Pros & Cons of a Colon Cleanse
Colon cleansing irrigates your rectum and bowel and removes food and toxins that stick to the walls of your large intestine and cause constipation. Colonics and enemas are methods used to cleanse your colon. Colonics involve a machine that pumps water into your colon and sucks the waste out, whereas enemas may be self-administered using equipment that enables water to enter by gravity and exit by peristalsis. Consult your doctor about colon cleanses.
If you are experiencing serious medical symptoms, seek emergency treatment immediately.
Pro: Remove Constipation
Constipation is a condition in which you experience stools that reside in the large intestine and become hard and dry. Washing out your colon may alleviate your constipation and help you maintain a healthy colon. A colon cleanse with warm water may soften and loosen your stool and other waste that is concentrated on the walls of your intestines that may prevent you from having regular bowel movements. Anderson, M.D., published in "Nutrition Reviews" in 2009.
- Constipation is a condition in which you experience stools that reside in the large intestine and become hard and dry.
Pro: Detoxification
What Is Hydrocolon Cleansing?
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Colon cleanses may help to detoxify your body from harmful chemicals, pathological organisms, mucus and other substances that are attracted to the waste in your colon. The water from your colon cleanse can help to draw these organisms and substances out of your body. Adding yogurt, coffee, wheatgrass juice or mineral oil to your colon cleanse may enhance the effectiveness of your detoxification, yet there are no clinical studies to support the efficacy and these substances could actually irritate your colon. Consult your doctor before undergoing any detoxification program using colon cleanses.
- Colon cleanses may help to detoxify your body from harmful chemicals, pathological organisms, mucus and other substances that are attracted to the waste in your colon.
- The water from your colon cleanse can help to draw these organisms and substances out of your body.
Con: Risk of Infection
Colon cleansing may increase your risk of infections from pathological microorganisms caused by using unclean equipment. It is important to use sterile equipment that has not been previously used by someone else to minimize your risks from spread of infections of bacteria, viruses, yeasts and parasites. Cleaning your equipment with antiseptics and disinfectants, such as bleach, may reduce the risk of contracting infections from human-to-human transmission through surfaces.
Con: Risk of Carcinogenic Chemicals
Chemicals in Sanitary Pads
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Colon cleanses using unfiltered tap water may be dangerous to your health. Use of unfiltered tap water may increase your risk of chromium-6, a cancer-causing chemical in tap water in 89 percent of cities sampled in research by the Environmental Working Group 5. The chemical detected, hexavalent chromium, is the same carcinogenic chemical made popular by Erin Brockovich that could increase your risk of gastrointestinal tumors. The report states that 74 million Americans in 42 states drink water containing this harmful chemical.
- Colon cleanses using unfiltered tap water may be dangerous to your health.
- The chemical detected, hexavalent chromium, is the same carcinogenic chemical made popular by Erin Brockovich that could increase your risk of gastrointestinal tumors.
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References
- Ask a Naturopath: Bowel Cleansing Using Enemas
- National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases: What I Need to Know About Constipation
- "Colon Health"; Norman Walker D.Sc., P.D.; 1979
- PubMed.gov: Health Benefits of Dietary Fiber
- Environmental Working Group: Chromium-6 Is Widespread in U.S. Tap Water
- Carethers JM. Risk factors for colon location of cancer. Transl Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2018;3:76. doi:10.21037/tgh.2018.09.15.
- Aykan NF. Red meat and colorectal cancer. Oncol Rev. 2015;9(1):288. doi:10.4081/oncol.2015.288.
- Rossi M, Jahanzaib anwar M, Usman A, Keshavarzian A, Bishehsari F. Colorectal cancer and alcohol consumption-populations to molecules. Cancers (Basel). 2018;10(2). doi:10.3390/cancers10020038.
- Hermann J, Karmelita-katulska K, Paszkowski J, Drews M, Stajgis M. Diagnosis of a cecal tumour with virtual colonoscopy. Pol J Radiol. 2011;76(2):25-7.
- Carethers JM. Risk factors for colon location of cancer. Transl Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2018;3:76. doi:10.21037/tgh.2018.09.15.
- Kunzmann AT, Coleman HG, Huang WY, Kitahara CM, Cantwell MM, Berndt SI. Dietary fiber intake and risk of colorectal cancer and incident and recurrent adenoma in the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal, and Ovarian Cancer Screening Trial. Am J Clin Nutr. 2015;102(4):881-90. doi: 10.3945/ajcn.115.113282.
- Aykan NF. Red meat and colorectal cancer. Oncol Rev. 2015;9(1):288. doi:10.4081/oncol.2015.288.
- Rossi M, Jahanzaib anwar M, Usman A, Keshavarzian A, Bishehsari F. Colorectal cancer and alcohol consumption-populations to molecules. Cancers (Basel). 2018;10(2). doi:10.3390/cancers10020038.
- American Cancer Society. (2006). American Cancer Society’s Complete Guide to Colorectal Cancer. Clifton Fields, NE: American Cancer Society.
- Harvard School of Public Health. (n.d.). Protein: What Should I Eat?
- Witmer, L. (2007, January 23). Clinical anatomy of the large intestine.
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Writer Bio
Jeffrey Traister is a writer and filmmaker. For more than 25 years, he has covered nutrition and medicine for health-care companies and publishers, also producing digital video for websites, DVDs and commercials. Trained in digital filmmaking at The New School, Traister also holds a Master of Science in human nutrition and medicine from the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons.