Purification Rundown
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The Purification Rundown, known as "The Purif" within Scientology, is a program used by the Church of Scientology which, according to the church, results in detoxification, and was developed by Scientology's founder L. Ron Hubbard. The program involves the use of saunas, vitamins, and consuming oils. While it is heavily promoted as a health regimen within Scientology, and in Scientology's rehabilitation program Narconon, the procedure is viewed as dangerous by most medical professionals, as it calls for saunas and vitamins far in excess of what mainstream medicine considers safe levels<ref name="cmu_detox_critical">Narconon detoxification, a critical view</ref>. The full procedure is available in the book "Clear Body, Clear Mind".
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Procedure
The Purification Rundown is usually the first step for a Scientologist towards going "Clear". The program usually takes about several weeks. As well as spending time in saunas, Scientologists are required to do light exercise including calisthenics, treadmills, or other similar activities.
While originally intended for use by people with heavy drug histories, the prevalence of drug use, pollution, pesticides, and other similar environmental factors has turned this procedure into a routine part of one's auditing program. As with any Scientology auditing, it is addressed to certain spiritual travails impeding the spiritual advancement of the person and is not intended to cure any specific medical disease or condition. Scientologists believe that unhandled (untreated) side effects of drugs slow or even stop a person's progress, ability to learn, and spiritual growth.
This program has resulted in controversy for Scientology because of its ties to the religious aspects of Scientology. Hubbard promoted the Purification Rundown as a treatment and cure for a great number of physical ailments ranging from drug addiction to radiation contamination. Doctors, scientists, and other members of the medical profession have questioned many of these claims.<ref name="cmu_detox_critical"/>
Today, Scientology promotes the Purification Rundown to the public as a "detoxification" program, while it also works with allegedly non-religious but Scientology-affiliated groups such as Narconon to offer this program as a treatment for addiction and high levels of stress.
Tom Cruise supported a fund-raising initiative which collected charitable donations in order to pay for Purification Rundowns for public-sector employees who had been exposed to toxic chemicals during the September 11, 2001 attacks in New York. PR photographs include persons holding up towels soaked through with oddly colored sweat to demonstrate that something good was happening during the program. A number of fire fighters have gone through the program, and now speak in favor of it. Template:Fact
The program is not a weight loss program, and a medical doctor's permission is required in advance to start the program. Daily reports monitor the persons condition and progress through the program. The program consists of a course of doses of vitamins (Niacin in particular), long periods in a sauna, exercise, and consumption of a blend of vegetable oils. A normal, healthy diet is maintained throughout the procedure. Doses of vitamins are monitored, and are adjusted during the course of the rundown.
The theory is that toxins, drugs, and radioactive particles are stored in body fat, which are released through the exchange of fats (thus the oil consumption) and exercise, and then finally released via perspiration and other normal mechanisms such as body waste. Critics point to the chemical composition of perspiration being primarily water, not fat or oil, to question the theory. It is also disputed that radioactive particles can be stored in fat in the way claimed by Hubbard. The effects of such high doses of vitamins on the body are also known to pose serious health risks; former members have claimed to have suffered liver damage from the treatment.<ref name="cmu_detox_critical"/>
Scientologists are strongly encouraged to take part in the Purification Rundown, and this controversial physical purification program is seen as a step towards purifying the spirit as well as the body (as Hubbard outlined in his book Clear Body, Clear Mind).
The Purification Rundown requires its participants to ingest the following at regular intervals:
- Niacin, in doses large enough to cause skin irritation. Scientologists believe this skin irritation is caused by radiation leaving the body.
- Oils, to replace the oils that are sweated out in the sauna.
- "CalMag" a drink consisting of calcium, magnesium water and cider vinegar.
- Plenty of water, salt and potassium, used to replace the fluids and minerals lost in the sauna.
In spite of its daunting nature and pseudoscientific methods, most Scientologists enjoy their rundown.Template:Fact Many even chose to redo it after enough time has passed for them to believe that they have been "re-contaminated".Template:Fact The Church of Scientology claims that the rundown can improve personality and increase IQ by several points.<ref>Clear Body Clear Mind - Purification and Life By L. Ron Hubbard</ref>
Criticisms of the program
Supporters describe the program as a way to remove the "toxins" that build up and are retained in fatty tissues due to the use of narcotics or other substances. While such a notion is marginally true, critics note that such toxins are actually quickly removed from the body through urination, excretion, and even aspiration.Template:Fact
The program also involves putting the subjects into saunas, and administering niacin and other vitamins, along with large quantities of various types of vegetable oil, in the belief that the subject will sweat out the toxins and replace the oils in the body's fatty tissues with the vegetable oil. However, medical professionals have stated that the ingesting of large amounts of niacin and other vitamins can cause liver and kidney damage. In particular, niacin is both associated with liver damage at high amounts and is prescribed by Hubbard's ritual at an amount almost three times what the Institute of Medicine's Food and Nutrition Board deems the daily upper limit for an adult. <ref name="cmu_detox_critical"/>
Notes and references
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External links
Scientology sites
- Purification Rundown - An explanatory site maintained by the Church of Scientology
- Narconon International - Official Narconon website
- Purification Program - Scientology Purification Rundown Procedure