Karla, that was just too much fun to read, which is nice since purging is not very much fun!

It's very true: Kellogg thought that clean bowels would get rid of "impure" fantasies in young men. But he thought enemas were too traumatic so he decided that just eating his high-nutrition cereals would be more humane. yes, that's right, your corn flakes were once marketed as an anti-masturbation device. Others thought that clear bowels would cure insanity, acne, you name it. The idea is the very one still used by people today: that stuff in your colon leaks into your body and makes it sick. nonsense! it sits in your colon and makes you feel uncomfortable. period.

Purging is *very* psychological. So is fasting. Take these to extremes and what do you get? Bulimia and anorexia. Both are emotional disorders based on beliefs that the body/self is repulsive and needy and must be purged/controlled.

Perhaps people are overly concerned with *other* scary, repulsive things inside them, but it's easier to look in your guts rather than your mind. I don't mean that judgementally. I've done it too. Chances are, though, those scary things inside your mind are just as natural as the sludge in your ascending colon.

Best,