A healthy colon is essential for great health. Naturopaths and alternative health practitioners believe that colon cleansing can help cure a range of health problems including: allergies, eczema, psoriasis, acne, bad breath, chronic fatigue syndrome, digestive and gastrointestinal disorders, insomnia, high blood pressure and prostate conditions.
The medical establishment has carried out little research on the benefits of colon cleansing, yet colon cleansing has been around for quite a bit longer than our modern medical establishment. The first recorded reference to colon cleansing dates back 3000 years to ancient Egypt. It was popular with the European spas in the 19th century and is still recommended today by alternative health practitioners.
Anyone wanting to improve their health should consider starting with a colon cleanse. Psyllium husk and bentonite clay based herbal colon cleansing products are safe and we recommend them as part of your overall getting healthy plan. We also recommend an annual colon cleanse.
Our supplier of choice is Blessed Herbs. They produce a high quality organic product that is very easy to use. They are a family run herb business based in Massachusetts and are a real pleasure to do business with.
The psyllium husk and bentonite clay based herbal approach to colon cleansing is based on the theory of autointoxification:
“The heavy mucus coating in the colon thickens and becomes a host of putrefaction. The blood capillaries to the colon begin to pick up the toxins, poisons and noxious debris as it seeps through the bowel wall. All tissues and organs of the body are now taking on toxic substances. Here is the beginning of true autointoxication on a physiological level. This accumulation can have the consistency of truck tire rubber. It’s that hard and black.” Tissue Cleansing Through Bowel Management by Dr. Bernard Jensen, DC, ND, Ph.D.
There is, unfortunately, no scientific research to prove this theory, however, anecdotal evidence, tradition, personal experience and theory suggest that colon cleansing is beneficial for a wide range of ailments. Harvard Medical School’s Intelihealth.com lists a wide range of ailments that colon cleansing is said to help: allergy, altered blood pH balance, arthritis, asthma, back pain, chronic fatigue syndrome, colitis, constipation, detection of parasites, digestive disorders, distended abdomen, diverticulosis, eczema, Epstein-Barr virus, foul body odor, gas. gastrointestinal disorders, general health maintenance, gout, headache, high blood pressure, insomnia, irritable bowel syndrome, promotion of regular bowel movements, prostate conditions, psoriasis, shingles and skin problems.
Intelihealth.com warns that colonic hydrotherapy, or colonic irrigation, can be dangerous if it not administered properly. It is an invasive intervention that is unregulated and, therefore, potentially unsafe. Frequent treatments may cause you to absorb too much water. This may lead to electrolyte imbalances in the blood, nausea, vomiting, heart failure, fluid in the lungs, abnormal heart rhythms or coma. Contaminated equipment can cause infection and there is a risk of bowel perforation (breakage of the bowel wall) and deaths have been reported.
Please let us know your thoughts and experiences with colon cleansing! Link to Intelihealth Link to Curezone
8 responses so far ↓
1 Bo // Oct 31, 2007 at 11:50 pm
Hi…My wife and I have followed he Bernard Jensen book…”Tissue cleansing through Bowel Mngt” to the letter…As a matter of fact…follow the 7 day fast 3-4 times year….We have been told we look 10-15 years younger than we are I’m 55….my wife is 53….We exercise/ eat organic when possible and according to the world’s standard of illness have not been sick for over 20 years…I’d like to see your efforts pointed in the correct direction….Follow up on the word “Iatrogenic” and you’ll find the statisitics “epidemic”…but of course the conventional thinking would never ever list those figures…..but you feel the need to write about Dr. Jensens (sry…I forgot…he wasn’t a “real” doctor) but lived a very long live….wow..what a concept….Practicing what one preaches)……I’ve noticed the “conventional thinking” real doctors….are the most sickly looking/living examples of irony…that have ever existed…..I’m sure Hippocrates is turning in his grave……The conventional approach to healthcare….sry….disease care….Is exercise…..eat everything…in moderation….lol……Write back and let me know what magazines you people enjoy reading…..So I can bring them to the hospital when I come visit…………
2 Brenda // Nov 3, 2007 at 11:57 pm
Thanks Bo. You seem to have misunderstood that we are actually in favor of cleansing. We are also cautious about making unsubstantiated claims. I revised the page a bit so as to encourage more cleansing and will be posting some cleansing tips soon. I’m glad you and your wife have had such success with cleansing!
3 beautyscientist // Jan 6, 2008 at 10:38 pm
A trial to investigate the benefits of colonic irrigation ought to be fairly straight forward to perform. All a practitioner would need to do would be to recruit a panel of people to fill in questionaires. Half the group has the treatment, half doesn’t.
I had a quick look and found some studies colonic irrigation and some non-natural colonic cleansing techniques. I couldn’t find anything on the approach above though.
It sounds a believable enough notion that it might have some benefits – but we really need to test ideas like this out properly.
I would be interested to hear of any peer reviewed trials. In the mean time I will keep my money in my pocket.
4 Brenda // Jan 7, 2008 at 10:26 pm
If you can get someone to carry out rigorous research on this kind of cleansing, let us know. I suspect you won’t. Most medical research I have seen has been about testing particular therapies for particular illnesses rather than testing for general benefits.
Until we do have research we can either do nothing or look at the anecdotal evidence from people like Bo and his wife and choose to try it or not. They aren’t expensive. If you get a result, great, if not, no big loss.
BTW, what peers are you thinking of? The medical industry is not terribly interested in holistic health and prevention of disease. I’m not being critical. It’s just not what they do. You may wait a lifetime for peer reviewed trials.
Brenda
5 Colin // Jan 9, 2008 at 7:46 pm
I don’t think it would cost very much to do a proper trial. The journal publishing the paper would recruit the review panel. If the proponents of the therapy are serious about it and really believe in it then I am sure that they could find a way to generate evidence of its benefits.
6 Brenda // Jan 10, 2008 at 9:55 pm
Good point.
When I get a chance I will look into this a bit further. I’m not sure which journals would be interested in this sort of thing.
Any ideas?
7 Colin // Jan 24, 2008 at 7:07 am
There are plenty of health related peer review journals. An example is Improving health and healthcare edited by Derek Frewin.
8 Brenda // Jan 24, 2008 at 10:04 pm
I found an editorial by Derek Frewin (a heart specialist) called ‘Improving Health and Health Care’ in a journal called the International Journal of Evidence Based Healthcare (http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1479-6988.2007.00085.x?cookieSet=1&journalCode=jbr). Titles in this and other issues of the journal (e.g. Meta-analysis comparing clinical effectiveness of drug-eluting stents, bare metal stents and coronary artery bypass surgery; Comprehensive systematic review of evidence on developing and sustaining nursing leadership that fosters a healthy work environment in healthcare; etc) didn’t suggest to me that this journal would be interested in research funded by the proponents (I’m assuming here that these are the producers) of herbal colon cleansing. It’s an academic medical journal out of Adelaide University that focuses on healthcare practice. Any other suggestions?
Brenda
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