I've been actively improving my health for 6 or 7 years now. 

Actually - I started many more years ago than that - but at first I was doing what the "health experts" recommended - the "low fat" thing.  And of course my health got worse.  Much worse.  So bad - I got a trip to the hospital and a whole lot of prescription drugs, medical device, doctor visits, lab tests, etc. 

But for about 6 or 7 years now - I have been doing the opposite of what the "health experts" recommend.  It has been very successful - I dropped 60 pounds, added a lot of lean body mass, got off all prescription drugs, have not been sicker than a cold, have not missed one day of work due to illness, etc. 

But there are still a few problems that I am searching for a cure:

1. My loss of body fat has slowed significantly the last couple of years.  Although I lost 60 pounds of fat - I still had more body fat (not necessarily weight) to lose. 

2. I have bad inflammation that I minimize through low carb diet, fish oil, and turmeric

3. I was concerned about the circulation in my legs.  I've done some of those Health Fair USA screening tests where they do the Peripheral Artery test.  It checks the circulation of your legs versus the circulation of your arms.  They always mention that my legs were not like my arms.  Also - my feet and legs tend to get cold first. 

4. I have a horrible family history of colon problems, gall bladder problems, pancreas problems, etc. 

My thinking was - body fat traps a lot of the toxins that normally pass through your body.  My fat loss has slowed because of all the toxins stored in my fat cells.  The toxins that are being released - as I slowly lose body fat - are causing a lot of inflammation. 

I remember Dr Atkins writing that a major key to the low carb diet (and health) is eliminating wastes.  He emphasized this - but never really explained it much past that.  In one of his last books (that he actually wrote) Dr Atkins did talk about liver flush. 

I wanted a way to remove all those toxins / wastes trapped in the fat cells - which will decrease my inflammation, let the fat reduction continue, improve circulation, and hopefully do all I can to avoid / prolong the colon / gall bladder / pancreas problems

So I thought - why don't I try a detox regimen - and see what happens? 

Do you see what I go through for you guys?  I'm just a lab rat to you guys - aren't I?

You hear these horrible stories about people with lead poisoning.  And horrible stories about the "20 pounds of impacted fecal matter on the inside of your colon walls". 

I've had numerous people concerned about me eating all that meat (being on a low carb diet) tell me that I had 10 or 20 pounds of undigested meat just sitting in my colon rotting.  And if I did a colon cleanse / detox - I would immediately lose 10 to 20 pounds. 

Okay - seems harmless enough - why not give it a try and see what happens?


Which Detox To Do?

I researched the different ways to detox and two really stood out to me. 

1. Jon Barron's work  http://www.jonbarron.org/detoxing-health-program/detox_center.php

2. I've always been interested in chelation and Dr Jeffery Dach talked about EDTA and Detoxamin.  http://www.detoxamin.com/

Jon Barron recommended the heavy metal extraction first, then the colon detox, and then the liver / kidney / pancreas / gall bladder / whatever else detox. 

The best reasons for me to use the Detoxamin is

1. Remove heavy metals

2. Improve circulation

3. Improve Prostate

So why not combine the two and see what happens? 


What I expected

The detox information said that my symptoms and old health problems may come back as it removes all the toxins / wastes from my body.  Also the colon detox groups said that you will lose 10 to 20 pounds of fecal matter stuck in my colon.  My circulation should improve.  And that the liver flush was the best thing I could ever do. 

I hate to be graphic - they say with the liver detox - you are suppose to monitor what comes out of your butt and into the toilet.  Again, hate to be graphic - but that is what you are suppose to do.  They talk about seeing 2,000 stones (gall stones, kidney stones, all kinds of stones, all kinds of colors) in the toilet.  Some people even like to remove them and keep them.  Others like to talk about their color, size, what they are made of, ...

Even I'm not that weird - don't worry - I looked - but I didn't do all that other stuff. 


Here is what I bought

1. Bought five bottles of Jon Barron's metal magic.  Jon recommends that everyone do 6 weeks (each bottle last about a week - so 6 bottles) of metal magic for an initial cleanse.  Jon's website, Baseline Nutritionals http://www.baselinenutritionals.com/shop.php?display=products  , offers 5 bottles for the price of 4.  Plus you will get 2 more bottles - for a total of 7 bottles - when you order the colon detox package.  So 5 bottles cost $125. 

2. Bought 2 months of the 1,000 mg Detoxamin (30 pieces since you use it every other day)  $240.  Detoxamin recommends taking their product for 6 months.  I bought enough for 2 months. 

3. Bought Jon Barron's colon cleanse package - Intestinal Detox Maintenance Package - $115

4. Bought Jon Barron's Kidney/Liver/Gallbladder/Blood Detox Package - $125

Total of $605.00 plus shipping (yikes). 

BTW - I make zero dollars if you buy any or all of this.  So I am not making any money if you buy this. 



Here is what I did

1. Four weeks of the Jon Barron Metal Magic

2. Two months of the Detoxamin

3. Started the Colon Corrective a week before the colon cleanse

4. One month of the Jon Barron's colon cleanse package / Intestinal Detox Maintenance Package.  At the same time as the colon cleanse - I did 3 more weeks of the Metal Magic.  (by this time - a total of 7 bottles of Metal Magic - 5 I bought separately and 2 came with Intestinal Detox Maintenance Package)

5. One week of the Stone Breaker (included in Jon Barron's Kidney/Liver/Gallbladder/Blood Detox Package )

6. One week of the Jon Barron's Kidney/Liver/Gallbladder/Blood Detox Package

By the way - I did this over about six months.  It takes a while. 

