Flax Seeds in Small Bowl

Your colon is your large intestine and it is your own personal waste management system for your body.  It is here that toxins can either healthily be removed or a clogged and unhealthy colon will allow the toxins to buildup.  You can easily modify your diet to create a healthier environment for your colon.  By eating the correct foods, you will be eliminating debris from your colon naturally.  If you are recurrently suffering from bacterial and fungal infections, your colon may be to blame!

Fiber

Fiber is extremely important when it comes to your colon.  Fiber can naturally be found in green leafy vegetables, fruits, beans, seeds, nuts and whole grain foods.  By eating a high-fiber diet, you’ll be supporting a healthier digestive system.  The fiber gets rid of negative debris from your colon as if it was being swept out by a broom.  Both soluble and insoluble fiber is important to your diet.  Soluble fiber increases valuable bacteria, producing natural antibiotics to eliminate harmful bacteria, such as Salmonella and E-Coli.

At the top of the list for a health colon-friendly diet are flax seeds and oats.  They are high in both soluble and insoluble fiber.  Just one tablespoon of flax seeds contains four to six grams of fiber!  Other good foods in this category include beans, peas, rice, barley, citrus, strawberry and apples.  You can get a good amount of insoluble fiber by eating whole wheat, rye, brown rice, barley, cabbage, beets, carrots, brussels sprouts, turnips, cauliflower and apples (with the skin).

Think Green!

Green foods are an excellent source of health for your colon!  Alfalfa, wheatgrass, barley grass, spirulina and blue-grass algae are excellent choices.  These are all ideal foods for cleansing the colon naturally.  In addition to cleansing, these types of foods can also soothe and heal damaged tissue in the digestive tract, helping the body to obtain oxygen while drawing out toxins.

Water

Water is your next best friend when it comes to cleansing your colon naturally.  Water is very important to keeping our bodies lubricated and working properly.  Did you know that the human body is made up of 80 % water?  That’s a lot of water!  We need water to keep our vital organs working properly, but also to keep our joints lubricated and to make sure everything is functioning properly.  You should be drinking plenty of water throughout the day and it should be your beverage of choice before anything else.

Those suffering from an insufficient amount of water tend to be constipated and have high toxicity levels in their bowels.  Drink anywhere from six to ten glasses of healthy water a day.

Conclusion

Eat a diet high in healthy fiber and drink plenty of water.  By eating lots of green leafy vegetables and eating healthy fruit, you’ll be doing a good job keeping your colon clean of debris and toxins.

Suggested Reading

• Colon Cancer and Your Diet
• How can you Cleanse your Colon to Remove Candida?
• The Best Colon Detox Menu
• How can you safely cleanse your colon?
• Losing Weight Through a Colon Cleansing Diet and Program
• What are probiotics?
• What is a colonic?
• Why is Fiber so Important for Your Colon?
• How Can Foods Heal Your Colon
• What is colon disease?

Young woman eating yogurt

Your body is susceptible to many different kinds of bacteria.

This bacteria can create extensive problems for you colon and your digestive system in ways such as diarrhea, irritable bowel syndrome or even ulcers.  Some of these conditions can be counteracted or at least improved if you have some healthy bacteria.  This healthy bacteria can be in the form of probiotics.

Probiotics are dietary supplements or foods that contain beneficial or good bacteria, which is like the bacteria normally found in your body.

Probiotics can be taken as a vitamin supplement or they can be found in such foods as yogurt, fermented and unfermented milk, some juices and soy drinks.  As colon and digestive health has become so popular, there are now specific foods that contain probiotics, such as Dannon’s Activia yogurt.

Research has been shown that probiotics may help:

• Treat diarrhea, especially following treatment with certain antibiotics
• Prevent and treat vaginal yeast infections and urinary tract infections
• Treat irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)
• Reduce bladder cancer recurrence
• Shorten the duration of intestinal infections
• Prevent and treat inflammation following colon surgery
• Prevent eczema in children

Additionally, probiotics are vital to proper development of the immune system, to protection against microorganisms that could cause disease, and to the digestion and absorption of food and nutrients.  For example, when you take antibiotics, you are essentially ridding your body of all of the bacteria.  In turn this may rid you of good bacteria, while on antibiotics you may become more susceptible to yeast infections, diarrhea or cramping.  In using a probiotic, you may be able to counterbalance the bacteria and stay healthy.

You can obtain probiotics mostly from your foods, as explained above mostly dairy products of yogurt and milk.  However, you can also buy probiotics in tablet or powder form.

Probiotics are sustainable within your body. Once they are ingested, in whatever form, they will sustain themselves in your intestine until they are destroyed by antibiotics or some other matter.  There is no recommended daily intake of probiotics, especially since they are able to sustain for longer periods of time than a normal medication may be able to.

Probiotics can be given to children and infants.  In fact, some of the baby formulas may already contain probiotics.

There are many kinds of probiotics that may have different benefits.  Depending on the type of probiotic, you will have to determine the best time of day to take them.  Some may be taken before meals, some at bedtime and some with water.  For example if the probiotics are taken before eating, they may not be ingested in the right time to be actually implanted in the intestinal tract.  To learn this, you will either read the directions on the supplements you purchase or you can consult your physician for the right direction for you.

