Excuse me for butting in - but I highly recommend you read his book "The Amazing Liver Cleanse" - can order at www.1stbooks.com
and also previous posts - both will give you the answers to your question and much more!

Dear Mitra,

Like in all problems, you can use different angles and approaches to understand and handle them. Fasting can be a great blessing for some and it can also cause such severe complications as strokes or heart attacks in others. My father became fatally ill in 1972 during a fast at the young age 53, from toxic overload and stress on the heart. Such incidences, though, can be prevented by making certain that the organs of elimination, such a colon, kidneys and liver are fairly open and clean while on the fasting program. The colon should be flushed out every day. This prevents backflushing of toxic waste.

Some people's gallbladders dry out during a fast, which can enhance gallstone formation. While still a child, I personally did annual fasts for 4 weeks on nothing but a special herbal tea, Epsom salts for internal cleansing, and mud-baths. I did these "torture treatments" for 8 years in a row. They helped me tremendously, but all my old symptoms (juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, arrythmia, fainting spells, low blood pressure, chronic constipation, kidney congestion, etc. always kept coming back after several weeks of being back home again and eating the same foods that had caused these health conditions in the first place.

In my case, although the fasting itself was having a great effect by itself, it didn't change my overall health. Later in life I realised I din't need to fast to become healthy again. The liver cleanse (see book The Amazing Liver Cleanse), colonics and dietary changes permantly removed almost every symptom I was plagued with since I was 7 years old, without fasting. And I have not done a fast since 1978.

When it comes to matters of health, there are some basic principles that apply to everyone and others that have even contrary effects in different people. In my opinion, Ayurveda has figured out why this is so (as outlined in The Key to Health and Rejuvenation). But when it comes down to it, we all have to find out ourselves what is best for us. So it is with fasting.

Regarding the other parts of your question, I believe I have answered these in a response from two days ago. It is as follows:

Your experiences with the Psyllium/Bentonite based cleanses are not uncommon. Some people have literally plastered their intestines with these products. Years back I have tried the various cleanses myself and recommended them to my clients. After thorough examination of the "fecal" matter I found that, apart from also releasing some true waste matter, the large black and rubber-like eliminations consisted mostly of expanded and hardened psyllium and bentonite, mixed with fecal water. The amounts of water required to clear these cleanse ingredients can be considerable and may vary from person to person. A lot of people ended up with dehydrated and shriveled up intestines. Having had difficulties with the larger dosage already I would discourage you from using any such cleanses again.

The liver cleanse will certainly play a key role in your recovery. The increased bile flow will directly improve bowel health. Bile contains bile salts that act like a natural laxative and colon cleanser. All other methods pale against the body's own cleansing procedures. Colonic irrigation is very useful, especially when combinded with the liver cleanse (see The Amazing Liver Cleanse (www.1stbooks.com). Colosan (as described in The Key to Health and Rejuvenation, www.1stbooks.com, or a similar product, can gently remove existing blockages wihtout dehydrating the colon, infact it does quite the opposite. When you follow the directions as given in the liver cleanse, with proper pre and post treatment, you should have no problems doing it, in spite of your colon issue.

You may also benefit greatly from eating a diet that supports your body type, meaning, food that your body is actually meant to digest and utilize. Otherwise, you may end up having to deal with all sorts of foods the body resists processing (because it doesn't need them).

Another important point since you mentioned it: Drinking 10-14 glasses of water is not only not useful for the body but may actually backfire and upset the entire organism and the water-regulating mechansism in the body. The kidneys in particualar are only able to filter out and retain a certain amount of plasma components, such as minerals, vitamins and trace elements, which are then sent back into the blood stream for continued use in the body. When you drink more than 6-8 glasses of water per day, you are actually flushing out large amounts of precious minerals and vitamins and hundreds of other nutrient compounds, apart from upsetting the body's delicate electrolyte balance. These substances are needed to keep the organs well hydrated and operational. So, drinking too much can be even more harmful than not drinking enough.

With my best wishes,
Andreas

http://ener-chi.com