Will Cleansing Your Colon Do Wonders For Your Health?


Will Cleansing Your Colon Do Wonders for Your Health?
Posted Wed, Jul 02, 2008, 6:06 pm PDT


More than a century ago, John Harvey Kellogg, a physician who was
superintendent of the then-popular Battle Creek Sanatorium, advocated
hydrotherapy to eliminate toxins in the colon as a treatment for
obesity and other illnesses.

Kellogg, of course, is best known these days for his original
formulation of corn flakes breakfast cereal and for founding what is
now the Kellogg Company.

Hydrotherapy encompasses a range of treatments, all involving water,
used to prevent disease and promote healing. It may include baths, mud
baths, steam baths, showers, hot or cold packs, douches, or colonic
irrigation — this last, which is sometimes known as a "high colonic"
or "colon cleansing," can be thought of as a kind of "super enema."

Whereas a pint of water is used in a standard enema, several gallons
are used by a trained colonic therapist to flush the colon while the
patient lies on a slanted treatment table for about 45 minutes. The
goal is to remove toxins from the large intestine and other organs,
such as the liver and kidneys, which also eliminate wastes from the
body.

High colonics are widely advertised on the Internet and those
interested can find a location nearby for such treatments by looking
up the International Association of Colon Hydrotherapy. I found, for
example, more than 20 practitioners listed in the Baltimore area
alone.

Another approach to detoxifying the colon is to use herbal
supplements, or "colonic cleansers," along with drinking lots of
water.

A recent issue of the Baltimore Sun ran a full-page ad with the
headline "Turn your body into a fat-burning machine naturally." The
advertisement was for "The Original Slim & Cleanse Complete," a pill
which, when taken by mouth, is touted as "one of the quickest and most
effective ways to cleanse your body of toxins, poisons and sludge that
otherwise would not move."

In addition to weight loss, other avowed benefits of taking "The
Original Slim & Cleanse Complete" for a month (only $49 + shipping
costs, with a $20 discount if ordered within the next 10 days) include
reduction of headaches and bloating, an improved immune system, and
elimination of bad breath.

Now, you may believe that flushing toxins out of your body by means of
a high colonic or an oral cleansing agent will improve your health.
You may even be prepared to fork over $49 for The Original Slim &
Cleanse Complete.

But as a "self-proclaimed medical expert" (what one hydrotherapy
article I read called anyone who disagrees with the value of ridding
the body of toxins) who believes that maintaining colonic health is a
form of "gastrointestinal quackery," I would have to advise you
against it.

It is hard to believe, and there is precious little supporting
evidence for it, that the periodic flushing out of toxins harbored in
the colon and at other sites around the body will cure health problems
ranging from obesity to bad breath to headaches. In fact, I urge you
to be wary of any product that claims to be a cure-all.

© 2007 Johns Hopkins University. All Rights Reserved. This article
from Johns Hopkins University is provided as a service by Yahoo. All
materials are produced independently by Johns Hopkins University,
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