How to know if your colon needs a cleanse:

The first red flag of an unhealthy colon is constipation. A healthy adult will have two bowel movements every day. The first will be early in the day; this movement should be effortless and quite large (2-4 feet in length). The second movement could be significantly smaller but equally effortless. If you require a lot of time or energy to create a bowel movement, or you find yourself making less than 2 movements a day, you are in need of a cleanse.

With today’s diet options, it has become nearly impossible to eat a proper diet to maintain colon health. Foods with high amounts of fiber have been replaced with high gluten sticky proteins. This coupled with high acidic content of the American diet, creates a thick, pasty glue inside of our intestines. Many examples of this thick paste can be viewed at the site below. Please be warned that the images are graphic and should not be view by people with a weak stomach.

Our digestive system was never designed to handle these types of foods. However, we cannot be expected to stop eating. That is why colon cleansing has become so important. Over time, your colon can become partial blocked, distorted, stressed, or dysfunctional from poor eating habits. Alcohol and drug use also plays a large role in compromising your intestinal health.

There are many products on the market that can help you maintain colon health, some require you to take a pill every single day like OxyPowder – some require only a 7 day treament per season like Almighty Cleanse. Alternatives can require vigorous regimens of fasting and homemade remedies.

Regardless of the product you use, cleansing is vital to your overall health and should be considered by every health conscious individual. A preemptive strike to colon blockage is the best bet, but if you are experiencing severe pain or discomfort related to your colon do not attempt to try a cleanse product, seek the guidance of your doctor first and foremost.

Mason Curry
http://www.newfromnature.com
Mason has been involved in the alternative medicine field for over 6 years.

The colon is our body’s primary waste disposal system. The liver filters out toxins, wastes, and harmful bacteria then sends it along to the colon. The colon moves that waste along, and expels it from our bodies via excrement.

The colon is a very large organ though. Averaging six feet in length, it holds and moves a lot of material through our bodies. And waste material can get clogged in there, and sometimes it can become crusty and hard so that it’s difficult to move forward. This is when problems can occur, because the colon walls are thin. If too much backed up waste material stays in the colon for too long, the toxins and bacteria from that waste can leak back into the system, and cause problems for other major organs.

The colon is similar to a muscle as well. If you don’t have regular bowel movements, and keep things flowing smoothly on a daily basis, the colon can become weaker and thus not be able to move things through and out of your body as effectively.

Many herbalists feel that a healthy person should have at least two good bowel movements each day. And they shouldn’t take any effort either. You should feel the urge to go, sit down and have it happen almost immediately, without strain or pain.

If you’re not having at least two movements each day, or you have to sit and wait awhile, or you have to strain and push to make your bowels move, you’re constipated.

There are many very easy ways to resolve constipation problems though, particularly mild cases of constipation. Let’s look at several natural ways to make sure your bowels move regularly and easily…

1. Fruit juice. Yes plain old apple, grape, or prune juice often does the trick quite nicely. These are the strongest bowel moving juices too. If you just need to keep your bowels moving regularly, you might choose a citrus juice instead such as orange juice or home made lemonade.

2. Fiber. Adding fiber to your diet will help keep the waste moving regularly. Fiber can be added via foods you choose to eat, or you can take fiber supplements instead.

3. Water. Yes water by itself will help keep your bowels moving regularly. But you have to drink enough of it for this to work. In most cases, a good two to three quarts a day will do the trick.

4. Herbal supplements. There are a variety of herbs which will help relive constipation. Some of these work quite quickly, while others may take up to 24 hours. Here’s just a few that work wonders:

- Chickweed: An excellent herb for relieving constipation within a few hours of taking it, this herb also strengthens the stomach and bowels, and helps carry out toxins.

- Slippery Elm: Another wonderful single herb that works for both constipation and diarrhea, because it normalizes the stools while soothing, coating and healing the intestinal tract lining. Slippery Elm should be taken with lots of water to help move it through your system.

- Cascara Sagrada: This is one of the strongest herbal laxatives and it’s commonly added to over the counter medications for use in relieving constipation too. Take an herbal capsule at night with a large glass of water.

Statements made in this article may not be approved by the FDA, and should not be taken as professional medical advice.

If you try to go from a liquid diet straight to regular solid foods, you will get sick. You will vomit, have stomach cramps, and possibly have to go to the hospital. So it’s extremely important to do it right or you will have ruined all the great work you’ve done with your body so far.

The longer your fast, the slower you may have to come out of it. Generally taking things slow and easy does the trick anyway, so keep this in mind when you start coming out of your fast.

Continue drinking your vegetable or fruit juices while breaking your fast. On the first day of breaking it though, have some clear broth soup around lunchtime.

On the second day, continue drinking your juices, and have clear broth again at both lunch and dinner time.

By the third day, you can try having some home made vegetable soup instead of broth, but continue drinking your juices.

On the forth day, you can add a small apple along with your broth and soup. Alternatively try another mild or stewed fruit.

On the fifth day, you should be able to add small amounts of more solid soft foods such as cottage cheese, yogurt and baked potatoes.

