I've read about detox diets, but what about colon cleansers?

I'm thinking about using ColonX.  While I agree that our bodies do a good job of detoxification, I still believe that over years of not making the best eating choices, there could be a benifit in a colon cleanse.  I'm going to try it out, has anyone done it and what are their thoughts on it.  If you don't have any experience, save it!  I'm not interested in your negativity.

Trying to give you the facts rather than an opinion.  ColonX is basically a laxative.  Contains alfalfa... laxative, psyllium husk... fibre, lemon peel ... harmless, wheatgrass... harmless, buckthorn... laxative, turmeric... harmless, peppermint... harmless.  If you're constipated it'll probably help you 'go' again.  If you're not constipated it could make your bowels a little loose.  Drink plenty of water if this happens or you could become dehydrated.

I've read about detox diets, but what about colon cleansers?

equally scamorific.

I clense my colon every morning right after my tea and newspaper.  Nothing other than plenty of fiber in my diet and enough water is needed.

(File this under TMI if you so choose.)

good point, tom.  i'm going to cleanse mine any minute (just had breakfast).

Before you consider a cleanse look at your fibre intake. The RDA for women is a minimum of 25g a day and for men is 30g a day. Some people can tolerate up to 50g, though, but don't exceed that - too much fibre can also cause problems.

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.

So again before you go for the cleanse, PLEASE consider sorting your fibre out first!

Dangers of Colon Cleansing

Thanks lalabanana, that's the kind of information i was looking for!  The earlier posts helped, but yours had some substance to it.

Before you try a detox diet or a colon cleanse, read the Bad Science blog by Dr. Ben Goldacre at www.badscience.net. ; He talks alot about the science behind detoxes and cleanses. Apparently they are totally bogus and a big waste of money.

This might not be relevant but I tried a natural colon cleanse or cleansing product of some kind that I got at a GNC and it killed me! I was burping up the nasty taste and I was weaker than I have ever been. I couldn't eat anything except maybe a vegetable but I couldn't go through with it. I wish I knew what it was called to ward you from it but I know that the GNC sales person warned me of it's intensity.

Don't do it!!!  This is coming from someone who has had a total colectomy due to constipation....I have tried everything!

I have done a GNC brand total body cleanse and a colon cleanse before.  In the end I don't really know what they did for my body, I didn't feel any better, or engergized.  It just lead to a lot of gas and frequent trips to the restroom. 

I will personally never do anything like that again, its really a waste of money.  People have survived hundreds of years without these miracle body cleanses and what have you.  Its natural for the colon to have some fecal build-up in at as some of these products describe.  If you are truely worried about it, just increase your fiber intake, no need to beat a dead horse as everyone has mentioned this above. 

I am by no means in a healthy shape, but I do makesure to meet the RDI of fiber each day.  I start with a bowl of oatmeal and a fiber one bar (35% of your DV of a 2000 cal diet, roughly 10grams of fiber) the oatmeal adds another 6 or so grams. 

Good luck.

I actually bought some "Internal Flush" Flush The Fat pills when I started CC and I really think they helped me.

I agree that if you can do it naturally with real fibers, etc. it's quite a lot better for you, but I (PERSONALLY) didn't have any problems with the pills and the people-in-the-know that I talked to said that if I kept the dosage reasonable (They say you can take as many as 6 pills every night... Seemed a bit excessive to me... I took 3) and used them properly (One should only do a cleanse like this more then once or twice A YEAR.) that there *shouldn't* be any problems.

(Having said that, always remember, any type of supplement effects people differently depending on the individual and there can always BE problems, no matter what!)

Again, I agree... I think your diet should do that stuff for you, all the time, but like you, I had been eating SO poorly for so long that it seemed like a pretty okay idea for a "jump-start." So that's how I used it. And the pills really helped me shed the water-weight I was retaining much more quickly then I probably could have done on my own.

I don't know anything about the brand you're thinking of trying, but for me the other worked very well.

I'm thinking about doing a detox diet or a colon cleansing as well. I never bought into it until lately I felt the low left side of my abdomin...

I CAN FEEL my colons. I can feel the crap thats inside it! Which means its pretty dang constipated because waste usually don't even collect in there unless you are really costipated. I even had my doctor feel it just in case and he brought in a specialist just to make sure because he didn't knw what it was. The other doctor thought it was stools collected in my colon as well.

I need to empty this 5hiz (literally) out! I'm taking a gentle laxative (milk of magnesia) which is gentle an the only thing that worked on me (I never took hardcore laxative so). Laxative tea does nothing to me... lol. prune juice... nope. Tried lots of fiber, water, etc. I'm just going to take MoM for a while until it empties out... sigh. I'm going to th doctors again soon so hopefully it'll be taken care of before then. Otherwise he's going to take a xray and see whats going on.