Eliminative Health
Simply defined, eliminative health is what goes out of the body, or the body purging itself of wastes, toxins, chemicals, and byproducts of metabolism. The avenues by which this most important task is accomplished are the bowel, liver,gall bladder, kidneys, bladder, lungs, and skin. If any one of these organs does not perform its function property, levels of toxins and waste products increase and start to circulate through the blood to all areas of the body. Left unchecked, these toxins and waste products start to deposit in tissues throughout the body, potentially causing a long list of health problems.
The first problem, a major key in health problems and toxicity, is impaired elimination. When asked what is the normal number of bowel movements per day, the usual response is one. But research among tribes who have almost no incidence of colon cancer and have great longevity and eat predominately fruit, vegetables, seeds, and nuts shows that they have a bowel movement after each meal. Why is it so important to our health to have this kind of regularity? Because in 1994 colorectal cancer was the No. 1 form of cancer in the United States among men and women as a combined group.
The major cause of colon cancer is constipation because of toxic buildup and inflammation of the intestinal lining. When we eat chicken, fish, or red meat, our intestinal tracts slow down greatly due to lack of fiber and the difficulty with which this heavy protein is digested. When comparing intestinal tracts of a meat-eating lion to man, we see the lion’s is shorter and smoother for fast elimination time. On the other hand, man’s digestive tract is longer and convoluted, showing it is designed to digest fruits and vegetables, whole grains, seeds, and nuts. But for meat, the transit time is too long, allowing greater chances of intestinal inflammation and toxic buildup.
Elimination is a key in the overall health picture, so I always ask people who consult with me about their ill health, “How often to you have a bowel movement?” The goal is three effortless and odorless bowel movements per day.
Again, consider our diets. White bread and pasta tend to constipate us. In fact, in the early part of this century, the prescribed treatment for diarrhea was to eat some white bread. Chicken, fish, and red meat are all hard to digest and hard to eliminate. Add some fat and you have a mess — sludge just sitting in you trying to squeeze its way through your intestine, moving very slowly. The standard diet of the average American consists of too much protein (90-120g opposed to the 30-50g necessary), too much fat, too much refined carbohydrates, and to little fruits, vegetables, complex carbohydrates, and fiber. So in working toward physical health, we have to look at elimination, primarily through the bowel.
The liver has a critical role in detoxing the body and is overburdened in today’s society of high amounts of chemicals and toxins.
The lungs, the kidneys, and the skin also help eliminate waste products and toxins from the body and are all necessary to function optimally in good health. Dr. Alexis Castle at the Rockefeller Institute suggested the possibility that cells could live forever if kept free from their own waste and properly nourished. He set up an experiment in which the heart tissue of a chicken was immersed in a nutrient solution which was changed daily. He kept this tissue alive for 29 years. Shortly after the time of Castle’s death, the attendant forgot to change the solution, and the tissue died. Who knows how long our bodies can live if cared for? I believe estimates of 120 years are not unreasonable.
The next elimination organ is our kidneys, which filter our blood to keep it pure. The kidneys have a tremendous role in elimination, because they excrete a number of toxic compound substances that increase the burden on the body and chances of tissue breakdown if not eliminated. As previously stated, the average American diet consists of 90-120 grams of protein per day, which is two to four times the daily requirement of protein. What happens to the excess? Protein is not stored in the body. If you cannot use it, it must be excreted, and the pathway of excretion is through the kidneys. This is very hard on the microtubules of the kidney and greatly increases the chance of kidney disease.
Our last elimination organ is skin, which releases up to 1.5 gallons of water each day.
The physical aspect of health correlated with circulation and elimination is breathing. So many people do not breathe deeply and properly. This is not only important in removal of CO2 and other harmful waste byproducts, but it is also crucial in increasing the amount of oxygen we have in our bodies. (People who only chest-breathe never fill the lower part of their lungs, which supply up to 80 percent of the oxygen to our bodies). This is also seen in people who have asthma, emphysema, and other forms of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. These people consistently cannot get enough oxygen into their bodies and have to take pure oxygen through respirators to make sure that the lesser amount they take in is enough to sustain the life of the body. Proper deep breathing also increases the normal lymph flow dramatically. In a research study conducted to analyze the flow of lymph (which is critical in the maintenance of a healthy immune system), the single most important factor in moving lymph was not massage, not exercise, but deep breathing. So deep breathing plays an important part in our health.