What to use with senna for detoxification and bowel cleansing

If you occasionally suffer from severe constipation caused by heat (such as eating spicy food and oily foods, not having a bowel movement for several days after staying up late, a bloated and hard stomach, and yellow tongue coating) and want to temporarily relieve constipation and clear the intestines, senna leaves (within 1g, which is about two or three small leaves) combined with 3-5 slices of dried hawthorn and 1 small piece of tangerine peel is a relatively safe choice. If you are afraid of qi deficiency after diarrhea, you can also add 1 pitted red date.

A while ago, I used this for a little girl in the studio who stayed up late for three days to catch up on projects and ate hot pot skewers every meal. She had not had a bowel movement for four days, and her belly was so bloated that she couldn't button her jeans. So she soaked half a cup and drank half of it while it was warm. After three hours, she was able to defecate smoothly, and she didn't suffer from the weakness in her legs caused by soaking in senna.

However, I have to mention here that the opinions on the combination of senna on the Internet are very mixed and controversial. Many bloggers say that you can drink it every day with honey, roses, and cassia seeds as a "detoxifying bowel cleansing tea". I really don't recommend this. A reader complained to me before, saying that he followed a blogger and learned to drink 2g of senna leaves mixed with honey in water every day to "defecate stool." After drinking it for less than 20 days, he couldn't defecate on his own without using it. He went to the hospital for a colonoscopy and found out mild colonic melanosis, and was scolded by the doctor.

In fact, anyone who knows something about traditional Chinese medicine knows that the anthraquinones in senna leaf originally achieve a purgative effect by stimulating the peristalsis of the intestinal mucosa. It is quite irritating and is not an ingredient in daily health care. The so-called "detoxification and bowel cleansing" is essentially just a temporary laxative. Our intestines have their own normal metabolic rhythms, and there is no need to rely on external force to "detoxify" through purgation.

Of course, some people say that senna leaves are more effective when combined with cassia seeds. This actually depends on the situation. If the person is suffering from severe heat, constipation, red and swollen eyes, and irritable temper for several days, it is not impossible to add a small amount of cassia seeds. However, both have a purgative effect, and the combined irritation will be much higher. The amount must be reduced to less than 0.5g, and the drink should be stopped after drinking once at most.

If your spleen and stomach are weak and you often suffer from diarrhea and cold hands and feet, even if you are constipated, don't touch senna. The aunt in the community used to have constipation all year round. I heard that senna can clear the intestines, so I made a cup of it and drank it. I had diarrhea for two days, and my stomach cramps were so painful that I couldn't even eat. It took almost a week to get better. To put it bluntly, senna is really not a magical tool for cleaning the intestines. It can only be used once for temporary emergency. If you have frequent constipation, you still need to go to a doctor for treatment. Don’t drink it by yourself. For the so-called "colon cleansing and detoxification", it will damage the normal function of the intestines, which is really not worth the gain.