# Cleansing **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 17, 2003, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleansing/169323 "2003-04-17T15:12:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2003, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleansing/169323/1 "2003-04-17T15:12:21Z")
At the tail end of my yoga class yesterday (read: my excuse to look at scantily clad shapely women while working out) some of the lasses started discussing an upcoming liver cleansing workshop. Several of them had participated in what sounded like a thoroughly disgusting practice several times before, and while they did feel incredibly weak during the ten days of the program, they felt much better afterwards. It sounds to me like hitting your head against the wall because it feels good when you stop, but part of me is wondering if there actually is any basis to this. These folks plan to eat nothing but olive oil, salads, fruits, and water and brown rice for ten days, in an effort to expel gallstones and fortify their liver. Many claim that they’ve excreted stones ranging from pea to marble-sized during this endeavour. Has anyone actually done any scientific research into if this is a valid method of removing gallstones? (Heck, how many gallstones does the average person have anway?) And is there a chance that this noxious concoction of food (where olive oil becomes a major part of your diet-- like drinking 250 mL a day or more) can actually cause your intestinal tract to _create_ these stones? ---
**Author:** ![Dogface](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@Dogface](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogface)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2003, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleansing/169323/2 "2003-04-17T17:15:06Z")
Once again, OZ’s busy little buggers come up with a response: [http://www.skeptics.com.au/journal/liver.htm](http://www.skeptics.com.au/journal/liver.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2003, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleansing/169323/3 "2003-04-17T18:42:08Z")
Oh, I have no doubts that _every_ cleansing diet will do nothing for your health. It’s right up there with the Chinese medical theory that your liver isn’t actually your liver. I’m just wondering if anyone’s done any research into how these green and black “buttons” that people are pooping out are created in your gut. Is it just a function of bile mixed with fat, or something else? ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2003, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleansing/169323/4 "2003-04-17T19:42:50Z")
It’s a fraud. From [I Tried a Liver Flush](http://yoga.about.com/library/weekly/aa041701a.htm): > [@](#): > > I decided to do some research. The first thing I learned was that the green balls were probably not gallstones. Several sources, including the prominent naturopathic doctors Michael Murray and Joseph Pizzorno, said that the “gallstones” typically passed during the liver flush are not really gallstones but simply soft complexes of mineral, olive oil and lemon juice produced within the digestive tract. > > The liver flush is also not considered safe for people who have gallstones. The large amount of oil causes the gallbladder to contract, making it possible for a gallstone to become lodged in the narrow opening of the gallbladder and necessitate emergency gallbladder surgery. Since gallstones are common in North America and many people with gallstones are asymptomatic, the absence of gallbladder-related symptoms does not mean an absence of risk. This procedure should only be done under the supervision of a trained health practitioner. I’d go further than that: it’s a fraud, it accomplishes nothing, and it’s dangerous. But even this author concedes that if you were really “expelling gallstones,” you’d be worse off, not better. ---
**Author:** ![Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2003, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleansing/169323/5 "2003-04-21T15:40:16Z")
Love it! I love even more that it’s from [yoga.about.com](http://yoga.about.com), which will be amusing when I bring it to class…