I've been reading about all the different products on the market but am curious what the holistic/homeopathic theories are on colon cleansing. Thanks.

has gone in and out of fashion so often I begin to think it is related to sexual preferences

I'm not sure about the sexual preference remark. That really understates the importance of cleansing the bowels for good health. Please read the article below to understand this important issue better.






The most important rule of well being you can ever learn is to "Maintain a clean, strong and well functioning colon for superb overall health."Proper intestinal management through wholesome food is the best way to lead a health-building lifestyle. Yet how much thought does the average person give to his colon? Probably little or none. In fact, most people take the functioning of this remarkable organ for granted and are probably embarrassed to discuss the subject.

I suppose a discussion on the topic of bowel movements is not the customary fare. But realize this very important point! You owe it to yourself to find out just how deeply this vital organ affects the totality of your overall health. If this point was better understood, then more of us would not be embarrassed into ignorance and disease. What you're reading here today is nugget of truth – not a transient thought. Don’t be like the masses and casually ignore what's said here. Winston Churchill said it best when he stated:




What is the colon?


Let’s look at the digestive tract in a basic sense as a long tube from one end to the other. Food goes in one end; waste exits the other. Because of its important function to our overall health, the bowels should be seen as the life center of the body, and not just as a sewer. Consider these vital bowel functions:

• It conserves water
• Distributes nutrients to the body
• Creates a hospitable environment for life promoting probiotic bacteria
• Provides an unobstructed path for waste elimination

Most of us eat 2-3 meals a day. After the small intestine extracts the nutrients from the food we eat, we’re left with a residue that accumulates in the colon in the form of food particle waste, as the end product which has undergone digestion. The laws of good health require and insist that these waste products be cleansed regularly. If we fail to eliminate our wastes, we come under the penalty of ailments, sickness and diseases.

One vital factor in waste elimination is intestinal flora, or beneficial micro-organisms. This ecosystem of bacteria plays a major part in eliminating waste matter from the body. The colon harbors about 500 beneficial species of bacteria as well as yeasts, fungi and viruses. All are critical to our health and interrelate with each other, being fed by the foods we eat. If kept in proper balance, they create a protective barrier against disease causing bacteria, preventing them from entering the blood stream and wreaking havoc. This very safeguard is what should keep us in top notch health and energy all of our life, given that we eat a healthy, balanced diet. But herein also lies the root cause of most modern degenerative diseases! Most of us have breached this safeguard with our eating habits.

Due to the extreme amount of refined foods being eaten today, it’s estimated that up to 85% of the average person’s colon is made up of unfriendly bacteria. Our modern diets of rich, refined and fibreless foods contribute immensely to the defoliation of good bacteria in the digestive tract. Because of these factors, today, as many as 1 in 3 women and 1 in 5 men are considered to be constipated, (slow bowel transit time).


What is Constipation?


Constipation is direct the result of mistreatment of the colon and can be likened to a kitchen sink drain that becomes clogged. We know that it will now fail to eliminate water due to a backup of dirt and waste products in the descending pipe. In time, and if left alone, we’ll notice a very offending odour emanating from the drain as this waste material having failed to properly eliminate, rots and causes the pungent aroma.

The colon contains tiny, absorbent channels which allow water and nutrients to filter into the body. When we’re constipated, waste matter lodged within the bowel manages to escape into the body fluids and blood. In a nutshell, it’s a situation where the colon poisons the body with its own wastes and toxins instead of eliminating them.

As stated before, improper foods destroy normal flora or beneficial bacteria. This, as well as lack of fibre, slows down the speedy transition of undigested food in the colon. Unexpelled waste material now stays around longer than is healthy. In time this matter will become encrusted upon the colon walls and reduce their interior diameter, making for an even harder transition of food. And as in all conditions were decaying material gathers, unhealthy bacteria forms, along with worms and parasites. For many who suffer frequently from gas, stomach cramps and very offensive odours of their stools, they may be experiencing such a condition.




