At a dinner, sit next to a detox consultant and sooner or later they’ll start talking about the Colon. The topic may also turn to gut bacteria, chronic constipation, or bloating and stinky gas—and so, many dinners have been ruined by talkative detox consultants.

Why the obsession with the Colon? As Dr. Bernard Jensen writes, “Detoxification is often neglected, overlooked and underestimated in the healing arts, despite the fact that all health professionals realize that is sick body is a toxic body. Toxic acids are normal products of cell catabolism and we also assimilate varying amounts of toxic materials from the air we breathe, the food we eat, and other environmental sources. When these can be eliminated from the body there is no problem. But when toxicants are being eliminated or created in the body faster than they can be gotten rid of, or when one or more of the illuminative systems are under active, trouble lies ahead. I am convinced the toxic accumulation in the body create the necessary pre-conditions for disease to develop.” Dr. Jensen knew that toxic wastes will be absorbed through the Colon (bowel) wall and into the bloodstream; from there they find their way into the tissues of the body. In turn, cell destruction, poor circulation, chronic fatigue, and a whole range of autoimmune issues result. “Of all the processes essential to good health we find the proper elimination is certainly one of the most important, and when we consider systems of the body, it is apparent that good bowel management is necessary. (…) The body depends on a clean bowel.”, further writes the Good Doctor Jensen.

Natural doctors understand that 9 out of 10 diseases are caused by constipation and can be prevented and treated with a proper diet, and to enable that diet to be more effective, we turn to regenerative detoxification programs first. At Atmanjai, we follow Dr. Jensen’s methods and we begin by managing the Colon.

In the ideal world, chem-free whole foods would be the norm rather than the exception and all people would have three bowel movements a day. The use of toxic skin products and detergents would be unheard of, side-effect causing toxic medication wouldn’t be prescribed, diseases would be rare. In that ideal world, our livers, kidneys, lungs, skins, and colons would be eliminating whatever limited waste there would be. Detox consultants would have little to talk about.

How about the real world? The Colon may not be a topic of polite conversation, but maybe it should be. In your detox consultant’s opinion, the social taboo related to what happens in the gut is causing gazillions of people to suffer with their diseases. Millions are living with inflammatory bowel disease, irritable bowel syndrome, diverticular disease, and a whole range of autoimmune diseases. But natural healers for millennia have recognized the connection between the toxic colon and illness. For example, Hippocrates, the revolutionary Greek doctor and the “Father of Medicine” (460-370 BC), in his writings referred to ways of cleaning the intestines. He described using a bull’s horn or a pig’s bladder and a hollow reed to administer an enema. The Essenes who flourished from the 2^nd century BC also wrote in their gospels about bowel health: “The uncleanness within is greater than the uncleanness without. And he who cleanses himself without, but within remains unclean, is like a tomb that outward is painted fair, but is within full of all manner of horrible uncleanliness and abominations.”

Today you will be glad to know that the old wisdom and right understanding have not been lost. At Atmanjai, our focus on the Colon health has perhaps saved many people who would have otherwise suffered. And so we hope that you, too, find your way to us soon. We also hope that one day the poor, forgotten bowel will once again find its way back into polite conversations. And detox consultants will be invited to dinners again.

Written by Tomasz Goetel, Atmanjai Detox & Wellness Consultant