Has anyone had success with Acai Berry? How about colon cleanses?

Has anyone used the Acai Berry products to lose weight or do a colon cleanse?  Have you tried another colon cleanse product? I would like to know if these products really work. I don't like the idea of toxins in my body and would like to have better health. If you have tried something that worked or didn't work, please share your experience. Thanks!

Cleansers don't work for weight loss.

If you want to get rid of the 'toxins' in your body... then here's what you have to do:

1) Get lots of fiber in your diet (but ramp up slowly or you won't like the results). Fiber helps your digestive system work FULLY and helps keep things moving.

2) Eat Healthy. This will help reduce the amount of toxins you take in. Eating Organic, if you can, might help reduce the amount of toxic chemicals you take in.

Past that... try to avoid chemicals, if you can, but good luck to you!

Watch out for some of the online sites to buy acai berry (like the sponsored link ones just to the rigth!!!) My friend tried one and it was a complete scam - once you send away for the free sample , you find out that they will keep charging you, and sending a new shipement each month UNLESS you call and cancel, but she was never able to get through to cancel! She had to cancel her credit card.
But I also agree with hkellick - you don't need to detoxify - just get more fiber and eat good food.

Lalie

look up coffee enemas.

They're the best thing out there; alternative health clinics specializing in cancer actually have reports of greatly improving cancer patients' status without chemo (legally they can't say they cured them that way, but studies show they did), and one of their main treatments was the coffee enema, which can be administered at home.

The caffeine in the coffee does not affect your heart because it is not metabolizing, but it DOES affect the hemmeroidal veins, causing the muscles to contract and you get a very strong enematic affect. Also, if you can hold it for ten minutes, you will hear a gurgling under the left side of your ribcage; apparently this is the liver ejecting toxins or some such...if you research it you can find the science behind it.

I did it once but I didn't feel the supposed 'euporia' everyone feels after doing it; I just felt like I had taken an enema. Maybe I just didn't have enough toxins to get rid of or something.

You know, here's a great way to detoxify.

Drink water, eat healthy, exercise. It's AMAZING!!!

Seriously, people don't seem to understand that the body gets rid of it's own toxins. You don't need some fancy snake oil to do it. If our bodies 'held on' to toxins like these scams will tell you, we would have been dead a LOOOONG time ago. Take care of your immune system, treat your digestive tract well and you will be fine.

Your joking, right? Did I just switch into a scene from Fight Club or something?

Is there a single peer-reviewed medical paper touting Coffee Enemas as a best way to lose weight?

I like Acai Berries, especially with those yummy granola yogurt and a sliced banana.  The only benefit you get is more fruits and probably eating less junk.  There is no miracle drug/fruit/food/cure.

Eat enough but not too much, have a reasonable balance of lean proteins, whole grains and healthy fats.  Try to eat more whole foods and fewer manufactured products, avoid fast food whenever possible.  Get some exercise.  Drink enough water.  Get enough sleep. This is a tried and true formula that won't cost you a lot.

Colon cleanses range from ridiculous to downright dangerous.  If your doctor isn't recommending it, just don't do it.

 "I don't like the idea of toxins in my body and would like to have better health"

-That's what I was responding to in the original post. Did I say anything, ANYTHING about weight loss? No.

Just drinking a coffee gives me that fun 'gurgling' in mah belleh.

But seriously. I think I would feel better about having a little bit of toxins in me than I would about having some unknown, untested, liquid squirted up my butt.

Original Post by jamminatorr:

Just drinking a coffee gives me that fun 'gurgling' in mah belleh.

But seriously. I think I would feel better about having a little bit of toxins in me than I would about having some unknown, untested, liquid squirted up my butt.

 

 Awww yeah,  I call that my after the morning coffee break, break.

Edited to add the following--(and I forgot to spellcheck )

"The caffeine in the coffee does not affect your heart because it is not metabolizing,..."