Some causes of constipation:


1. Refined and overcooked foods

2. Starches and sugars with little or no fibre

3. Overeating and having the stomach always full

4. Failure to heed the call of nature in due time


Cancer of the colon


Cancer of the colon, a common form of cancer, is a disease in which cancer (malignant) cells are found in the tissues of the colon. No one is immune. Today, cancer of the colon has become one of the worst killers in North America, largely because of our discomfort in dealing with it.


Statistics:


·Colon cancer is the second most deadly cancer in the United States, according to National Cancer Institute statistics.

·If detected early in a localized stage, the 5 year survival rates are 93% for colon cancer and 87% for rectal cancer.

·If the disease is diagnosed at an advanced stage, there is only an 8.5% chance of survival, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reveals.

·37% of colorectal cancers are diagnosed at this late stage.

·In North America alone, over 145,000 people are diagnosed with colon or rectal cancer each year

·About 6-7% of people will develop colon or rectal cancer in their lifetime, according to the Colon Cancer Alliance.




The Medical Perspective


Once someone does get colon cancer, he/she will most likely be treated by a team of specialists, which may include a gastroenterologist, surgeon, medical oncologist, and radiation oncologist. Several different types of treatment are used to treat colorectal cancer:

1. Surgery- generally, the surgeon removes the tumor along with part of the healthy colon or rectum and nearby lymph nodes. When this fails, a colostomy - a surgical opening through the wall of the abdomen into the colon is necessary. This requires the patient to wear a special bag to collect body waste. About 15 percent of colorectal cancer patients require a permanent colostomy.

2.Chemotherapy is the use of anticancer drugs to kill cancer cells.

3.Radiation therapy, also called radiotherapy, involves the use of high-energy x-rays to kill cancer cells.

4.Biological therapy, also called immunotherapy is used to repair, stimulate, or enhance the immune system's natural anticancer function in conjunction with chemotherapy or radiation.

5. Clinical trials (research studies) to evaluate new ways to treat cancer. Doctors compare different therapies by giving a promising new drugs or treatments to patients.

This is the standard fare that can be expected from the medical community. When it comes to acute or emergency medicine, the North American approach seems to excel, even if only temporarily in the area of contagious disease. But when dealing with chronic degenerative diseases, it fails miserably.


What’s the cause?


We live is a fast paced society where junk foods, white flours, sugars, fried or overcooked foods, devitalized starches & enzyme deficient foods dominate the dinner plate. None of this food can be considered high quality or nutritious All of it contributes to unnecessary colon obstruction. Some colon therapists report clients carrying as much as 20 pounds of undigested foods in their bowels. Others have seen food eaten 7-9 months prior being cleaned out during therapy.

Much of this is due to consuming food lacking fibre, which acts like a brush to clean the colon of toxic substances.

Here are some benefits of fibre rich foods:

• Fibre is to the digestive tract what a toothbrush is to the teeth.
• It slows down the digestion of food, yet accelerates the transit of waste through the digestive system, preventing fecal matter from becoming hard to eliminate.
• It keeps toxic material and metabolic waste from accumulating, prevents constipation, maintains regularity, promotes hygienic conditions and feeds and maintains a healthy supply of friendly intestinal bacteria.
• It’s estimated that we need a daily intake of at least 25-35 grams of total dietary fibre to reap it’s health benefits.

Fibre also allows the bowels to be emptied on a regular basis because of its ability to hold water in the form of a gel. This prevents the over absorption of water from the intestinal content into the circulation and the subsequent dry, hard stools which form as a result. Waste matter doesn’t expel easily when moisture keeps being drawn from it, making it lumpy and pressed together. This is the common appearance of stools in 90% of all North Americans.



Many also suffer from chronic diarrhea – the stagnant, filthy matter, full of bacteria or parasites, which cause the colon to become excessively irritated. It clings to the colon walls and causes it to repeatedly try to expel itself. This condition is another way to understand that a change in dietary habit is necessary.

Indigestion, bloating, gas, diarrhea and intestinal pains are regularly treated with antacids, alka-seltzer, tums or other medicines. These drugs mask the overlying symtom and offer temporary relief but won’t alleviate the disturbed digestion. This temporary relief of distress will not offer anything constructive to the body and further encourages the consumer to keep doing what’s wrong.

