Detoxification 

Many theorists point the finger at the thousands of accumulated man-made chemicals in our food, water, soil and air as the primary cause for the alarming rise in cancer in the last 75 years. It is common knowledge we ingest an array of toxic substances daily. Toxins like mercury, tin and nickel leak steadily from dental fillings. And many people who take prescription and over the counter drugs have accumulated residues in our bodies from these. Most of these substances are laboratory creations that never existed in nature as such prior to the last 100 years.

It is typically the job of oxygen, the great purifier, the immune system and the detoxifying organs like the liver and kidneys to deal with these foreign materials. The body must work very hard to remove these things one way or another. In fact, it can be overwhelming and this is where many theorists believe the trouble starts.

Alternative practitioners assist in this important work as much as possible by cleaning out the liver, digestive system, kidneys, lymph and the bloodstream. A variety of detoxification approaches are used, including colon cleansing, fasting, chelation, water therapy, heat therapy, and nutritional, herbal, and homeopathic methods. In the early 1900s, Max Gerson introduced coffee into the enema procedure, which causes the liver to release stored up toxins into the digestive system to be eliminated.

Chelation: (key-lay-shun) therapies clear toxins, particularly highly toxic metals like mercury, cadmium, arsenic and lead from the bloodstream, tissues and organs. This common sense "house-cleaning" has proven to be extremely effective, in fact essential, in fighting all manner of disease, and has become a routine for almost all alternative care practitioners.

Kidneys are flushed by drinking large amounts of water containing special herbal preparations. The liver is cleansed using various means. The coffee used in enemas, stimulates the liver to purge itself. Colonic irrigations help remove built-up waste products in the colon, some of which may have been there for years.

This therapeutic approach goes back literally thousands of years to the ancient Egyptians, Romans and Greeks. Although a normal procedure in Europe for generations, Americans are still getting used to this idea.