Detoxification and bowel cleansing time

No matter in the field of modern digestive medicine or traditional health care, there is no "uniform detoxification and bowel cleansing time" that suits everyone. All schedules with the motto of "missing this time will accumulate toxins all over your body" are only suitable for people with specific living habits. If they are too rigid, they can easily damage the intestines.

It is estimated that many people have heard of the saying that "the large intestine meridian is in season at Mao hour (5-7 a.m.), and defecation must be done at this time to be called detoxification." This view actually comes from the Meridian Flow Theory of traditional Chinese medicine. When placed in the life rhythm of our ancestors, who went to bed at sunrise and sunset, and went to bed at eight or nine in the evening, it is indeed in line with the laws of the body's operation. I know an old Chinese medicine doctor who is nearly 80 years old. He has insisted on the habit of going to bed early and getting up early for decades, and goes to the toilet at 6:30 every day. His intestinal function is now more stable than that of many young people in their 20s and 30s.

But in the current living environment, this standard is really not universal. Think about it, how many young people work overtime until 11 or 12 o'clock now. It's already past 1 o'clock when they go home and check their mobile phones and lie down. It would be great if they can get up before 9 o'clock in the morning to clock in. But they are required to get up at 5 o'clock and squat in the toilet? Isn't this purely anti-human?

Moreover, there is no such thing as "detoxification and bowel cleansing time" in modern gastroenterology. Even the "defecation" that everyone has heard of is essentially a pseudo-concept created by businessmen. Under normal circumstances, food residues have to stay for 1-3 days from entering the colon to being finally excreted. As long as your bowel movement frequency is within the range of "once in three days to twice a day" and the characteristics are normal, whether you defecate in the morning before catching the subway, or in the evening after eating and lying on the toilet while watching TV shows, it is completely healthy and there is no problem of "toxin retention" at all. My former company operations colleague, Xiao Zhou, worked on projects until early in the morning every day. He had a fixed defecation time of 8:30 pm. After dinner, he sat on the toilet and finished it in ten minutes. Last year, all the intestinal indicators in the physical examination were excellent. He was much healthier than many colleagues who drank intestinal cleansing tea every day and stuck to the morning time.

I have also seen people who really insisted on this schedule and put themselves in the hospital. Last year, my distant cousin attended a lecture on health preservation. She said that regardless of whether she had a bowel movement or not, she had to squat for twenty minutes from five to seven in the morning. After squatting for half a month, she developed hemorrhoids. When she went to the hospital, the doctor directly criticized her: the defecation reflex is naturally triggered by the body. If you squat hard without any problem, the abdominal pressure will always be high, and the rhythm of intestinal peristalsis will be disrupted. Even if there is no problem, it will cause problems. What’s even more confusing is that many merchants associate “fixed time detoxification” with colon cleansing products. Intestinal cleansing teas, stool jelly, and enema packages are selling like crazy. I had a reader leave a message to me before and said that after drinking the Internet celebrity colon cleansing drink for three months, my bowel movements were quite regular at first, but later I couldn’t pass them at all without drinking it. The intestinal flora was disordered, and it took almost a year to adjust.

You really need to find a bowel cleansing rhythm that suits you, don’t just copy other people’s schedules. You can spend a week remembering when you tend to have bowel movements. Some people have it after drinking warm honey water in the morning, and some people have it after eating spicy food at noon. For example, I have to run to the toilet ten minutes after drinking ice coffee in the morning. This fixed time period that belongs to you is your "exclusive detoxification and bowel cleansing time", which is more reliable than the unified standard given by any expert. If you really feel that your bowel movements are not smooth, eat more prunes and dragon fruit, drink enough warm water, and walk for two steps properly. It will be more effective than any laxative. If you really have persistent constipation, go to the hospital. Don't buy random bowel cleansing products.

To put it bluntly, the most taboo thing about keeping in good health is to apply uniform standards to yourself. Whether you work a regular nine-to-five schedule every day, or you work shifts all day and night, your body will adjust itself to the most suitable operating rhythm. Respecting its habits is much more useful than a rigid detoxification schedule.