{"id":1535,"date":"2020-11-03T12:36:21","date_gmt":"2020-11-03T12:36:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tghd.flipside-staging.com\/?p=1535"},"modified":"2023-02-28T16:30:18","modified_gmt":"2023-02-28T16:30:18","slug":"colon-cleanses-why-i-wouldnt-recommend-them","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theguthealthdoctor.com\/colon-cleanses-why-i-wouldnt-recommend-them","title":{"rendered":"Colon cleanses: why I wouldn&#8217;t recommend them"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"\">Colonic irrigation (or hydrotherapy) is essentially flushing out your bowel with water. You might have seen claims that having a colon cleanse can magically eliminate toxins, get rid of all your gut issues and even help you lose lots of weight from waste that&#8217;s supposedly just sitting there in your colon&#8230; But this is just not the case!<\/p>\n<p class=\"\"><strong>There is no scientific evidence to suggest any health benefits of colon cleanses.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"\">While it&#8217;s true your body is faced with common toxins every day, rest assured the professionals (aka your liver, kidneys and other organs) are constantly working to keep you healthy.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">As these &#8216;cleanses&#8217; are done in private clinics, they&#8217;re not well regulated and could also lead to side effects in some people, such as stomach pain, bloating, and other gut issues &#8211; or even more severely, dehydration, infection (it may wash out some of your good bacteria too) and punctured bowel. So be wary of the overinflated claims.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">If you want to look after your body so it&#8217;s well-equipped for its own detoxification, instead focus on eating a balanced, varied diet rich in fibre and plant-based goodness, and take it easy on the alcohol and other substances. No fancy or expensive procedures or &#8216;detoxes&#8217; needed! That way, your detoxifying organs can work magic (the science-based kind) of their own.<\/p>\n<h4><strong>What if you suffer from constipation? <\/strong><\/h4>\n<p class=\"\">There&#8217;s no doubt colon cleanses can relieve constipation in the short term by flushing you out just like a laxative would. BUT, because it doesn&#8217;t treat the cause of constipation, the stats show you&#8217;ll be bunged back up in no time and looking for your next &#8216;fix&#8217;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">In severe cases of constipation, self-administered anal irrigation may be recommended, but that&#8217;s not only very different to colon cleanses (used to stimulate the bowel vs. flushing you out with litres), but it&#8217;s only recommended in very few clinical cases.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">If constipation is getting the better of you, check out my book <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguthealthdoctor.com\/books\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Eat Yourself Healthy &amp; Love Your Gut<\/a> for strategies with ACTUAL evidence behind them.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\"><strong>References<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Acosta and Cash, The American Journal of Gastroenterology, 2009: <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/19724266\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong><em>Clinical Effects of Colonic Cleansing for General Health Promotion: A Systematic Review<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Ernst, The International Journal of Clinical Practice, 2010: <a href=\"https:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/full\/10.1111\/j.1742-1241.2009.02166.x\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em>Colonic irrigation: therapeutic claims by professional organisations, a review<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Mishori et al, The Journal of Family Practice, 2011: <a href=\"http:\/\/e-lactancia.org\/media\/papers\/ColonLimpieza-FamPrac2011.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em>The dangers of colon cleansing<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"\">NHS, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nhs.uk\/common-health-questions\/nhs-services-and-treatments\/does-colonic-irrigation-have-any-health-benefits-and-is-it-available-on-the-nhs\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em>Does colonic irrigation have any health benefits and is it available on the NHS?<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Colonic irrigation (or hydrotherapy) is essentially flushing out your bowel with water. You might have seen claims that having a colon cleanse can magically eliminate toxins, get rid of all your gut issues and even help you lose lots of weight from waste that&#8217;s supposedly just sitting there in your colon&#8230; But this is just&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":1536,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49,30],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1535","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gut-issues","category-myth-busting"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Colon cleanses: why I wouldn&#039;t recommend them | The Gut Health Doctor<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theguthealthdoctor.com\/colon-cleanses-why-i-wouldnt-recommend-them\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Colon cleanses: why I wouldn&#039;t recommend them | The Gut Health Doctor\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Colonic irrigation (or hydrotherapy) is essentially flushing out your bowel with water. 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