I'm not a doctor, but I'm pretty sure that this is inaccurate. I've read that wine enemas are dangerous because it's not filtered through the liver but goes directly to the blood stream. I would assume the same would be true for caffeine. I also read that you would have higher levels of caffeine in your bloodstream after a coffee enema than if you drank it. This could be for the same reason as the wine enema??

i got the trial, I didnt notice any results from it..I guess it helped clean out my system? I wouldnt buy it, I called and canceled during the trial and they answered right away,

I know the coffee enema thing sounds 'weird' to all of you, but keep in mind there is a whole thriving alternative health field out there and though quackery exists, a lot of stuff does have scientific backing to it. Coffee enemas are not something people usually hear about; I'd expect you all to think it is some weird fad or something dangerous.

What I can say is that it HAS been tested by doctors, and it IS used by doctors. Not all doctors agree with colonics or enemas. Some do. The research is out there, so if you're really interested, look!

I know people who do coffee enemas tri-weekly with absolutely no ill effects. I've done them myself, and I am VERY sensitive to caffeine and have a heart condition, so I did the research and looked up how this stuff would react in my body. I researched it to where I felt comfortable doing it.

Coffee enemas are typically done with VERY diluted coffee; there's a negligable amount, just enough caffeine to stimulate the liver and the gall bladder to eliminate bile. This is a pratice that has been around in medicine since 1930. Look up Gerson therapy, or Dr. Gerson. Here's a tidbit, while we're on the subject:

"In 1981, Dr. Lee Wattenberg and his colleagues were able to show that substances found in coffee—kahweol and cafestol palmitate—promote the activity of a key enzyme system, glutathione S-transferase, above the norm. This system detoxifies a vast array of electrophiles from the bloodstream and, according to Gar Hildenbrand of the Gerson Institute, "must be regarded as an important mechanism for carcinogen detoxification. This enzyme group is responsible for neutralizing free radicals, harmful chemicals now commonly implicated in the initiation of cancer."

I thought it sounded weird and diet faddist and all that stuff when I first heard of it, too. But I'm not a fad diet type person, so for me to have tried it, there would have to have been substantial research out there, not to mention anectdotal results from all the people i know in the raw community.

This is the basic idea behind the enemas, for those of you at all mildly intereseted:

Physiological Chemistry and Physics has stated that "caffeine enemas cause dilation of bile ducts, which facilitates excretion of toxic cancer breakdown products by the liver and dialysis of toxic products across the colonic wall."

In addition, theophylline and theobromine (two other chemicals in coffee) dilate blood vessels and counter inflammation of the gut; the palmitates enhance the enzyme system responsible for the removal of toxic free radicals from the serum; and the fluid of the enema then stimulates the visceral nervous system to promote peristalsis and the transit of diluted toxic bile from the duodenum and out the rectum.

Since the enema is generally held for 15 minutes, and all the blood in the body passes through the liver every three minutes, "these enemas represent a form of dialysis of blood across the gut wall" (Healing Newsletter, #13, May-June, 1986).

Original Post by heathmarpar:

"The caffeine in the coffee does not affect your heart because it is not metabolizing,..."

I'm not a doctor, but I'm pretty sure that this is inaccurate. I've read that wine enemas are dangerous because it's not filtered through the liver but goes directly to the blood stream. I would assume the same would be true for caffeine. I also read that you would have higher levels of caffeine in your bloodstream after a coffee enema than if you drank it. This could be for the same reason as the wine enema??

so basically any drink can be put up your butt to make you poo.

kindof like a douche? 

i was on hard core pain killers while in the hospital, and they wanted to give me an enema.  i said nothing is going up my butt.  i feel like the best way is not to force it.  that first poo hurt real bad, but it was worth it to wait instead of getting a butt douche.  

sorry if you feel i am being immature, i think it is good to add some humor to this very serious topic.

peace

This is just about the funniest thread I've ever read!  What will they think of next?  I'm having a hard time taking this seriously.  Butt (oops, only one "t" there) I will check out all the information that has been posted on this thread.  Who'd a thunk it?  Coffee enema !  Here I am throwing out leftovers from yesterday.  I always seem to be behind (<-- that's a funny word now) the times. 

I love Acai Berries! But, sorry, they are not a "toxin" remover anymore than blueberries are. I eat them because they add variety to my fruit selection and I love how they taste. 

Like previously mentioned, water is the best "internal cleanser" out there because it assists in the digestion of food and works with the body's natural design. Diet is the only other necessary part of this equation.