If on any day your digestive system does not seem to be sitting well with the foods you’ve eaten, revert back to broth for a meal or two and see how you feel. Some people will need a longer period of time to come out of their fast, and often the longer your fast lasted, the longer you’ll need to take breaking it.

If you try to eat greasy foods too soon particularly, or overly spicy foods, you may get a bit sick. It’s best to work up to bland foods slowly, then add a bit more of your regular foods each day.

It’s important to note though: If you chose to do a fast for weight loss purposes, it is not going to help you much if you simply go back to your same old bad eating habits of before. The same applies to those who do a fast to cleanse their colon or their entire body. Mistreating your body again as soon as you’re finished fasting will make illness and other health problems come back.

Statements made in this article may not be approved by the FDA, and should not be taken as professional medical advice.

There are many types of liquid fasting style programs, and most are touted for being weight loss solutions. Many people try them for the sole purpose of losing ten pounds or so in a week, so they’ll be able to fit into a specific outfit for a special event. Most don’t know though, that liquid diets done properly can help cleanse, tone and heal your entire body.

Drinking fruit or vegetable juices for a week or two will allow your body to start moving wastes and toxins out of your system. The vitamins, minerals and nutrients in the juices are easily absorbed and used by your body, and the additional liquid helps flush your system. The best way to use a juice fast is once or twice a year, for three to seven days, as a cleansing and toning process for your body.

Essentially, the first few days of a juice fast will burn out all the junk. Dead and diseased cells are eliminated faster, and your body is freed up to develop new, healthier cells. Your body’s organs also have more energy to expel built up toxins and waste, because they are freed up to focus on those tasks.

The first few days of a juice fast are not always easy though. You’ll feel hungry, and you need to drink your juices often to help combat the desires for solid food. You should still have the strength to work and exercise normally, but you may experience a bit of dizziness and headaches as the toxins start to flush out of your system. Many people feel much more energetic and mentally sharper during a juice fast than any other time.

A juice fast is best done with 100%, freshly squeezed juice. Buying a juice machine is usually you’re best option, because you’ll be able to ensure you’re not drinking extra preservatives, chemicals, and added sugars.

Your choice of juice fasting is up to you. There are a variety of ways to make fresh vegetable or fruit juices, but it’s best not to mix the two. Try to keep fruit juices at least half an hour apart from vegetable juices for the best results.

Hypoglycemics may need to dilute the fruit juices, and insulin dependent diabetics should work very closely with their doctor when doing a juice fast.

A popular and easy juice fast used for both weight loss and total body cleansing is known as the lemonade diet. This is just a simple lemon drink made with fresh squeezed lemon juice, water, and maple syrup. Lemon juice is quite high in vitamins and minerals, plus it’s excellent for cleansing the kidneys, liver, and colon.

Statements made in this article may not be approved by the FDA, and should not be taken as professional medical advice.

Often when you’re recovering from a disease or severe illness, your recovery will happen much faster if you clean your colon regularly until the illness is gone. And it’s because of this that many people are strong supporters of using enemas and colon flushes. They simply help very sick people get better that much faster.

If you decide to use enemas as part of your alternative healing process, it’s important that you learn how to do them properly and safely before proceding. There are different types of enemas too. The kind most people are aware of involve simply flushing the lower bowel of waste. This helps greatly when you’re constipated, and some women are unable to progress with the birth of a baby when the lower bowel area is too obstructed, so enemas are used to solve this problem.

A high enema however, sometimes referred to as a colonic, is a much more involved process which takes more time, attention and care. These types of enemas attempt to flush the entire five to six feet of the colon. This article won’t go into the full details and instructions for the high enema process, but suffice it to say that the end goal is to fully flush and clean the colon of old built up waste that may be dried, stuck, and formed into stone like material deep within your colon.

Herbal enemas are used to help healing and toning, as well as a treatment during an illness. A garlic enema for instance, will help fight infection in the body, as well as pull mucus and parasites from the colon. It’s also good for general colon cleansing.

Catnip enemas are used to reduce fevers and deal with contagious diseases. Slippery Elm enemas are used to heal scalded colon walls from diarrhea, and helps with hemorrhoids and colitis.

Even Cayenne is used in enemas to help treat and heal bleeding hemorrhoids, and to help stimulate the liver, kidneys, spleen, and pancreas.

If you decide you’d like to try using enemas to help in your body’s cleansing and healing process, be sure to read and research the topic in detail before trying to do it yourself. Alternatively you may find a colonic therapist available in your local area.

Statements made in this article may not be approved by the FDA, and should not be taken as professional medical advice.

Aloe Vera Juice – Aloe vera is quite well known and popular for use on sunburns, and to soften skin. It is actually a contact healer though, which can be used for a variety of problems. Many people don’t know however, that aloe vera juice is a mild laxative. Taken internally it will help your bowels move regularly and can expel pinworms.

Be careful when buying Aloe Vera products however. Many simple “contain” aloe vera along with other harmful chemicals, and if swallowed, they could be poisonous. Only buy 100% aloe vera juice for medicinal uses.

