech - (INSERT TITLE - what was it??)
Here's a programme to follow - see this post.
and this post for notes from the film Food Matters
Click here for Day 6
It's all about the soil. (Notes from Food Matters)
Watched on Detox in Thailand Jan '10
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4DOQ6Xhqss&hl=en_US&fs=1&]
Notes from Food Matters..
Reasons for growing yourself / eating only fresh picked food:- If it is 5 days old, how much nutritional value do you think really get from it?
- Soil - if it's deficient, the vegetables are too! Vicious circle of pests and more chemicals to counteract, soil gets more deficient
- Fertilisers like NPK. Soil requires 52 different minerals.
- supermarket / nutrient depleted veg makes us deficient and toxic
- There are live enzymes in raw veg - these are workers - these deplete when you cook! The body can benefit more from RAW food.
- If your diet is more than 51% cooked food, the body will react as if foreign bodies are entering. Make 51% of your meals RAW!
- If you have a bad day of eating you need to have supplements.
- Vitamins are REALLY important.
- The higher the dose the better.
- You cannot heal selectively. You nourish the body, and then the body fixes it. Vitamins don't fix it, they enable the body to fix it. So activate your body's healing system.
- Not one cell in the body is made of a drug.
- Cutting into the body does not make it better!
- We are all eating too much of the wrong thing, and not enough of the right thing.
- All diseases are reversible - people have been known to arrest cardio-vascular disease without surgery!- stick with the high fibre veggie diet, reduce stress, increase vitamins.
- Drink WATER
- The Japanese have the lowest cancer rates. Seafood, omega 3, green tea.
- nutritional therapy.
THE SOLUTIONS ALREADY EXIST WITHIN NATURE
Day 6, Detox and Fast on Koh Samui
I just want to write this to myself and make sure I never forget it. What IS this stuff??? I can't believe it's coming out of my body!?! How long has it been there? Will it all have come out by tomorrow? (when the fasting ends). It's like pondweed. And that's the more palatable description...and some of it is really quite hard. And it definitely takes on the form of a sheath - I can put a stick right through it. It's just like Rich Anderson's book says!
The fact it is coming out of its own accord - this morning before the enema as well - is a good thing I suppose. Those herbs must be doing their job. Dying to find out what the white bits are. Definitely fatty deposits. So odd.
Anyway - I feel really weak now. Looking forward to eating again in 2 days time. My body is beginning to ache , especially my legs - I have been walking a LOT - like miles up and down the beach and climbing the mountain to my hut 8 times a day. My body feels as if I have done a really intense gym or heavyweight lifting session and not cooled down afterwards.It's not surprising as I haven't eaten for 6 days. But in another sense I feel SO much lighter and clearer. I can see why people might get addicted to this. It is a spiritual experience as well as a physical one!
I can't quite picture myself giving up alcohol, eating a raw food diet, and giving up all acid-forming foods though. But knowing i can do this makes me feel a great weight has been off my shoulders!
Click here for Day 7
PS: Watched the Secret - had read it 3 yrs ago but had nothing else to do so watched the film: click here for notes on it!
4 week change your life health programme
These are my notes from a film I watched whilst detoxing in Thailand. (see Day 6)
WEEK 1
- remember - natural therapies like this need 2 months to show themselves
- Throw away all polyunsat fats like sunflower corn even seseme oils - they cause mutations in DNA..(??!)
- Become aware of all saturated fats. Animal fats . Artifically hardened fats and partially hydrogenated veg oil - in things like cookies etc. Trans fatty acids damage cell membranes.
- Use olive oil - the body handles this best. Best to keep in fridge. Only a tiny amount of brands are pure. Extra Virgin doesn't mean anything. (PW: well, knew this already. He doesn't mention coconut oil also great)
- Cut out any artificial sweetners and colours.
- eat loads of broccoli! The greatest cancer protector. Start increasing number and variety of veg you eat.
- Eat Salmon or wild sardines. or Flax seeds as alternative - grind in small amounts to sprinkle on salads etc (1 tblespn a day
- take 1000-20000 mg of Vitamin C TWICE a day!!!! (stay below the diarrhoea levels) this is a powerful antioxidant
- Get WALKING!
- Follow your breath for 5 mins every day. Gets your mind into neutral.
- Drinking water. Find out what's in yours.
