Young Woman Eating a Pear

The colon is in charge of elimination of waste.  It is thought that as your colon works to digest all the bad foods that we eat, it is unable to digest everything.  This causes a build-up.  This build-up produces toxins or bad bacteria, which can enter further into the body through the blood circulation causing even more problems.  Therefore, the colon can be overtaxed and in need of a thorough cleansing.  However, a colon cleanse does not have to be drastic, such as an enema or a starvation diet.

There is a simple way to cleanse your body and begin a healthy diet at the same time.

This type of cleansing starts with eating all raw, frozen, or lightly steamed fruits and veggies.  Drink only water, raw fruit juices or green tea.  And eliminate breads, pasta, dairy products, meat, coffee and alcohol.

While normally with a diet, you are told what to eat with a colon cleanse, it is helpful to tell you what not to eat.  In the beginning, you should spend at least a week beginning to eliminate foods.

These foods and beverages are vital to cleansing your colon.  You should immediately eliminate the following:

• Alcohol
• Caffeine
• Candy and chocolate
• Soft drinks
• Sweeteners (sugar, fructose, dextrose, and artificial sweeteners)
• Processed foods
• Deep fried foods

In simply making these small changes, you may start to feel better including more energized and even healthier.

The next step is to add in the right foods.  The best foods you can eat are all organic fruits and vegetables.  Fruits are a great option, as they contain both soluble and insoluble fiber.  The inside of the fruit is soluble and the skin is insoluble.  Therefore, the best fruits you can eat are ones with skin, such as:

• Apples
• Pears
• Raspberries
• Blueberries
• Peaches
• Apricots

When eating vegetables, raw vegetables are usually your best source.  However, you can cook your vegetables, just be sure not to overcook to the point where the vegetables become soft, as they might lose some of the benefits.  Good cooked vegetables are:

• Cabbage
• Broccoli
• Celery
• Corn
• Mushrooms
• Cauliflower
• Onions

And of course, snacks, which are very important to a diet.  There are many healthy snacks that are also high in fiber.  These include:

• Popcorn
• Nuts
• Peanut Butter
• Sunflower seeds

While you may not want to sustain a diet of vegetables and fruit only, you can eat fiber filled cereals such as bran or natural oatmeal.  You can also still eat meat, but possible cut your intake.  You should eat a small piece of meat with the above vegetables and fruits or a salad.  This fiber will help regulate the meat that you are eating.  These changes can help to cleanse your colon and aid with digestion.