How can we cleanse the colon?

1) Eat a healthy balanced diet. Organic meat, fresh eggs and milk, wild fish, etc. although highly nutritious, are by themselves not very high in fiber and must be helped along with sufficient fibre rich foods such as whole grains, vegetables and fruits, raw nuts, peas, beans and lentils. Cellulose in bran, hemicellulose in oat bran, musilage in seeds, legumes and psyllium are also excellent forms of fibre which contribute to increasing fecal size and weight. Also try plain yogurt which is full of living bacteria (lactobacillus acidophilus). Fermented foods such as sauerkraut, miso and tempeh are also highly beneficial. All these are excellent ingredients in a balanced diet.

2) Colonic Irrigation is an excellent way to rid the bowels of toxins and accumulated build-up. It’s an internal colonic water bath which has a widely recognized therapeutic value. Water is allowed to enter the body at a pressure that is gentle, yet strong enough to carry up the entire length of the colon to the cecum. It is a powerful tool in the prevention of degenerative disease and can be accessed through a colon therapist. By thoroughly cleansing the colon, a sense of well being is often dramatically restored.

3) Fasting also has a beneficial effect in that it allows the body to throw off toxins at an accelerated rate.

4) Herbs have been used quite successfully to aid the body in restoring health because they soften, loosen and dissolve hardened and impacted material that has build up in the colon over the years. This is perhaps the most effective way to clean the colon.



Food quality is relative to life quality. The effects of our diet can be easily monitored through simple observation of hair, skin, nails and body composition. Thorough and complete digestion of what we eat is a huge determinant in our health, energy and appearance.

The colon is a tremendous work of art that acts as a sewage system to filter out the waste products of foods we eat. Treat it right and will cause your body to function in a state of optimum health, allowing you to lead a life full of energy and vitality. Treat it wrong and it will become a cesspool which produces more suffering than any other source. It will distill poisons of decay which affect every part of our body to the point that much of the pleasure of life will be sapped from us. I for one would much rather choose the former, one that provides energy and strength to fulfill our daily tasks. And to do that we have to eat right – of the wholesome variety of foods and in a state which doesn't keep them permanently preserved.



Sources:

• National Colorectal Cancer Research Alliance (NCCRA)
• American Cancer Society- "Colon and Rectum Cancer: What is it?"
• National Cancer Institute – "Screening for Colorectal Cancer"
• University of Florida State
• University Of Pennsylvania Cancer Center
• Norman M. Walker: Colon Health-The Key to a Vibrant Life
• Leo Garland MD.: Leaky Gut Syndrome-Breaking The Vicious Cycle, 1995
• Gray,Robert - The Colon Health Handbook-New Health Through Colon Rejuvenation-Emerald Publishing, Twelfth Revised Edition,Copyright,1990.
• Bernard Jensen - D.C.,PhD.-Tissue Cleansing through Bowel Management,1981.
• Michael R. Lyon, M.D.M.S.c.- Gut Ecology In Health & Nutrition-Alive, Canadian Journal Of Health & Nutrition-No.192,Page 31,Oct.1998.
• Elaine Gottschall B.A.,M.Sc. - Food and the Gut Reaction, Intestinal Health Through Diet, 1987.

is it really that much more important than cleaning you teeth?

Study the principles of homeopathy and you will see the difference between holistic and homeopathic.

Thank you Cephas Hawk for the article. It mirrors the opinions of a lot of information I have been reading on Colon Cleansing.

I felt the comment regarding "sexual preference" did not warrant an intelligent response. Furthermore, I understand the differences between holistic and homeopathic as I have been a patient of 3 extremely talented homeopaths;1 very unique holistic provider; and even a naturopath in my 50 year lifetime.

My initial question was prompted after a friend visited and brought a handful of reading material on various cleanses published by the Embassy of Heaven Church. Since my religious beliefs do not run along the same lines, I was curious what the alternative medicine field opinions were.

Thanks again for the info.