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2004/03/03, 06:27 PM
With my new high protein diet, I am consuming great amounts of tuna. With the high amounts of mercury, this made me remember a product that I had taken about a year ago to detoxify my GI system.
Before I ever started working out, I tried a product called bentonite. This was recommended to my brother by some type of alternative medicine person for his rosacea. Rosacea is red spots on the face that this person thought was casued by a toxin in his system. Anyway, bentonite is volcanic clay that when mixed with water has super absorbant powers. The clay is negatively charged while most toxins are positively charged. The toxins stick to the bentonite and you pass them in your bowels.
The bentonite I took was in liquid format. Had really no taste. A few tbsp's a day and lots of water. When I took this, i felt extremely healthy and energetic. I am not sure if it was the placebo effect or not, but whatever it was, I felt great. In addition, it gave me the most perfect bowels every.
I don't know if it is advisable to take this when using creatine because they both utilize lots of water.
I found a blurb on it here: http://www.curezone.com/cleanse/bowel/bentonite.html
This is part of what it says on that site. Has anyone ever tried this?
A VOLCANIC DETOXIFIER—Bentonite, a medicinal powdered clay which is also known as montmorillonite, derives from deposits of weathered volcanic ash. It is one of the most effective natural intestinal detoxifying agents available and has been recognized as such for centuries by native peoples around the world. Whatever the name, liquid clay contains minerals that, once inside the gastrointestinal tract, are able to absorb toxins and deliver mineral nutrients to an impressive degree, says Knishinsky. Liquid clay is inert which means it passes through the body undigested.
Technically, the clay first adsorbs toxins (heavy metals, free radicals, pesticides), attracting them to its extensive surface area where they adhere like flies to sticky paper; then it absorbs the toxins, taking them in the way a sponge mops up a kitchen counter mess.
There is an electrical aspect to bentonite’s ability to bind and absorb toxins. According to Yerba Prima, a company based in Ashland, Oregon, which markets Great Plains® Bentonite, the clay’s minerals are negatively charged while toxins tend to be positively charged; hence the clay’s attraction works like a magnet drawing metal shavings. But it’s even more involved than that.
Once hydrated (combined with water), bentonite has an enormous surface area. According to Yerba Prima, a single quart bottle can represent a total surface area of 960 square yards or 12 American football fields. Bentonite is made of a great number of tiny platelets, with negative electrical charges on their flat surfaces and positive charges on their edges.
When bentonite absorbs water and swells, it is stretched open like a highly porous sponge; the toxins are drawn into these spaces by electrical attraction and bound fast. In fact, according to the Canadian Journal of Microbiology (31 , 50-53), bentonite can absorb pathogenic viruses, aflatoxin (a mold), and pesticides and herbicides including Paraquat and Roundup. The clay is eventually eliminated from the body with the toxins bound to its multiple surfaces.
According to Sonne’s Organic Foods of North Kansas City, Missouri, a company that markets Detoxificant (a liquid montmorillonite), “There is no evidence that bentonite has any chemical action in the body. Its power is purely physical.”
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