Chaparral – This herb helps cleanse the lower bowel, lymphatic system and liver, plus it tones the peristalitic muscles inside your colon, which are what moves the waste through efficiently.

Cascara Sagrada is another natural herbal laxative which increases the peristaltic actions of the bowels. This herb is considered to be one of the strongest herbal laxatives, but it is not a purgative.

Dandelion – Yes the little yellow weed that grows in your yard is an excellent herb to use for colon cleansing, and toning your entire waste disposal system. Dandelion is one of the best herbs to use for cleaning your liver. It increases the amount of bile made, and increases the flow of bile into your intestines too. Dandelion has been used against hepatitis, which is a liver disease, and it increases activity in both the pancreas and spleen too. This is an excellent herb to use for any colon cleansing regimine.

Yarrow is an herb which helps regulate and tone the liver, and is healing to the entire glandular system. This herb is also used for treating internal and external hemorrhoids.

Yellow Dock is another natural laxative which is sometimes used to treat hepatitis, and to help clear congestion from the liver.

Whether you decide to simply start with an herbal laxative to help your colon start cleansing and toning, or you’d like to treat the entire digestive system with several herbs, these are some of the best ones to start with. A combination of either Dandelion and Cascara Sagrada, or Dandelion and Yellow Dock are usually good places to start cleaning and toning your colon and its related organs.

Statements made in this article may not be approved by the FDA, and should not be taken as professional medical advice.

Changing how you eat is a gentle, gradual, natural approach to cleansing your colon. You don’t neccessarily need to go on a “diet” in the common sense of the word, you simply need to make smarter eating choices. One specific eating change you’ll need though, is to incorporate more fiber into your daily foods.

Fiber can be eaten in a variety of ways. Most people prefer to simply take fiber supplements though, because these are quick and easy ways to get more fiber into your system. There are other, much more healthy ways to do this too though, and many of them only require small changes.

Adding some sort of fresh fruit or vegetable to all of your snacks and meals throughout the day usually provides enough fiber to help start the healing and cleansing process in your colon. And changing the type of breads and carbohydrates you eat will help tremendously as well.

If you eat breakfast cereal in the mornings for instance, you can change to a whole grain style which has more natural fiber in it. Alternatively, or better yet: Additionally, you can add some fresh or dried fruits to your cereal. Raisins and prunes are excellent dried fruit sources which will make your bowels move. Berries, grapes, and bananas are excellent fresh fruit sources to add to your meals. Bananas in fact, will help regulate your bowels. So they help take care of both constipation or diarrhea problems.

If you eat toast or muffins in the morning, change these to a higher fiber version made from whole grain, and also try to add fruit of some kind to your meal. Drinking fruit juice is healthy and can help – Apple and Grape juice are wonderful beverages to help your bowels move – but the actual pulp from the fresh fruits works best.

In the afternoon and evenings, try to add fresh salads or other vegetables to your meals and snacks too. Carrots, leafy lettuce, and raw broccoli for instance, are great ways to easily add fiber to a light lunch salad.

If you prefer something more substantial than a salad for lunch, try adding multiple types of fresh vegetables to your sandwiches, plus use whole grain breads too. Whole grain breads will fill you up much more quickly than plain white bread does, and it gives you much more fiber for cleaning your colon too.

Statements made in this article may not be approved by the FDA, and should not be taken as professional medical advice.

The premise of colon cleansing is simple. Your body disposes of the bulk of it’s waste – including harmful toxins and bacteria – through the colon. When the colon or other organs involved in the waste disposal system of your body are not working properly, sickness occurs.

The liver is the first stage of your body’s waste disposal system, and many people feel it is the most important organ in your body. The liver’s job is to filter out toxins and harmful elements from your system, convert it into bile, and send it on to be transported out of your body. If the liver is damaged, backed up, or not functioning at peak capacity, this can lead to a variety of health problems internally.

The liver sends the bile it creates to the gall bladder, which then passes the waste into the intestines and colon. This is the common problem area for most people today. The colon averages over six feet in length, so a lot of material can be in there at any given time. If the colon gets backed up, damaged, or isn’t working properly, that waste stagnates inside. If left untreated, the waste backed up in your colon can become hard and dry, and over time toxins will start leaking back into your bloodstream through the colon walls. This causes excess stress for your body and other major organs, because you’re essentially being poisoned from inside.

Now keeping the colon and waste disposal system functioning well is simply a matter of keeping things moving well. If you have and easy a bowel movement at least twice each day, you’re more likely to have a healthy colon. If however, you go for one or more days without moving your bowels, or you have to strain and wait for things to happen in the bathroom, there’s a good chance your colon and waste disposal system is not as healthy as it could be.

There are several herbal and alternative ways to help keep your colon clean, healthy and toned. We’ll review each of those in detail with additional articles in this series, but the most common ways to keep your colon clean and healthy is to use enemas or irrigation flushes, herbs which help the liver and colon, and dietary approaches.

Statements made in this article may not be approved by the FDA, and should not be taken as professional medical advice.