Suggested Reading

• Herbs that Naturally Cleanse Parasites
• What are common colon problems that you can experience?
• How Do Pumpkin Seeds Cleanse Parasites?
• Supplements for Colon Cleansers
• The Colon Health Diet
• When is a Candida cleanse needed and how do you do it?
• How do intestinal parasites cause digestive issues?
• What is a colonic?
• Why is Fiber so Important for Your Colon?
• What causes colon problems?

So now you know what the colon is, what exactly is a colonic and why would you need one?

A colonic is a flush of water into the rectum to cleanse and flush the colon.  To do this, a colon therapist will insert a speculum and plastic hose into the anus.  Through this hose, warm filtered water will be slowly released.  The water will cause the muscles of the colon to contract and push feces out through the hose.  The feces are accumulated in a closed waste system to be disposed of.

During the treatment, the therapist may lightly massage the abdominal area to help move the process along.  After the session, you will be able to sit properly on the toilet to remove any extra water or feces.  The whole procedure typically takes from 45 minutes to an hour.

Unfortunately, there are some side effects; one of the biggest may be embarrassment, as this is an awkward procedure.  During the procedure, you may have discomfort in the abdomen, while the water is flushing through your colon.  After the procedure, you may experience nausea and fatigue, as this is somewhat stressful on the body.  As a warning, if you are pregnant, you should not have this procedure.  Further, if you have colon diseases such as Crohn’s, diverticulitis or ulcers, you should also not have this procedure done.

You can have a colonic performed by a trained doctor or nurse; however, as this may be considered an alternative medical treatment, you may want to see a colon specialist.  In particular, there are hydro therapists that specialize in performing this procedure.

In preparation for the procedure, the day before it is recommended that you eat light, usually fruits and vegetables are best.  On the day of your colonic you need to continue to eat light or not at all.  You cannot eat food or drink water one to two hours before your colonic.

The purpose of a colonic is to remove accumulated waste from the colon, prevent constipation and to improve overall health.  It is thought that feces can accumulate in the colon and harden creating more problems, such as constipation.  Further, it is believed that a build-up in the colon can prevent the body from being able to get the nutrients it needs.

However, there are many disputes within the medical profession as to whether colonics are useful or necessary.  The colon can be cleansed and constipation can be prevented in a more natural way, such as increasing fiber in your diet and eliminating excess sugar.

Suggested Reading

• How Safe Is Colon Cleansing?
• How can you Cleanse your Colon to Remove Candida?
• The Colon Health Diet
• What is an enema?
• What are probiotics?
• Why is Fiber so Important for Your Colon?
• How Can Foods Heal Your Colon
• What is colon disease?

Fruits and Vegetables

Fiber is often classified into two categories, insoluble and soluble.  If it is insoluble, it does not dissolve in water.  If it does dissolve in water, it is soluble fiber.

So what does that mean to you?

You should eat a variety of high fiber foods, soluble and insoluble.  Insoluble fiber promotes the movement of material through your digestive system and increases bulk.  This can help with constipation of irregular bowel movements.  The foods that contain insoluble fiber are foods containing whole wheat flour, wheat bran, along with nuts and vegetables.

As fruits are mostly water-based foods, they are soluble fiber.  With this kind of fiber, the food actually dissolves in water and forms a gel-like material.  This can help lower cholesterol and lower blood glucose levels.  The best foods for soluble fiber are peas, beans, apples, citrus fruits and carrots.

Fiber has many benefits, especially relating to colon health:

• Prevents constipation:  fiber helps in two ways.  It can increase the weight and size of your stool and soften it, making it easier to pass.  In the alternative, if you have diarrhea, fiber can help solidify stool.

• Reduces the risk of digestive problems:  A high fiber diet can lower your risk of hemorrhoids, irritable bowel syndrome and diverticulitis.

Fiber has other health benefits, including:

• Lowering cholesterol:  soluble fiber found mostly in beans, oats or flaxseed can help lower your LDL levels (or the bad cholesterol).

• Helps control blood sugar:  fiber will slow the absorption of sugar, hence improving blood sugar levels.

• Helps with weight loss:  a high-fiber diet tends to make a meal feel larger and linger longer, so you stay full for a greater amount of time. And high-fiber foods tend to be lower in calories than other foods, such as foods high in sugar.

• May reduce risk of colon cancer:  There is evidence that a high fiber diet may help lower the risk of colon cancer; however, your best bet is still to undergo regular colon cancer screenings.

Eating fiber can be an easy way to keep your colon healthy.  In having a healthy diet, you are less likely to have digestive problems, stomach problems or bowel movement problems.  And in changing your diet, you may be able to lose weight and lower your cholesterol.  In adding just a few things to your diet, you will be making tremendous progress.

Suggested Reading

• The Colon Health Diet
• What are probiotics?
• What is a colonic?
• How Can Foods Heal Your Colon
• What is colon disease?

