Fiber Colon Cleanse

Many fiber colon cleanse made many types of claims that purport to clean out your digestive tract. Dubbed "internal cleansers," they range from teas, powders, and herbal capsules to fiber pills and enemas or even clay to "help sweep debris from your colon." They're widely available over the Internet and at health-food stores, and to some extent in ordinary supermarkets and drugstores.

Is there anything to cleansers' claims that they can increase your body's "performance" by ridding your system of environmental toxins, unfriendly bacteria, or crusted food waste that has lingered too long in the intestine? Despite intuitive logic that might suggest "yes"--after all, food and bacteria do mingle in the intestinal tract for hours at a time--the answer is a firm "no."

"Your GI tract cells turn over every 3 days," says Robert Russell, MD, a gastroenterologist at the Human Nutrition Research Center at Tufts. That's too fast for any "crusting" of food to take place. And your body already has its own "avenues of defense" against toxins, according to John Watkins, MD, a gastroenterologist at the Tufts-affiliated New England Medical Center. Bacteria naturally present in the colon metabolize and detoxify foods, while mucous membranes lining the intestinal wall block unwanted substances from entering other tissues. The liver, too, works non-stop to neutralize potentially harmful compounds.

Strong Laxatives-With Unwanted Effects Many so-called cleansers are nothing more than laxatives. They often describe their benefits in terms of an increase in bowel movements--as many as two to three a day for "enhanced elimination." But there's no such ideal schedule in medical terms. The normal frequency of bowel movements can range anywhere from three times a day to three times a week.

What's more, you could be harming yourself by overdoing it with a laxative "cleanse." For example, herbal bowel cleansers and dieters' teas can contain powerful plant-derived laxatives such as senna, cascara sagrada, aloe, rhubarb root, or buckthorn. According to the Food and Drug Administration, using a product that's too strong for your system could cause several days' worth of diarrhea--with nausea, stomach cramps, and vomiting. Chronic overuse could lead to fainting, dehydration, and electrolyte disorders, or eventually compromise colon function.

Many of the cleansing regimens we reviewed acknowledge some of these effects but advise users to ignore symptoms like gas, cramps, headache, or GI discomfort. Other products dismiss flu-like symptoms, dizziness, and even passing strings of mucous as signs g that you are "detoxifying." But cramps and dizziness could be signs that you're becoming dehydrated. And strings of mucous, which Dr. Watkins explains are the intestine's response to stimulation, are evidence that the body views the cleanser as a "potentially noxious" substance and is trying to get rid of it.