Re: I meant to tell you.

Richard Welcome to curezone!

Firstly let me begin by saying I hope Sassy is ok.

>It is probably my fault, that she didn’t ask my advice about her constipation – I AM intolerant about her constant focus on her health, which is usually excellent by the way – but I am somewhat upset by some of the advice she has been given here

ok

>Saltwater flush. I am amazed that people should be told to do this and not just as a one-off but regularly.

Actually this was recommended as a one-off and certainly *not* as a regular/constant practice. You are right about its dehydrating effects, and whether we were aware of exactly *why* it is dehydrating, we certainly knew that it was. I would always urge people to be properly hydrated before and after a salt-water flush, and not to do them on a regular basis. If I omitted to mention the importance of keeping hydrated before/after the flush to Sassy I apologise.

> Enemas. How can anyone talk about the importance of peristalsis and then tell someone its OK to do an enema every day? How is that going to help train the bowel to behave as it should?

I personally actually agree with you here, and I personally don't recommend enemas every day. But there are those who swear by enemas and who's experience is that they can be used short term without any detriment to peristalsis.

>Secondly, a hydrated colon is vital to getting peristalsis to occur naturally, and psyllium is a near 100% soluble fibre, capable of absorbing 40 times its own weight in water. That means it can easily absorb almost all the water in the colon, thus reducing peristalsis.

Absolutely. Thats why psyllium should only ever be taken with *plenty* of water, both at the time of taking the psyllium and afterwards. Every time I recommend psyllium I recommend *lots* of water. If I didn't do it in Sassy's case its because she rejected the idea of taking psyllium, which I respected. A lot of people get constipated on psyllium - purely for the fact that they don't drink enough water with it.

> People with kidney, or liver, disease often do not excrete water normally and may become overhydrated if they take in even average amounts of water.

People with serious medical conditions should seek medical advice for their conditions.

> Retraining. I didn’t note the exact words, but someone indicated that, after the saltwater flush, Sassy now needed to retrain her bowels. Why should one single episode of constipation mean that someone’s bowels need retraining, when – until now – they have been producing a perfectly healthy daily stool within 10 minutes of a morning cup of tea? Where’s the logic?

Those were my words. I appologise if they were misleading. I was under the impression that it wasn't just a trivial transient problem. In any case when making adjustments in lifestyle - e.g. diet/location it is common for peristalsis to be affected until the body gets used to its new diet/routine. So in that sense a kind of retraining goes on every time we get constipated, because of the habitual nature of peristalsis.

>I am absolutely sure that everyone here means well, but there is a fundamental lack of knowledge of both underlying medical causes and the effects of some of the “remedies” and a focus on the same “remedies” over & over, without so much as a thought about the cause of the constipation

We are not medical practioners, and no one is here to diagnose anyone. Firstly we are not medically qualified and to do so would be dishonest and probably illegal. If someone has a medical condition which requires diagnosis they should see an authorised medical practitioner.

> To end on a positive note, I will make some suggestions for those who have clearly been constipated for a long time and – since they haven’t described any obvious symptoms – are unlikely to have either impacted faeces or a twisted bowel. Try this for a week.

Aren't you doing what you accuse us of? i.e. giving well-meaning advice without taking a complete medical history of the person? What if they are allergic to some of the ingredients you have recomended? What if they have some other underlying medical condition which you have ignored and which is exacerbated by your advice? Can you be sure or are you trusting people's common sense?

>Take lecithin. Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother swore by it and she lived to a ripe old age!

I completely agree with your advice on Lecithin. I know many people who swear by it for liver problems and heart-problems too (my dad included). I also recently saw it being used via injection for cosmetic spot fat reduction. The results were truly amazing.

>Responsible manufacturers of psyllium based products issue warnings ... Yet you happily tell people to take them without asking any questions about the above.

We are not medical practitioners, and as such we do not prescribe anything. To do so would be dishonest and illegal. Everyone is responsible for their own health - and certainly everyone is expected to read the labels of any supplements they take and to know any contraindications/allergies etc. This falls under "common sense".

>The reason I said I was a biochemist was so that you’d understand that my entire life I’ve been researching the chemical make-up of living things and the effects of diseases, foods and chemicals on them.

If you are in a better position to give advice to Sassy than we are - then by all means do so. No one forced Sassy to come here and no one forced her to follow our advice - e.g. when she said she didn't want to take psyllium I respected her decision.

Let *me* end on a positive note!
Your input on salt water and lecithin is most welcome. I certainly learnt something. But your attacks on Shelly are unfair - firstly much of the advice was given by me and others (for which she bears no responsibility). Secondly I don't find any serious error in any of the advice she gave.

If I gave misleading advice I appologise sincerely. If you can point it out so that I don't repeat it again I would be most grateful.

Tweet