The Music in Your Colon

In 2004 I was a story editor on a reality show called “From Flab To Fab.” My colleagues and I like to describe it now as a precursor to “The Biggest Loser” because it was, like many of the shows I worked on, ahead of its time. Each episode documented a group of people who followed the rigorous diet and exercise plans of a pop star. Professional nutritionists, trainers, stylists, photographers, etc. were brought in to make sure the participants got the full “rock star” treatment. In one of the episodes that I edited, the first act of the nutritionist was to give the three ladies a GI cleanse made from olive oil, lemon juice, and cayenne pepper. He mixed it up and served it to them in martini glasses. The girls choked the mixture down but not without difficulty – one of them actually gagged several times as she tried to drink it. Then they were told to lay on the gym floor and wait for it to work through their systems, after which they would need to visit the bathroom. I had to watch all the tape from that day. The concoction did its job alright, and the powerful microphones picked up the symphony of gurgles, pops, and whistles from the direction of each woman’s stomach. The nutritionist even pointed it out to them. “Can you hear the music in your colon?” he asked, with an Austrian accent. Just like Arnold, my friends tell me after I mimic it for them now.

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