Detoxification and bowel cleansing exercises

There is no official concept of "detoxification" and "defecation" in medicine. The essence of formal detoxification and bowel exercises is to promote intestinal peristalsis through abdominal rhythm stimulation and core muscle contraction. It can only relieve functional constipation caused by improper diet and long periods of sitting and inactivity. It cannot replace the detoxification function of the liver and kidneys, nor can it treat organic gastrointestinal diseases, nor has it direct weight loss effect.

I had always been dubious about this kind of "health exercise" until the year before last year when I was rushing to attend the Double 11 event. I stayed up for 5 days eating heavy oil takeaways. I didn't have a bowel movement for 4 days. I took 2 bottles of Kaiselu but nothing happened. I squatted in the toilet until my legs went numb and I almost fell in. Fa Xiao, who was still a rehabilitation therapist, came to my house to bring me supper. He taught me three simple movements and I practiced doing them while lying down for 12 minutes. I got it right that night. It was then that I realized that this thing was not an IQ tax, but it was not as amazing as it was advertised on the Internet.

The bowel cleansing exercises that can be found on the Internet are basically divided into two categories. I can’t say who is better than the other, but they are suitable for different groups of people. The first type is derived from the traditional Chinese medicine system, which focuses on acupoint massage + abdominal circular motion. My mother now practices with volunteers from the community hospital every morning. She presses the Tianshu and Daheng acupoints and rubs the palms against her stomach slowly and clockwise for 15 minutes. She used to play mahjong and sit for an entire afternoon, often without defecation for three or four days. Now she can go to the toilet on time basically every morning. She always says, "The belly is softened and her breath is refreshed." The advantage of this type of exercise is that it is quick to get started, does not require any exercise foundation, and can be done while lying down or sitting. It is especially suitable for middle-aged and elderly people who usually do not like to move.

The other type is highly recommended by the sports rehabilitation circle, which does not touch the belly very much and relies entirely on abdominal breathing to drive the contraction of deep core muscles, which is equivalent to an "internal massage" for the intestines. Now I practice secretly while working. I sit on a chair without leaning on the backrest, with my feet flat on the ground. When I inhale, my belly is as big as it can be. Hold it for two seconds, then slowly exhale with my lips pursed until my belly is tightly attached to my spine. Hold it for another two seconds. Repeat seven or eight times. Last time I ate too much Chongqing butter hotpot and got bloated. I sat at my workstation and did 5 sets of exercises, and farted three times in a row. I felt so comfortable that I wanted to sigh. The advantage of this type of massage is that you don’t have to choose the occasion, and you don’t have to worry about rubbing your stomach with the wrong intensity and hurting your internal organs. You can do it half an hour after eating, and you won’t feel uncomfortable with your stomach.

When it comes to the direction of abdominal rubbing, there is a lot of quarrel on the Internet. Some people say that it must be clockwise to be effective, and some say that a combination of clockwise and reverse is good for health. In fact, there is really no standard answer. If you are constipated and can't poop, walking clockwise along the ascending colon - transverse colon - descending colon is equivalent to giving Dad a "hitchhike", which is definitely more useful. ； But if you are prone to diarrhea, have irritable bowel syndrome, and run to the toilet when you catch a cold, then either don't rub your belly randomly, or rub your belly gently in a counterclockwise direction, which can relieve diarrhea.

I really want to remind everyone to avoid this pitfall. I received a message from a little girl backstage a while ago, saying that she followed a certain blogger to practice "slimming and cleansing the intestines". She punched her stomach hard with her fists on an empty stomach and rubbed it for 40 minutes. In the end, she had stomach cramps and went to the emergency room to get fluids. There is no need, my friends. The intensity of the bowel cleansing exercise must be gentle. Don't knead it as hard as kneading dough. There are soft organs in your stomach. If you do it too hard, something will happen. There are also mothers who have just had a caesarean section, have gastric ulcers, intestinal polyps, or are bleeding from the digestive tract. Don’t practice blindly, and follow the doctor’s advice honestly. Exercise is just an auxiliary, not a cure.

By the way, don’t expect to be able to eat and drink as much as you want by practicing every day. My rehabilitation teacher published a novel saying that many people feel that they can make milk tea hot pot after practicing for two days, but in the end they still suffer from constipation. If you usually eat two more bites of celery and corn, and drink 1500ml of water every day, it will be more effective than rubbing your belly for half an hour. Damn it, it is just the icing on the cake, don't treat it as a life-saving straw.