Thanks! My system works just fine. I was wondering, though, what a cleansing fast was?

I get a bit of a rash on my face, centre of the forehead, centre of the face under the eyes, along side the mouth and down into the chin, but only whe when I get overly tired, or in the case of the chin, if I go too long without shaving. I heard one woman here say that, "whatever it is that's coming out of the body is because of what's going on within the body." She said not to treat it, cause it wants to get out. Smothering it with creams, she said, would force it to go back in and make it want to come out someplace else, if at all. I use a nilstat cream and it works just great, but maybe a fast could help me find the root cause. What do you think?

I used to have a horrible, horrible, case of psoriasis, but taking a stand for my cionvictions when I joined the Fam, and quitting all the drugs and alcohol and tobacco, at that time, made it all up and dissappear. It was all over my elbows and knees and scalp. My dad had it too. Not as bad though!

> This is a good question.

> In natural healing you look at the body as a
> whole, you look at illness as symptons of
> your body's functions. Rather than only
> trying to help one recover from a cold for
> instance, you try to look deeper into the
> body and gather information to help that
> person discover the source for the sickness.
> A cold could very well be just that, a cold,
> or it could be a sympton of another illness
> or an area of your body not working right.

> A cleansing is usually the first suggestion
> you give to someone who wants to regain
> their health. Many holistic and naturopathic
> healers believe that almost all illnesses
> are related directly to the intestines and
> colon. Here is the reasoning:

> We all know that when you eat, the food goes
> from your stomach to be broken down, into
> the colon and intestines for further
> processing and then to the kidneys for
> elimination. But what happens if you have a
> "pocket" in your intestines, or
> some part of your colon is not shaped
> properly and the food gets stuck in there.
> Or what if the food isn't being properly
> flushed out of your body, properly and
> totally?

> The food sits in your system and turns
> putrid and toxic. Holistic and natural
> healers believe that the toxins your
> unprocessed or (unwashed-out) food are being
> reabsorbed into the blood stream, and from
> there cause sicknesses to develop in your
> body. If the good nutrients are being
> absorbed from your intestines into the blood
> stream then it stands to reason that the
> toxins are as well.

> It is possible to have from anywhere from
> 0-30 pounds of waste stuck in your gut. When
> John Wayne died they apparently found 30lbs
> of such stuff in his digestive system,
> gross!

> Many people have recovered from illnesses
> and allergies simply by cleansing and
> keeping their intestines well cleaned. The
> goal is to have one bowel movement per meal.
> I know some people who have attained this,
> personally, I haven't, but I don't eat very
> much either.

> The cleansing:

> There are many ways you can do this. One is
> to just fast and drink water for a few days.
> Another is to do it with just fruit juices
> and herb teas and water.

> You can buy a book "The Stanley
> Burroughs Master Cleanse" at amazon.com
> for $6, it outlines a whole cleansing
> program based on maple syrup, lemon juice
> and cayenne pepper.

> You can buy some herbs from a herbal shop (I
> can reccommend one I trust with good quality
> and reasonable prices which is where I buy
> my supplies).

> Another company I get my supplies from sells
> a complete cleansing kit, which I have also
> done, and it works to get the bowels moving.
> It contains a fiber drink powder, herb blend
> capsules and an enzyme vitamin to break down
> food at mealtimes.

> It's recommended that you do a cleansing
> every 6 months. Fasting is also a very good
> thing to do for your health and for
> anti-aging, it gives your body a chance to
> stop working on processing and concentrate
> on rejuvenating. I personally can't fast, my
> metabolism is too fast and I start to shake
> after a few hours of not eating. I never
> survived Family fasts, they were treacherous
> on me.

> Here is a recipe for a herbal home-made
> cleanse. If you have constipation problems,
> I would also recommend that you do a
> cleansing and increase your water intake.

> 1 part senna leaf powder
> 1 part cascara sagrada bark powder
> 1 part psyllium seed husks--ground
> 1/2 part ginger
> "00" size gelatin capsules

> It doesn't matter how much you make as long
> as the ratios remain the same. Mix your
> portions together in a glass or ceramic
> bowl, fill the capsules with the powder (you
> don't have to pack them in, just fill them
> up).

> Take one at night before bed. If the next
> day you have no bowel movement, take another
> one before bed, and another one in the
> morning. If nothing happens, increase to two
> until you get some action. For me, one is
> effective, other people have to do larger
> amounts. START SLOWLY and build up, you
> don't want to get the runs, which is what
> senna will give you if you take too much.

> Water:
> that's a very important point to not forget,
> in any cleansing program you need to
> increase your water to 8-10 cups a day on
> average. If you do a cleansing and are
> getting a headache, it's a sign that your
> body may be releasing the toxins very
> quickly and you should cut back a bit on
> whatever you're using, slow it down, unless
> you just want to get it done and over with.

> Have fun and let me know if you need more
> information.