I also stayed on my low (zero) carb diet through the whole process - except for the Liver detox where you are vegetarian for 5 days.  You are suppose to be vegetarian for 2 days and juice only for 3 days of the liver detox - but I could not handle drinking juice - so I just vegetarian for the five days. 


What I experienced

All of these were difficult getting started - but after a couple of days - of each one - it was very easy.  For example - metal magic is just four dropper-fuls three times a day.  Once you figure that out and do it a couple of days - it becomes routine and no big deal. 

Detoxamin - a bunch of gas and weird stuff for first week - then you get use to it. 

Colon cleanse - scoop each morning.  Kind of bad going down at first - then not so bad. 

Stone breaker - no big deal after taking so much Metal Magic.  However, you are suppose to take it in Apple Juice which is a lot of sugar. 

Liver detox was a MAJOR test.  Luckily it was only 4 and 1/2 days. 

*************************

First four weeks of Metal Magic.  It feels like it is ripping toxins / waste from inside your body.  Sometimes it is even a little painful.  The middle of my right arm seemed the worst - felt like a bunch of little guys with shovels digging bad stuff out of my body. 

Detoxamin - uncomfortable at first - then you get use to it.  You do sometimes feel a warming sensation as it improves circulation in your lower bowels.  Finally - it got to where I had neuropathy in my left hand. 

Again - as these detoxes remove toxins and wastes from your body - your worst health problems get much worse.  Then when you stop the detox - your health problems are much better. 

Note that all the problems stop within days of finishing the Metal Magic and Detoxamin.  They warned me this is what it would be like. 

Colon cleanse - feels like plugs of something going through your colon, scraping it down like a bulldozer.  Not painful for me - just different.

Stone breaker - other than all the sugar in the apple juice - no big deal.  You are suppose to drink apple juice since something in apples helps to break up stones. 

Liver Detox - major pain in the butt, worst tasting stuff I have ever put in my mouth, and all the sugar was bad.  I was suppose to only drink juices for three days - but I cheated and ate peas, green beans, and blueberries.  I started drinking a lot of juice - but I could not do it.  The withdraw from caffeine was MAJOR HEADACHE for about 2 days and then minor headache for 3rd day. 


Results

Problem with a lot of this is - how do you prove anything is true or not true?  A lot of it is based on what I felt and how I feel now.  Another problem is - how do I compare what I feel today versus six months ago?  You don't truly know how you felt six months ago. 

I feel that the Metal Magic and Detoxamin did what they were suppose to do - remove toxins from my body.  I have no way of proving this - except it felt like little guys with shovels digging stuff out of my body.  I feel that my circulation did improve some.  Although I feel improvement - I don't feel like the job is totally done.  Although Jon Barron said six weeks was enough for anyone (I did 7), Detoxamin said six months (I did 2).  I feel that 2 more rounds of both of these would probably do most of what they both said. 

Colon cleanse.  I did not lose 10 to 20 pounds.  In fact, I did not lose any weight.  However, I feel that my colon is better after I did the colon cleanse.  Before going low carb - I had started to have major colon pain, gas, acid reflux, etc.  Most of that went away over the years of low carbing.  I still had some minor bowel problems (that I won't go into) and I feel that this colon cleanse helped improve those problems. 

Liver detox.  I made the mistake of eating peas and blueberries during the liver detox.  I should have eaten salads - but I don't really like salads.  Anyways - there were a lot of things floating around in the toilet looking like green peas and blue berries - so I did not know if they were stones or not.  Again, I apologize for being graphic - but this one of the purposes of the liver detox - to flush all these stones and junk out of your body.  I did feel a releasing of pressure and dull ache from my lower back - which is suppose to be kidneys.  Sometimes you could feel slight pain/tightness like something was pushing through.  I do feel like I lost "some mass" (don't know if it was fat or what) internally around my kidneys and liver.  No way to prove it - but that is what I felt. 

Note that I did not lose any weight while doing these flushes / detoxes - in fact, I often gained weight from all the sugar.  But after getting back on my low carb diet - and removing the sugar from my system - I did drop about 5 pounds in 48 hours. 


Overall

Overall - I feel that they did not have huge effects as some advertised - but they did a small percentage of what they advertised.  $605 is a lot of money - but I do feel that I got some benefit from doing it. 

Do some people spend $605 out of pocket for prescription drugs, co pays, drug store medicines, tests, doctor visits, hospital visits? 

I think so. 

Will my spending $605 delay the onset of several / many health problems?  I think so. 

So was it worth it overall?  I think so. 

I think that although it did not solve my problems (body fat, inflammation, and circulation) entirely - I think that with more of these detoxes - it might very well solve my remaining health problems entirely. 

In fact, I plan to do another round of all of this.  I expect that it will probably take three rounds to thoroughly clean out my system - for a total of $1,800. 

Lot of money - but what does bad health cost you? 
What does lost time due to sickness cost you? 
Lost time going to doctors or lab tests? 
Lost time from work?
What are the costs due to being sick? 
Lost $ from not working? 
Doctors costs? 
Medical device costs? 
Lab tests costs? 
Costs at the drug stores? 
Costs due to higher insurance?

Note that you and I are different.  So I would expect your results - and health benefits - to be different.

One other note.  If you do these detoxes and then go back to smoking, drugs, heavy drinking, or eating high glycemic foods - will it help?  Yes, but. 

Do what's right - then detox.