Bronze-level articleCleanse

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Against allopathy

Alternative medicine

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Alternative articles
"If the doors of perception were cleansed every thing would appear to man as it is, Infinite. For man has closed himself up, till he sees all things thro' narrow chinks of his cavern." - William Blake.

Cleanse means to clean, wash, or purify something.[1]

In alternative medicine and some fad diets, however, it has a more specific meaning: removal of alleged "toxins" stored in the body. In this context, it is also commonly referred to as detox. This usage is completely made-up rubbish, and anyone using the term "detox" or "cleanse" in this manner is selling you woo.

The term is also common in most major religions, sometimes in a symbolic sense, but also in specific ceremonies and customs.

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[edit] Religious usage

Possibly the best known example of ritual cleansing in the West, is the Christian baptism. Christians originally practiced the custom of washing the feet of another person which held symbolic meaning, as well as the more practical benefit of ensuring that guests have nice smelling feet. The Bible contains many references to cleansing, in some cases with fire.

Muslims must complete an ablution prior to praying, cleaning specific parts of the body as described in the Qur'an.[2]

In the Japanese animistic religion, Shinto, all visitors to shrines are expected to ritually rinse their hands and mouths.

[edit] Alternative medicine

"Cleanses" are part of a belief that the colon, liver, and kidneys have years of built up "toxins" (like arsenic) in them which are the cause of many or all disease; the cure for all illnesses then is to cleanse all the "toxins" (like cyanide) from one's body. Hence the existence of "detox" diets and potions. First of all, it is not true that toxins are the cause of most diseases. Diseases have a variety of causes; bacterial, viral, nutritional, genetic, and many others. Secondly, the kidneys and liver are already hard at work cleansing toxins, which are excreted every day. The idea that toxins somehow build up in these organs is just woo, except kidney stones and other buildups in these organs which are not affected by cleansing.

Cleanses include liver and kidney cleanses, often using herbal tea concoctions containing herbs which are purported to flush out toxins, or more esoteric practices such as coffee enemas and the use of homeopathy, in which tiny amounts of toxins (usually heavy metals in this case) are taken on the mistaken assumption that this will cause the organs to flush out larger amounts of the same substances. Other purported cleanses include lymphatic cleanses (which the Lemonade Diet claims to do), juicing, candida yeast cleanses, liver flushes,[3] bloodletting, and lead oxide (no, not homeopathic lead, actual lead).[4] Perhaps the the most popular target organ for detoxing and cleansing is the colon.[5] This is unsurprising as the colon is essentially the sewage system of the body, and at any one time is likely to be filled with foul, stinking crap. Thus, by cleansing the colon, by colonic or otherwise, the practitioner can happily say "look at all the bad stuff we pulled out of your body!" while ignoring the fact that this bad stuff was A) supposed to be there and B) would have been removed in the next few hours anyway. In a less active sense, fasting - going without food or drinks rather than replacing them with woo - is sometimes attempted as an all-purpose cleanse of the entire body.

None of these practices is really necessary, nor effective. Well-functioning bodily organs already perform this function. However, for those who have had their brains cleansed of toxins by alties, health food stores are eager to sell you packets of pills containing herbal mixtures claiming to totally cleanse all your other organs. The effect on your wallet is similar - but also, guaranteed.

A well known "detoxer" in the UK is Carol Vorderman[6] - the former maths person on the game show "Countdown". After leaving the show she wrote books[7] about the subject and endorsed several "supplements" claimed to "detox" or otherwise improve the health of consumers.[8]

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

[edit] Footnotes

  1. Note that with the -se suffix the word acquires an elevated spiritual dimension, as occurs in the term goatse.
  2. Islamic ablution before prayer. The smell of burning oxen is pleasing to the lord, but not the stench of stinky worshipers
  3. An amusing process involving large amounts of olive oil which causes you to crap blobs of green soap.
  4. Galena, Acupuncture Today.
  5. DrNatura, The global leader in cleansing and detoxification
  6. Search "Carol Vorderman detox"
  7. Carol's book on Amazon
  8. [1]
Alternative medicine articles on RationalWiki
Acupuncture - Aromatherapy - Apitherapy - Autism and pseudoscience - Bloodletting/Leeching - Chelation therapy - Chiropractic - Cleanse - Colloidal silver - Colonic - Color therapy - DMSO - Dynamiclear - Ear candling - Faith healing - Fasting - Folk remedy - Geier family - Hair analysis - Health freedom - Heel (company) - Herbal supplement - Heroic medicine (Humorism) - Homeopathy - Kombucha - Laetrile - Lupron therapy - Macrobiotics - Magnetic therapy - Medical marijuana - National Health Federation - Narconon - Oil pulling - Oxygen therapy - Q-Ray - Reflexology - Reiki - Rolfing - Shark cartilage - Shiitake mushroom - Tetrasil - Therapeutic touch - Trepanation - Unani

Promoters: Hulda Clark - Mehmet Oz - Kevin Trudeau
Alternative diets: Alkaline diet - Blood type diet - Ephedrine - Fad diet - Food woo - Human chorionic gonadotrophin - Inedia - Jesus Diet - Lemonade diet- Low-carb diet - Organic food - Paleo diet - Raw foodism - Self help - Weigh down diet

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