Blackberries

One of the best techniques for thoroughly and healthily healing your colon is to watch what you’re putting into your belly.  There are several different approaches to colon cleansing through food.  You must choose the healthiest choice, which fits your particularly individual lifestyle.

Lack of certain types of foods will help to clear out your colon.  This is referred to as fasting.  Some experts refer to this part of a colon cleanser as a detox phase.  This method typically refers to being on a juice diet for approximately one week.  Some people will stay on a juice fast for two to three weeks, but this is a matter of personal preference.  You can typically use either fruit juices or vegetable juices or a combination of both.  Most people cannot handle the thought of going on a pure juice fast for a week, let alone a couple of days.

The best foods to stick to when cleansing your colon and detoxifying your body are foods that are packed full of fiber, like whole grain foods and green leafy vegetables.  These types of foods are naturally packed full of fiber.  Flax seed is especially good for colon cleansing and can be added to cereals, drinks and yogurt.  Make sure you eat plenty of fresh green leafy vegetables, such as spinach, broccoli and salad greens.

Fruit is absolutely delicious when it comes to cleansing the colon for healing.  Blackberries are an excellent choice!  They have eight grams of fiber per cup!  This type of natural fiber does wonders for cleansing and healing the colon naturally.  Prunes and prune juice are also very beneficial and an age-old cure for constipation!  Since constipation prevention is part of colon cleansing, you should be able to see why you would benefit from eating prunes and drinking prune juice.

By choosing the correct foods and liquids to eat throughout your colon cleansing, you will be choosing a healthy diet that will benefit your entire body.  Don’t forget to drink plenty of water, at least six to eight glasses of water a day.  For added benefit, try adding 1 to 2 teaspoons of apple cider vinegar to each glass of water.  This will also help to release additional water retention from the body and to cleanse and detoxify the whole body.  Apple cider vinegar is excellent for getting rid of fungi and other infections and is overall healthy for everyone.  It is somewhat of an acquired taste, but if you eat vinegar-based salad dressings, you can get used to drinking vinegar water.

Finally, make sure you are getting plenty of regular exercise.  Exercise is an important component to not only losing weight and staying healthy, but also for cleansing the colon and ensuring that the body is working correctly.

Suggested Reading

• How To Cleanse The Colon
• How Safe Is Colon Cleansing?
• The use of Psyllium Husk for Colon Cleansing
• How can you Cleanse your Colon to Remove Candida?
• Avoiding Colon Cleansing Trials
• How can you safely cleanse your colon?
• The Colon Health Diet
• General Tips for Colon Cleansing
• Losing Weight Through a Colon Cleansing Diet and Program
• What are probiotics?

First, what is the colon?

The colon is a tube shaped structure that goes from the where the small intestine ends and extends down to the anus.  In an adult, it measures approximately 5 feet long.  The job of the colon is to remove water and nutrients from your food and store the rest as waste, moving it out of your system.

There are four main diseases of the colon, including Diverticulitis, ulcercerative colitis, Crohn’s disease and polyps.  Although they all affect your colon and your digestion, you may experience different symptoms for each condition.

Diverticulitis occurs when pockets inside the colon bulge outward and the pockets become infected.  The most common symptoms of diverticulitis is abdominal pain and tenderness along the left side of the lower abdomen.  Additionally, if this condition advances to a severe infection, which is possible, you can have a fever, nausea, vomiting and cramping.  These symptoms can become severe if your infection increases without treatment.

The treatment for diverticulitis is likely a high fiber diet to help improve your waste elimination and pain medications.  If the condition is serious, it may require a surgery.  Diverticulitis can be caused by constipation and may have some genetic factors.

Ulcerative colitis is another disease that causes inflammation and sores.  These sores are called ulcers.  An ulcer occurs when inflammation kills the cells that line the colon.  The ulcers can bleed and produce pus inside your body.  These symptoms are similar to Crohn’s disease, so it may be a problem to diagnose between the two.  Ulcers may also be hereditary or can also be stress related or related to other medical conditions.

The most common symptom for ulcerative colitis is abdominal pain and bloody diarrhea.  You can develop this condition at any age, but it can usually start at ages 15 to 30 or 50 to 70.  The treatment for colitis depends on the severity and usually includes drug therapy, usually surgery is not required.

Similarly with Crohn’s disease, you develop inflammation usually is the lower part of the small intestine.  The symptoms of Crohn’s are abdominal pain in the lower right abdomen and diarrhea, similar to ulcerative colitis.  The treatment again is usually drug therapy and possible nutritional vitamins or supplements.  And as always, surgery is a possibility as the condition advances.

Finally, another colon disease you can develop is polyps.  Polyps are abnormal growths that develop throughout the body.  These polyps are not visible and usually aren’t detected until you are checking for some other condition or problem you are having.  However, there are symptoms, which include bleeding from the anus or blood in the stool.  Some polyps may be found to be cancerous.  To remove a polyp, you usually will have to undergo a surgical procedure.

Suggested Reading

• What causes colon problems?
• The Colon Health Diet
• What are probiotics?
• What is a colonic?
• Why is Fiber so Important for Your Colon?
• How Can Foods Heal Your Colon