Penn and Teller on Detoxing
A few weeks ago, Penn and Teller focused their show on detoxing, honing in on colonics, detoxifying fasts, and talking to a few scientists about the colon, parasites, and the lines between fact and fiction. Honestly, I’ve waited this long to write about it because I wasn’t sure I was up for an episode full of booty-holes and shit. And there were PLENTY of both.
They started by paying a guy named Chris $500 to go get a colonic from a woman who is a trained professional. Interspersing shots of him talking to her and the process of his first-ever colonic, they discussed the truth of such procedures. At the end of the day, they pronounced it what I had hoped they would: bullshit.
In reality, your colon doesn’t have little areas that can hide built-up toxins. There is actually no proof that toxins stay in the body like colonic “experts” and detoxifying fast-pushers will say they do. While it’s a good thing (nay, great thing) to eat right and visit a doctor (holistic or otherwise) on a regular basis to make sure you aren’t sick, there’s nothing a fast can give your body or cleanse you of that eating a super-healthy diet and exercising can’t do equally.
As for sticking a tube up your butt and watching last night’s dinner come screaming out … I think I’ll save that for the movie stars.
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