A New Year’s Vitacost brochure reveals at least a half-dozen exuberantly touted internal cleansing supplements with names like Renew, Super Plus and Garden of Life Perfect. Are our bodies yuck inside? Do they need regular cleaning like clogged pipes?
Many believe that bodies build up toxins that need to be flushed periodically — that colons, especially, need cleaning. The colon’s job is to process waste products and prepare for elimination. Thus, a popular thought is that a clearout results in healthier living.
Hydrotherapy, which involves flushing large amounts of water into your system, is “based on the ancient ‘autointoxication’ theory that the body poisons itself by retaining waste products,” conveys Cleveland Clinic.
While some doctors use colon cleansing methods to treat specific digestive issues, Cleveland Clinic cautions against regular, unsupervised cleansing for routine concerns, stating: “The idea that the average person’s colon needs to be ‘cleansed’ or that this offers health benefits is not proven.” Of course, cleansing is necessary for a procedure such as a colonoscopy, which is monitored by an attending physician. Do-it-yourself cleansing requires taking special bowel-clearing laxatives, powders or supplements, purchasing and using an enema, drinking special herbal teas or going the hydrotherapy route.
Side effects of a cleanse can include abdominal pain, bloating, nausea, vomiting, electrolyte imbalances and more. Without a physician’s prescription or assistance, internal cleanses should be avoided by those with diverticulitis, Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis or ischemic colitis. Plus, anyone with prior colon surgery, heart disease or kidney disease should not cleanse.
Blackdoctor.org questions whether the risks of internal cleansing outweigh the benefits, asserting that eating the right foods — thoroughly washed clean of toxins — and living a healthy, active lifestyle generally does the trick. Also consider quality probiotics for fit guts, as well as such probiotic foods as yogurt, kefir, miso paste, kombucha tea, sauerkraut, sourdough bread, tempeh, pickles, cultured soymilk and kimchi, shares Health magazine.