Digestive Cleanse Safety

With all the talk of being healthy, or trying to regain and maintain health, many are turning to a digestive cleanse in order to restore balance to their digestive system and thus their bodies as a whole. There are many forms of digestive cleanse that may or may not provide the benefits that one seeks. The digestive cleanse has been around for thousands of years; it is nothing new. Advocates of digestive cleansing claim that it detoxifies the body, cleans the intestines and bowels, and allows for a more beneficial digestive tract that absorbs more nutrients. They claim that afterwards they have feeling of lightness and increased energy levels, they are able to lose weight faster, and they have more regular eating patterns.

One the first forms of digestive cleanse comes from India. The yogis, yoga masters, learned that through fasting and certain exercises, they could clean their system of harmful toxins that may be lingering. Many people even now advocate at least a 3-day fast once every month or two, to allow the body to rid itself of waste. A 3-day diet of only water, while not much of a health risk for those who are already healthy, can pose problems if those problems are already evident. Yogic exercises of the abdomen which consist of sucking in the stomach and "rolling" the abdominal muscles to massage the intestines also naturally helps to eliminate waste and promote a healthy digestive system.

Another form of digestive cleanse is a series of enemas or a colon "wash." This can clean out the large intestines and bowels but care must be taken not to use any toxic chemicals and not to perform this too often as it can lead to irritation, hemorrhoids, or decrease in nutrient absorption.

The most common form of digestive cleanse is an oral solution. There are several natural herbs, fibers, and man-made compounds that are used for this purpose. Among the safest of these are activated charcoal, bentonite clay, psyllium husks, and flax seed. Activated charcoal and bentonite clay work to bind toxins and microbial growth to excrete through regular bowel movements. Psyllium and flax seed are natural fiber laxatives that gently scrape the intestines and mucous linings clean of harmful materials. Laxatives should never be used in large doses or more than twice per week, as they reduce both nutrient absorption and water levels in the body.

Drug-based laxatives and man-made cleansing compounds are exponentially more dangerous than the natural solutions. Introducing chemicals into the body in order to cleanse it is not a good idea and contra-indicative of what it is meant to do. Additionally, it can be easy to overdose on these chemicals and cause more problems than what you are trying to fix. The natural methods are always the best.

Digestive cleansing, while a good idea, can carry associated risks. Always check with your health professional, doctor, or dietitian for advice before performing any of these. It is easy to cause problems with nutrient absorption, vitamin deficiency, and irritation if done in large quantities or too often.