About Colon Cleanse Detoxifiers

As alternative medicine and herbal remedies gain in popularity due to the increasing cost of health care there has been a large increase in the number of colon cleansing detoxification programs available on the market. Colon cleansing is meant to make you feel better, sleep more soundly, and purge your body of unwanted chemicals.

Function

• Colon cleanse detoxification products are intended to relieve a variety of symptoms by flushing certain toxins out of your body. Alternative medicine practitioners and proponents of herbal therapies claim that unhealthy behaviors, such as the consumption of alcohol or frequently eating fatty foods, cause a layer of toxins called "Mucoid Plaque" to build up inside the large intestine. The products use herbal supplements to dislodge the plaque and make your body excrete it naturally.

Features

• Colon cleanse programs claim to improve your overall level of health by preventing constipation, aiding digestion, raising the number of daily bowel movements you have and stopping the buildup of gas. They also frequently state their benefits include the ability to stop weight gain and help with headaches, insomnia and lethargy.

Types

• The vast majority of colon cleanse detoxification products use the herbs Psyllium and Senna, which are natural laxatives, as their active ingredients. A few use the herb Cascara Sagrada instead, which has many of the same properties. The products may be coupled with other herbs such as Milk Thistle to promote healthy liver and kidney function. Some are also package with probiotics which are intended to help increase the amount of helpful bacteria present in your intestinal tract.

Considerations

• There are no colon cleanse detoxification programs that have been approved by the FDA. Most scientists, doctors and nutritionists agree that the colon properly cleans itself and does not ever need an outside stimulus. No medical institution or journal has ever reported the existence of Mucoid Plaque in a colon which casts doubt on the need for colon cleansing products. Some of them may even cause problems as researchers at the Mayo clinic reported that the ingredients used in colon cleanse programs can cause dehydration and diarrhea.

Warning

• Several cases have been reported of colon cleansing detoxification programs causing serious damage to the colon when used over a long period of time. They have also been known to block many prescription drugs from being properly absorbed by the body and can even make you dependent on laxatives to be able to defecate regularly.