I've done some research on "internal cleansers" and have discovered they may remove normal waste from your colon. By removing normal waste, a person may experience brief weight loss and feel less...er...loaded up. However...

...as soon as you eat, it fills back up. Also, its when the waste is naturally passing through the system that your body absorbs water and some other necessary products. When you eliminate waste before the process is complete, your body misses some essentials. Digestion is a continual process...pretty much always something important going on in the area between the entrance and exit points.

If you want to know if any "plaque" or "toxins" have been discovered in a person's body, ask a doctor who preforms colonoscopys. Since they have frequent and close visual encounters with the insides of colons, they'de know. If you know different, please correct me, but I've never found any literature that states 'plaques' or 'toxins' were found during a colonoscopy.

You can add slices of ginger root or citrus to warm water as fancier digestion assistants, but I wouldn't mess around too much with the natural cleansing process. It isn't necessary, so is a 'waste' of money. Pun intended.

edamame3, your liver is not on the left side of the abdomen.

The whole purpose of the colon is to draw moisture out of our wastes so we're not dehydrated. It takes a lot of water to process our food (I'm oversimplifying).

Drugs are administered rectally because it's a quick way to get medicine into the bloodstream. This is done with painkillers and laxatives, for example.

"The caffeine in the coffee does not affect your heart because it is not metabolizing, but it DOES affect the hemmeroidal veins, causing the muscles to contract and you get a very strong enematic effect."

Caffeine most definitely gets into the bloodstream when administered as an enema. If it is too dilute to have much of an effect on the heart, that is another matter. But, if it's that dilute, how is it dilating blood vessels? Maybe I'm mistaken, but I think the heart is part of the circulatory system. Seriously, people! Detox is bunk.

Look up the effects of killing off your normal intestinal flora.

To the OP: Please be very careful. There are a lot of products/plans out there that can seriously hurt you. Most of them are garbage, unscrupulous people trying to get your money. Some of them really believe what they're preaching because they're lacking basic knowledge of biology and physiology. There are no majic fruits, pills, creams, or shortcuts. Eat wholesome foods in portions that are balanced with your activity level.

Please, before you consider a cleanse look at your fibre intake.

The RDA for is a minimum of 25g a day.

You need to make sure you're getting enough soluble and insoluble fibre - Insoluble (the fibre that forms bulk and regulates acidity and PH in the gut) and soluble (the fibre that helps regulate blood sugar and cholesterol).

Insoluble fibre examples:
 -- Whole-wheat pastas, breads, etc
 -- Quinoa
 -- Brown rice
 -- Bran products
 -- Fruit and vegetable skins, such as potato skins, tomato skins, plum/prune skins, apple skins, pear skins
 -- Nuts and seeds, particularly flax, almonds, brazil nuts and walnuts

Soluble fibre examples:
 -- Oats
 -- Rye
 -- Barley
 -- Potatoes of all varieties
 -- Psyillium husks
 -- Legumes and pulses, especially lentils, garbanzo beans (chickpeas), kidney beans, pinto beans and soybeans

And pretty much all fruits and vegetables. Particularly raspberries, plums, bananas, sweetcorn, prunes, apples, pears, blackberries, broccoli, cauliflower, brussels, asparagus, artichokes and dried fruit. Again, never introduce lots more fibre without drinking enough water to compensate. There is a more detailed list of fibre sources here for future reference.

Before you go for the cleanse, PLEASE consider sorting your fibre out first!

Dangers of Colon Cleansing

hahahahaa LOL! This is a fun thread to read!! It's fun to see how many people are so passionate about cleansing their rear ends!!! I'm not opposed to doing that sort of thing, but I must agree it should be treated as a last resort.

In addition to the liver (mostly) not being on the left side of the body, the bile duct also enters the intestine way, way, way above the colon, like, in the first 6-8 inches after your duodenum leaves your stomach. There is a valve that mostly prevents any backflow of anything that did reach your ascending colon from even entering your small intestine. And even if it did get into the terminal ileum (the end part of your small intestine), it would still be many feet away from where your bile duct empties.

I appreciate all the comments. However, my question was about colon cleanse Products such as pills and powders. I should have been more specific. After reading the posts, I have decided it would be a waste of money and not deliver the results I am seeking, ie better health.  Thanks for the comments, some humorous and some helpful.