- Investigate soy for isoflavonoids. Find out what products are out there you could eat.
- Drink Japanese green tea instead of caffeine.
- Supplements: take 1 capsule betacaratene
- Walking - 15 mins a day
- Go on a news fast - news is a major source of negative mental states. NOTE TO SELF: Turn off TODAY PROGRAMME ON RADIO 4 and set to Radio 3 instead!!!
- Investigate toxins in food. Be aware of what's contaminated. - eg strawberries, peaches, spinach - especially if shipped in from USA. (You shouldn't be having these anyway cos of your food miles though! ) BUY ORGANIC.
- electro magnetic pollution - start becoming aware of.
- Eat more fruit and veg. Replace meat with soy. Increase fish and flax.
- Supplements: Vit E 400 units
- Increase walking to 25 mins a day
- Start to be aware of being only around people who make you happy
- investigate sleep.
- eat more garlic
- 25 mins walking as well as stretching - this is a very powerful way to change the way we feel
- go on News Fast for 2 days
- Review changes you've made and figure out how to modify to keep integrated
- experiment with a tonic - eg ginseng
- brisk walking 45 mins a day 5 days a week
- do 8 breath breathing technique during meditation - harmonises the nervous energies, improves outlook, calms emotional stress
- News Fast 7 days.
Day 4 Fast and detox in Koh Samui
So it's Day 4 and I'm wondering why I feel fine - you're supposed to feel a bit sick by this point. I am going to have to show you a photo of what's been coming out of me because otherwise you are missing the point.
Look away now if you don't want to see!
Actually no, I've chickened out. I'll tell you what, I'll upload them to a - post, and you can ask me for the password - or guess it! Here it is!>>
Meanwhile, I'm realising that my nails are stronger and whiter and growing really fast. And every night I'm going crazy for all their instructive videos - some of which I've seen before, some not - you can see a list of films here>> . But I'm learning about how the colon really works, and why I've had the ailments I've had. And it makes sense, reading Dr Jenson's book and reading Rich Anderson's book - that 90% of human diseases would come from a dirty colon. There'll be more on this later.
so day 4, and getting used to this yellowy brown mucoid plaque come out...and wierd white bits are coming out of me too- the size of baby's teeth, and the twisted patterns of presumably the intestine wall on one side, with smooth surfaces on the other. You can see photos here, if you want to ask me for the password, (or guess it). After much discussion with various expert fasters and cleansers, we think these are made of cholesterol. This is I think proved later - 3 weeks later - when the white bits that I have stored in a little plastic bag, seemed to have melted into fats. Later, I find out that they look very like polyps. Did I have polyps in my colon??Are there more?
By the way, I have lost a pound a day so far on this fast. Doesn't sound like much compared to my companions, and TV presenter Jessica from Real Hustle who says she's lost 9 lbs, but it's promising! Down from 142 lbs on wednesday to 138 lbs today - hurrah!
Day 3, Fast and Detox at Koh Samui
Day 3, morning colema.
Kind of beginning to get the hang of it, finding it fascinating. Here's how it works.
You MUST put a kitchen colander in the loo, with the seat up.This is because you want to SEE what's coming out of you! You rig up your bucket to a hook on the ceiling.
Make sure the tube is at the bottom of the bucket, fill the rest of the bucket with some filtered warm water to the top. Not too warm. Then put the colema board - basically a fibreglass board with a whole in it - over the loo and balanced on a chair. Make sure all hoses attached correctly ( a level of detail I can't be bothered with here, sorry) and lie down, with towels and ipod. You put the pipe up yer bum, take the clamp off, and the water starts flowing in. Sooner or later (sooner, in my case) the water wants to burst out again, but you have to massage it up the colon and try to hold it in for a bit. After practice, you should be able to get about a 6th of the bucket inside you without letting any out. Reattach the clamp to stop water flowing in, and wait. Once it does come out, squirting around the sides of the little hose that's that bringing the water in, then you'll feel rather a sense of release, to put it mildly, and you release the clamp and let it flow in again.
here's a rather satisfying animation:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JBLcH_pXSE&hl=en_US&fs=1&]
Here's an instructive video on what happens when you swallow food:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTaPUdWAEnE&hl=en_US&fs=1&]
We can see from this video that we are supposed to have somewhat of a mucus lining in our small intestine.
Click here for Day 4









