You must have heard about gut health and detoxification.
Many people think that there are too many toxins in their body, especially in their intestines. As a result, they constantly use probiotics, various laxatives or teas to cleanse their gut, remove waste and toxins from your colon, trying to improve their health and wellness as well as controlling weight. The laxatives come as pills, capsules, liquids, foods, gums, suppositories, and enemas. The teas include senna, peach blossom, and even rhubarb. But they don’t realize that constantly using this kind of detox can lead to a condition called “Qi Sinking” or “Energy Collapsing” in TCM.
These people easily suffer from depression, that is, they are too weak to lift their spirits, and some even cannot talk in a vivid voice. Their energy level goes down, stomach is sagging, lower abdomen is bloated. They may suffer from abdominal distension with little food intake, especially in the afternoon. Their anus and/or uterus may prolapse.
Detox like this all the time makes you collapse. These so-called colon-clearing medicines are laxatives, which are very harmful to the spleen and stomach, and drag your precious life energy, the energy for life, down and out. Using them for a day or two may not be a big deal. But using them all the time creates severe energy deficiency and depression.
If this is you, stop the cleansing right away and it is imperative to lift your energy up. You can drink the juice made from Chinese yam boiled in water every day. Chinese yam is a famous tonic food for fatigue, energy deficiency, as well as for restoring your weakened spleen and stomach. You may need to see a Chinese medicine doctor to adjust and strengthen your body. The doctor typically prescribes an herbal formula called Sijunzi soup (四君子汤) adjusted to your personal conditions. Sijunzi consists of Ginseng, Atractylodes, Poria, and Licorice. This is the number one medicine to invigorate the spleen and the body’s energy. Once your digestive system is recovered, you will have a good appetite, you can digest the foods indigestible before, and your body can produce the nourishment from ingested food to build your strength, including the strength for cleansing the body by itself and for regulating its weight.
All bodily disease is caused by ourselves and what we do every day, mostly unintentionally. If you have no illnesses, why should you try this or that modern method that has not been verified for even a few generations?! The stools move and pass in our intestines and should never be completely emptied, and if it were, it is malfunctioning and abnormal. Many traditional meals are much better and healthier than the modern ones.