Doesn't The Body Cleanse Itself?

Case Study: Benzene Toxicity

Sometimes I find myself wondering if regular bodily cleansing is really needed. Does it really benefit me to cleanse on a regular basis? Is it worth the trouble, the expense, the time, and facing the pain of giving up the daily ritual of eating and drinking my favorite things? Are toxins really "stored" in my body?

As I was contemplating how to unfold and address these questions, I was shocked to realize that every time I fill up my car with gas, every time I sit in traffic with my windows open, and every time I simply walk outside, I am potentially exposed to a cancer-causing toxin, benzene, that the body is not able to fully remove on its own. Outdoor air may contain low levels of benzene from tobacco smoke, wood smoke, automobile service stations, the transfer of gasoline, exhaust from motor vehicles, and industrial emissions.

As I kept researching, I learned that most us are exposed to benzene in some form or another every day of our lives. Yikes! Benzene is classified as a Class A carcinogen by the Environmental Protection Agency.

There are numerous sources of benzene exposure including, but not limited to, solvents, detergents, plastics, synthetic fibers, dyes, rubber, resins, paint, cigarette smoke, gasoline, and carbonated soft drinks. Benzene in soda pop? Yes, due to due to the breakdown of benzoate in the presence of ascorbic acid, there is benzene in some types of soda.

Since my life story illustrates a person who grew up in a benzene bath, I will tell some of it. Starting when I was a young girl, I drank soda; I loved the sweet, bubbly carbonation. In 1980, at age 16, I started my job working at a McDonald's on the north side of Madison, Wisconsin. During the first two years, I was allowed one to two sodas per work shift. I never missed one. Once I became a manager of that same McDonald's at 18, I was allowed an unlimited number of sodas. For about the next 10 years, even after I left McDonald's at 21, I averaged six 16-ounce sodas daily.

Since at least 1990, the Food and Drug Administration and the beverage industry have been aware of the fact that sodium benzoate and ascorbic acid together form benzene in soft drinks. Learn more

Unfortunately, soda drinking was not the beginning of my benzene exposure. In my youth, I was continually surrounding by cigarette smoke; both my mom and dad smoked in our home and in our car. As a teenager and young adult, I spent hundreds of hours in smoked-filled bars. How I emerged from the fog of Virginia Slims and Camels, I will never know.

Other benzene sources in my life (as for most everyone) have been motor vehicle traffic, filling my own car with gasoline, eating and drinking from plastics, wearing synthetic clothes, and drinking contaminated tap water.

During the 1940s and 1950s, underground steel gasoline storage tanks with average life spans of around 30 to 50 years were widely installed throughout the United States. Since the 1970s, corroding underground fuel tanks -- along with poor installation and improper operation -- have spawned widespread groundwater contamination with, you guessed it, benzene.

The symptoms of benzene exposure can differ, as can the time it takes for symptoms to develop. Some reactions to benzene can be immediate, such as central nervous system toxicity. However, other symptoms have a long latency period and may not show for several decades following exposure. Benzene exposure, whether current or lifelong, can present in the body similarly to the flu. You may experience fatigue (chronic fatigue has been linked to benzene toxicity), weakness, weight loss, joint pain, fever, infection, abdominal swelling and pains, or swollen glands. You may also experience abnormal bleeding, excessive bruising, hormonal imbalances, or infertility. Exposure to benzene can also result in various types of cancers such as non-Hodgkin lymphoma and leukemia.

Here is why I strongly advocate regular body or tissue cleansing: When you are exposed to benzene, it is partly excreted with urine or respiration and partly metabolized by oxidase and sulphatase enzymes, but the remainder (up to 20% to 40%) is stored in the body. (Unfortunately, people who exercise store more benzene than those who don't -- ugly!) -- Learn more about this research

After doing all of this research, I wonder how many of my long-term health issues, such as chemical sensitivities, Celiac Disease, and the various autoimmune issues I have struggled with, are related to long-term exposure to benzene. Given all of this, it seems to me that regular cleansing is worth the trouble, the expense, the time, and facing the hardship of giving up the daily ritual of eating and drinking my favorite things, because health-harming toxins really are stored in the body.

How to remove stored benzene
from the body:

Firstly, have a fully formed daily bowel movement. If you do not have this, please contact us at the Optimal Health Center for assistance beginning a colon cleanse program. You need a thriving community of healthy gut flora to rid your body of benzene. To determine the state of your gut flora, take a Gastrointestinal Health Panel.


Secondly, consider taking 2 to 7 coffee enemas per week for 2 to 6 months, depending on your benzene exposure, to increase your biological levels of the carcinogen-metabolizing enzymes. Take 4-10 Chlorophyll Complex Perles (available via Optimal Health Center phone orders only, or a local chiropractor) either 1 hour before your coffee enema or 30 minutes before your next meal, after the coffee enema. Both times are optimal.

Thirdly, use raw dairy products and raw vegetable juices. Primal Diet author Aajonus Vonderplanitz suggests: "1-2 cups of raw mixed vegetable juices of only 90% celery and 10% cilantro once daily around noon-time for 5 consecutive days. Eat 1 tablespoon of no-salt-added raw cheese and 1 tablespoon of unsalted raw butter or avocado about 20 minutes after drinking the juices. Repeat that process every 10 days for 2-6 years."

Finally, take a prepared fast, as is laid out in my book, Ten Days to Optimal Health, at least once a year.

Enemas Work For Me!

Hi Kristina,

First, thank you for making it possible for me and so many others to cleanse our colons. Your products and advice are invaluable.

I'm writing you because I have a question about the health benefits or risks from using enemas daily. I am 23 years old and currently a naturopathic medical student at National College of Natural Medicine. I have had chronic problems with constipation and inflammatory bowel disease my entire life. Due to food sensitivities, I eat a very strict diet of mostly healthy meat and nutritious oils. I avoid fiber because it tends to cause me to have major colon inflammation and actually makes my constipation and bloating much worse.

In the past week I've been doing enemas almost daily. I have never found so much relief for my constipation and bloating from any other remedy I've tried! Some literature that I've read warns that using daily enemas will cause colonic inertia. However, I have found a small amount of literature that states that using daily enemas will actually STRENGTHEN the colon muscles and help to restore a healthy amount of peristalsis. I want to continue using these enemas daily if that is safe, but I'm just looking for some guidance. I found your website as I was browsing articles on this topic. If you could write me back it would mean so much to me!

Thank you for your time!
KM

Dear KM,

Thanks for contacting me.

Funny how most of the available mainstream advice tends to cause you to have major colon inflammation and actually makes your constipation and bloating much worse. I am glad you continued to seek solutions for yourself. I have found that most people can have great health.

The best way to determine if daily enemas are safe for you is to have a seasonal Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis. To learn more, read through How Often To Take Enemas.