Colon cleanse is a procedure that is sometimes necessary for certain other medical procedures, like colonoscopy to name one. However, some people decide to go for it because it gets rid of the toxins that are sticking to the walls of their colon, aiming to improve their overall health.
Toxins that stick to the wall of the colon can enter your blood stream, which makes removing them a very sensible decision according to people’s beliefs. They say that failure to do so can gradually decrease your health in the long-term, and even cause the onset of certain symptoms like weight gain, fatigue, skin irritations, and bloating.
There are two ways to perform a colon cleanse. One involves taking a lot of laxatives, which pretty much gets the job done from the comfort of your home. The downside, however, is that you will have to go to the bathroom quite often. The other method costs around hundred bucks and is called colon hydrotherapy, where a lot of water is pumped through your rectum in order to flush out the colon.
The question remains whether a colon cleanse is really needed, and that depends on several things. First of all, you do have to know that your body is already equipped with several mechanisms designed to eliminate dangerous toxins from it, and that is the function already performed by your liver and kidneys.
Colon hydrotherapy, while effective, isn’t exactly kind to your wallet, and also poses some medical risks all by itself. Therefore, most medical professionals advise against it, especially if the person seeking to undergo the procedure is otherwise in good general health. Because there is little research done on colon cleansing, it’s still somewhat of a grey area, so the medical professionals tend to only recommend it for those patients who are about to undergo colonoscopy and have not been successful with other ways of cleaning their colon.
Even using laxatives can cause certain side-effects, the most common one being dehydration. Artificially inducing diarrhea also has an effect on a person’s electrolyte levels, which has the potential to cause light-headedness and an abnormal heart rhythm. More uncommonly, some patients can develop a blood condition called aplastic anemia. Other more common symptoms are stomach cramps, vomiting, and nausea.
Those medical risks are a fact, while any positive effects on one’s health still need to be confirmed by scientific methods. As of right now, there is very little scientific evidence supporting the idea that a colon cleanse will actually improve your health in any way. Even if you’re just aiming to lose some weight, there are numerous other ways to do it, all of which are healthier and more effective.
Furthermore, people with certain medical conditions like heart and kidney problems subject themselves to further risks and complications if they decide to go through with a colon cleanse. These people already have a tough time maintaining their fluid balances, and undergoing such a procedure has the potential to complicate their lives even more. Pregnant women should also avoid it at all costs.
At the end of the day, you are the ruler of your body, therefore you should be the one who decides what’s best for you and what isn’t. However, before rushing into anything, make sure to do your homework and consult your physician first in order to avoid causing any unnecessary damage to it.
References
http://www.livescience.com/48482-colon-hydrotherapy-risks-side-effects.html
http://www.webmd.com/balance/guide/natural-colon-cleansing-is-it-necessary
http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/consumer-health/expert-answers/colon-cleansing/faq-20058435
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