colon cleanse

Actually, your body can only cleanse itself to a certain point. Yeah, your liver and colon are your body's tools for cleansing, but over the years they can get slowed down by toxins, soda, fast food, paint, exhaust, stress ect. These toxins eventually begin to build up and end up being stored as fat cells because your body doesn't know what to do with them. It's healthy to do a cleanse! http://www.thelemonadesite.com/
I tried about 5 years ago and literally felt 10 years younger, my skin cleared up, head aches went away, lost 15 lbs, and it taught me to crave healthy foods and eat smaller portions. I am going to do it again the day after Christmas.

Please. Explain to me how paint and soda make your colon and liver "slowed down".
And, what are all these "toxins" people keep talking about?
It's not necessary or healthy to "cleanse" your colon unless you have a REAL MD telling you that it's REQUIRED for your health.

"How many times have I read or heard from believers in “alternative” medicine that some disease or other is caused by “toxins”? I honestly can’t remember, but in alt-world, no matter what the disease or condition under discussion is, there’s a good chance that sooner or later it will be linked to “toxins.” It doesn’t matter if it’s cancer, autism, heart disease, diabetes, hypertension, or that general malaise that comes over people who, as British comedians Mitchell and Webb put it, have more money than sense; somehow, some way, someone will invoke “toxins.”"

here: http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/index.php/fashionable-toxins/

:glasses: OK just one more... because I can!

from: http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/index.php/colon-cleanses-a-load-of-you-know-what/

"First of all, the bacteria decried by colon cleansers are in reality completely normal and do not “poison” their host, except occasionally, such as when a new strain (such as pathogenic strains of E. coli that cause food poisoning or simply bacterial strains that “don’t belong” and cause travellers’ diarrhea). They are even beneficial in that they help with the breakdown of bile salts in the stool, among other things. Indeed, one of the reasons that antibiotics often cause diarrhea or a secondary infection known as Clostridium difficile colitis (which can be life-threatening) is because antibiotics kill the normal bacterial flora of the colon, allowing pathogenic bacteria to grow into the niche left behind by the dead normal bacteria. Second of all, yes there are parasitic diseases of the colon (Giardia or entamoeba, anyone?), but worms and gastrointestinal parasites are relatively uncommon causes of colon disease in the developed world. Third, as a surgeon, I can tell you from simple experience operating on the colon that hardened feces do not accumulate on the walls of the colon as the colon cleansers claim. Any gastroenterologist who does a lot of colonoscopies could tell you that too. Even in disease states in which colon motility is impaired, we generally do not see the feces “caking” on the walls. Even in the case of mechanical obstruction by, for instance, a colon or rectal cancer, what we see is lots of fecal matter fairly evenly distributed in the lumen of the colon.

But what, you may reasonably ask, is all that nastiness that colon cleansing websites so proudly display as evidence of the “success” of their cleanses? One thing you will find, if you look closely at the ingredients of many colon cleansing products, is that many of them contain bentonite clay. This clay is touted as having been used by indigenous tribes for many centuries (the fallacy of ancient wisdom–my favorite!) and as a “natural” laxative. What it really is is an absorbent aluminium phyllosilicate clay that expands in the gastrointestinal tract as it absorbs fluid. Often the bentonite clay is combined with psyllium, which is often used as a bulk-forming laxative. The beauty of this, as far as sellers of colon cleansing products go, is that bentonite clay is responsible for those disgusting rope-like stools that are touted as “evidence” that people’s colons are coated with layers of disgusting waste that is “poisoning” them. Such stools consist of the clay expanded by the liquid from the gastrointestinal tract, plus the bulk formed by psyllium, all coated with feces. Thus, the product itself produces the very condition that it claims to treat! I sometimes envision experienced and skillful con men tipping their hats in appreciation and respect when they learn this little fact about colon cleansing products.

The problem all boils down to an obsession with “toxins,” “waste,” and “putrefaction.” Colon cleansing mavens seem to view their own waste products as somehow inherently “harmful,” obsessing about them in much the same way as General Jack T. Ripper obsessed about his “purity of essence” in Dr. Strangelove: Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb. Indeed, if you hang around on enough the “right” discussion forums, you will get the distinct sense that they find the very thought that they have feces accumulating in them all the time, loaded with bacteria, to be hateful and impossible to bear. This attitude is, of course, odd, to say the least, given that the very function the colon evolved over millions of years to do is to remove our digestive wastes safely and efficiently, extracting water, electrolytes, and what little other nutrients are left over, before depositing the waste into whatever receptical its owner sees fit to use. For the vast majority of people, whether it does it three times a day or once every three days does not matter much. Worse, in the cases of people who do have a real parasitic infection, all the purging in the world won’t get rid of the critters causing the disease, no matter how many times a day one drives oneself to go. Only appropriate drugs to kill the parasites can correct the problem."

sorry for the long post! Alt-med claims for wellness that can have serious repercussions on your health are one of my pet peeves

Colon cleanses are most beneficial to those who sell them.

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This is one of those foolish fads pushed by those who are into various other forms of unscientific tomfoolery.
Just stick to the basics: cardio and resistance exercise, good diet and supplement where required.
Run it all through your doctor.

Don't get sucked into the world of weirdos.

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I hate those adverts that claim that matter becomes lodged in the colon and stays there for years. That is such a crock of...well, of ****. Literally.
Things do not get stuck in there. Your intestines are like a garden hose, only one way out, no waiting.

Well unless you have medical problems like Diverticulitis

I agree with the above.

It's not good to play with your bowel flora!

The only reason I'd even consider a douche is when I want have some serious fun ;laugh:

I have not (I have IBS/Spastic colon so my body does it's own "cleanse" on a regular basis)... but I'm curious what your reasons are for wanting to. If it's to just lose a few pounds/"kickstart" your weightloss, then it's probably not the best idea bc much of what you'll lose will be water. If it's bc you aren't "going" like you would prefer and want to get things flowing, then there are better/healthier ways to make this happen.
I have found that eating a serving of chopped kale or collard greens everyday keeps things moving really well. I buy them frozen, toss them in the microwave, add some tobasco, and start my dinner this way each day. Has helped slow things down for me (see above IBS disclaimer) while keeping things moving as they should. I'd imagine they'd be a healthy way to keep things regular in someone with a normal digestive system.

I disagree with a lot of these posters, while I do not recommend buying a cleanse on the market, due to scams, money, etc... the master cleanse aka lemonade diet is natural. and even while I'm dieting and eating healthy, I still have constipation issues. If your bowels move regularly like once or more per day, you probably don't need to do anything, However, if you are not regular, then it may be worth it to try a natural approach.

I mixed some Epsom salt in with some orange juice last night and this morning my colon was cleansed.

I get colonics done. Very simple and easy. They're kind of like an internal massage for your colon. It's much gentler on your colon than laxatives are.