Don’t detox, drain...
by Christian Bates, osteopath & naturopath
The Perrymount Clinic, 2 Clair Road, Haywards Heath, W. Sussex
01444 410944, christian@theperrymount.com
Introduction
Detox is such a buzz word so you are probably wondering why the title says don’t do it. Actually I do believe detoxing is beneficial but rather in a more prepared and gentle way, which is what I mean by the term “drain”. This can be particularly important when dealing with candida infection.
Drain indicates that the body is able to do the detoxifying successfully with the minimum of side effects or “healing crisis” in naturopathic terms or “die off” reaction in candida terms. If the detoxification or die off is too rapid then common symptoms that occur could be headache, sweating, skin rashes or diarrhoea. If a person is in good health with high vital energy then these sort of symptoms are natural and are a positive sign that the elimination routes of the body are working. For example, if you have a bacteria in your intestines from food poisoning you WANT to have diahorrea to get it out your system, this is your body working perfectly normally. If you are sweating from an illness then your body in its wisdom is recruiting your skin as an eliminatory organ to assist the intestines, liver and kidney’s. However, if you are not in such good health then experiencing these symptoms could be very uncomfortable if they get out of control. Controlling this is what I would like to write about.
What is Drainage?
What I mean by drainage is the ability of the organs of elimination (those that do the detoxification for us) to work efficiently. This means that the toxins that are in us get out of us, this occurs mainly through the urine and faeces. The organs of elimination include the lymphatic system, bowels and intestines, kidneys, liver, gallbladder and skin. in fact every cell must be able to handle its own detoxification but for this discussion I will talk in terms of organs. When all these organs are working correctly good drainage is in place, the body is able to take that internal toxin, be it a bacteria, virus, chemical, hormone, parasite, fungus or candida and successfully get rid of. Where things can go wrong is if someone puts themselves on a detox without proper drainage in place. This means that if a supplement is used to attack the toxin, such as wormwood to kill parasites or Caprylic acid to kill candida but the organs of elimination cannot cope with the end results then you will get the healing crisis or strong die-off reaction.
Wouldn’t it be nice to not have these die off symptoms or at least to minimise them? This is where  adequate drainage comes into play and a more structured approach to detoxification can be employed. Drainage can be achieved with specific supplements and remedies and it can also be improved through diet and lifestyle. The natural drainage channels of the body are the organs of elimination mentioned above, ideally all of these need to be in satisfactory working order before any strong detoxification of candida is attempted. So for example if the candidiasis patient, before trying to kill the candida off, takes other remedies to cleanse all the organs of elimination then the candida, once it has been killed can be processed and excreted successfully with reduced “die off” reactions.
Let’s look at an example of what might go wrong if candida detoxing is attempted without proper drainage in place. The patient takes the supplement to kill the candida, but in this case the the liver is below par, congested and not doing its detoxifying job correctly. As the candida is successfully killed off it travels to the liver to be further processed so it can be safely excreted, but as the liver isn’t working properly the candida is blocked at this point. Now the side effects of detoxification are experienced, the die off is too quick for the liver to keep on top of it.
Let’s go a stage further, perhaps the kidneys aren’t functioning correctly due to poor lifestyle choices, now the liver and kidneys are holding the toxins in. How about a step further? The toxins and waste from the bowel can’t get through the liver fast enough and starts to back up into the bowel and lymphatic system. This brings us to a fairly drastic conclusion, is it possible that by trying to kill off candida from the gut, without all the other organs being supported, the candida has unwittingly been moved around the body aggravating the condition, all because the proper drainage channels were not opened before hand? I think this is a very common scenario. Patients who have candida infection have usually done a lot of research and many have tried a lot of candida killing products and done months on the anti-candida diet. Why is it that so many still have the infection? I think one of the reasons is that the body wasn’t prepared properly to eliminate or drain the candida die off correctly.
What to do

How do you stop this situation happening? The following actually applies to recovery from virtually any illness. You firstly need to get all the organs functioning correctly, restore the cellular communication between them, open the channels of elimination and get them draining properly. This needs to be done before any strong detoxification is attempted. In the example above it means the candida can be killed and then easily moved from bowel to lymph to liver to kidney to successful excretion.
Opening the organs of elimination can be done in a number of ways. Firstly, improve the diet by decreasing detrimental junk foods and by increasing nutrient dense foods. Also eat the correct proportions of protein, fat and carbohydrate suited to your metabolic type. Some types do better closer to a vegetarian diet, others will benefit from protein at each meal. In my clinic I use an online Metabolic Typing questionnaire to accurately predict this. Exclude foods that you know you react to, the most common being wheat, dairy and sugar, but the best way to find out is by using a diet diary. Down one side of a piece of paper write everything you eat and drink and then next to it write how you feel throughout the day. Pay particular attention to how you feel about two hours after a meal. You may even decide to take a food allergy test and exclude the foods highlighted from this. Again, in my clinic I have a method for doing this using an electro-dermal screening instrument called the Avatar.
Also drink enough water, this will of course help all the organs and indeed every cell function more efficiently. To assist the liver decrease your toxic load, stop taking in chemicals from foods by eating organic and stop other chemicals that you may be absorbing such as aluminum from deodorants, fluoride in toothpaste, alcohol and smoking. To assist the lymphatic circulation use dry skin brushing, take alternate hot and cold showers each day or use Epsom salt baths. These suggestions just scratch the surface but each one will address improving your drainage so detoxing is more efficient.
Supplements
For some candida sufferers this approach may not be enough and this is really where supplements come into play. In reality, due to the toxic nature of modern life that can’t be avoided and the decrease in nutrition in our food, virtually all people will require some extra support this way. I personally use remedies that have been specifically designed to assist lymphatic drainage at different levels according to the principles of homotoxicolgy, a branch of homeopathy. I also use supplements directed at bowel cleansing, liver cleansing, kidney cleansing and general support throughout the body. Once these have been used in conjunction with general lifestyle improvements the body will most likely start detoxing of its own accord and it will do it effectively with the elimination channels all open. If the problem is at a deeper level and remedies have to be introduced to address bacteria, viruses, parasites, chemicals, candida or other toxins then again the body can excrete them appropriately. After all who would want to chase candida out the bowel only for it to back-up in the liver?
It is extremely useful to have a method of assessing just how well a patient’s system is working. I personally use an EAV (Electro-acupuncture according to Voll) device called the Avatar. This instrument is able to assess the electrical conductivity of the acupuncture system in such a way that it can demonstrate the health of the organs and guide me to the one that is in a weakened state, potentially preventing the effective elimination of candida. These organs can then be specifically targeted and supported with supplements, remedies and spagyric herb. The Avatar also gives a more accurate way of deciding which supplements and remedies will be most effective for the individual patients. For example, I have seven different remedies that drain the lymphatic system and can test for which one is most suited to the patient at the time they consult me.
Christian Bates has been an osteopath and naturopath for twelve years. He runs a multi-discipline clinic in Haywards Heath, West Sussex called The Perrymount. He can be contacted on 01444 410944 or christian@theperrymount.com, for more information on the Avatar and EAV screening visit www.christianbates.co.uk/downloads/articles/EAV