Perhaps you’ve heard about all natural colon cleanses that cure your body by ridding toxins and built up waste in your system. Usually these colon cleansing systems are touted as miracle cures for everything from Irritable Bowel Syndrome to Crohn’s Disease to even cancers. Unfortunately the truth is that there is no ultimate or best colon cleansing program & in fact most are downright frauds.
How can you detect if a company is trying to scam you with their colon cleansing product?
Well the first question is to ask yourself if you really need to “clean your colon”? The truth is that your body does not normally build up waste that then sticks to the walls of your intestines for years and years, that is a lie. There are conditions that can lead to retaining fecal matter and it becoming impacted or turning into fecalomas(hardened fecal matter), this is usually the result of a serious medical condition and needs to solved by a medical professional. In fact taking a high fiber or stimulating laxative, such as a colon cleanse will probably do more harm than good for people in this situation. So ultimately, if you have a normal intestinal tract, it will not horde poo. If your system is slow at moving stool(typical constipation) then there are better methods(soluable/insoluable fiber, yogurts, juices, magnesium, licorice root) than harsh colon cleanses. If your system truly is blocked then you need to seek medical attention immediately.
What is in a colon cleansing program?
What manufacturers do not want you to know is that essentially what you’re getting are basic fibers, minerals & herbs that have laxative qualities. Some even put cheap gums or gelatin like substances(guar gum, xanthan gum,agar or Carrageenan), which can cause distress for people who don’t tolerate these products. Sometimes you will even find things such as earthen clays mixed in. Usually colon cleansing websites fail to disclose their actual ingredients list or make it extremely difficult to find it. This alone should be a warning sign.
How safe are colon cleansing products?
While most colon cleanse products like to tout that they are “all natural”, “safe for anyone”, & “no interactions with other drugs”, this is again a lie. There can be serious health effects caused by going through a colon cleanse. Basic concerns are things like dehydration & loss of nutrients. If there are certain minerals like magnesium added, this can cause problems for people who are susceptible to kidney, liver or heart problems. Taking medication and then flushing your system is a bad idea as you’re essentially flushing your medication through your body along with everything else. In many cases you should make sure you take any prescribed medications hours before or after taking a colon cleansing product. People who already have issues with chronic diarrhea or have other digestive issues such as Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Crohn’s Disease or diverticulitis should be especially wary of taking a product that, in most cases, will only make their symptoms worse. If you have heart, liver, kidney problems or diabetes you could put yourself in grave danger by voluntarily inducing diarrhea like these products do. If you do take a colon cleansing & have a major health condition you MUST get the entire ingredients list and cross reference it with any medication you are taking to ensure they will not conflict. Last thing you want to find out is that some random herb or mineral is blocking your heart medication.
Since most colon cleanse products are listed as being “supplements” they are not regulated or tested buy the FDA. In all likelihood they haven’t been extensively tested before being released to market.
Are these companies trustworthy?
No they are not. Many colon cleansing product companies have been known to fake testimonials, reviews & even create fake gross-out pictures of their product clearing out “years of waste”. The truth is that in many cases these pictures are either completely made-up or are the dramatic result of the product’s ingredients being excreted, not any actual toxic build-up being removed. Many blogs or websites that promote colon cleansing products are affiliates of the company which means they are getting a cut of each sale. When someone is getting 15 – 20% off of each sale, wouldn’t you think that might lead to a bit of bias? Sites that aren’t directly controlled by a company or it’s affiliates might be inundated with spam. If you are on opinion or review sites, check how long the person who left the review has been a member. In many cases you will find that the person only joined to post a positive review of said product, which is very concerning. For some examples, here are some positive and less than positive Amazon.com reviews for the Dr Natura Colonix program 
Are these products worth the price?
No. The ingredients in colon cleanses are cheap. You can get psyllium husk, magnesium or things like licorice root extremely cheap on your own. It’s not uncommon to find things being advertised for $80 when you could by the supplements at retail for around $20 – $25. It’s a HUGE markup. They may claim they are using higher quality ingredients or they have more overhead. However the majority of their overhead is in advertising not in the quality or efficacy of their product.
Overall the goal here is to make you aware that in many cases these companies do not have your best interest in mind and are out to make a quick buck on a cheap product sold at a high mark-up to people who are desperate.
Buyer Beware.
The other problem with these colon cleansing products is that they don’t address what’s really going on with IBS and other chronic digestive problems. If you look at the work of Dr. John Sarno, Dr. Robert Scaer and other forward-thinking scientists, they have found there’s a huge mind-body connection in IBS, back pain, fibromyalgia and other chronic conditions that is completely overlooked by most of the medical profession. Sarno and Scaer have had success with thousands of patients by addressing the way the brain processes tension and trauma, rather than focussing on the location of the pain and symptoms (they don’t use drugs for this.) This would explain why approaches like cognitive behavioural therapy, hypnotherapy, Somatic Experiencing, and EFT or acupressure tapping for IBS can have positive permanent results in ending symptoms.
Definitely the mind and body have a link/bond between the two and one can affect the other. I am not sold completely that feedback/meditation/mental condition/hypnotherapy will help all or even most people suffering from IBS. I do feel that probably a lot of people can benefit and some will be cured by these therapies. My theory is that there is an imbalance somewhere in the body that needs to be corrected, but may not be able to be corrected by the body itself. This could be a mental imbalance perhaps, but I do feel there are physiological reasons for IBS. My pet theory is a bacterial imbalance where different people require different strains of probiotics in their gut for it to function properly. Not just generic strains that you get off the store shelves, but essentially what you were born with or developed early on.
Usually people with IBS will cite a physiological trauma or illness that brought on their symptoms and I have a feeling this is where the imbalance begins, with the body unable to create the harmony it needs and unable to obtain the specific bacterial strains because we our bodies are no longer at the stage where we can develop them. There may be other factors that would cause you to be more susceptible like auto-immune diseases. This may be why physical therapies by hook worms are successful for people with allergies, Crohn’s Disease or IBS. This also might explain why Fecal Transplanation is helpful, because you have a huge ecosystem of bacterial strains being replenished instead of just a handful with modern probiotic supplements.
It’s not really a mental imbalance that causes the trouble. What causes it is the survival brain’s response to a physical or emotional trauma that overloads the system.
What I understand Dr. Scaer to be saying is that the “freeze” reaction of the limbic system to trauma is what triggers the IBS symptoms. This is what leads to the imbalance in the body. After a “freeze” response (as opposed to “fight” or “flight”), the autonomic nervous system goes into dysregulation which makes the GI system switch on and off in an exaggerated way in response to any later reminders of the trauma(s).
I think it’s also important for people to do some detective work with their own health history. As Gabriel said, there can be an imbalance in the body that needs to be addressed. Often the bowel environment needs to be restored with probiotics and L-glutamine and other bowel healers because of antibiotic use. Food allergies are another factor. Also, parasites can trigger IBS-like symptoms, and they can recur months after you think you’ve solved the problem (because parasites go through an active and a dormant cycle.)
So there are a lot of factors. But from what I’ve seen, the people who get the best results in solving their bowel problems deal with both the physical issues AND the trauma-based issues(whether the trauma is caused by an accident or other physical danger or by an emotional situation.)