You hear ads for it on the radio, there are hundreds of websites devoted to it, and the word “colon” is becoming main stream. The fundamental problem with colon cleansing is that it has many definitions. Colon cleansing in the medical literature has been around for decades, specifically defined as the use of different medical products for use as a bowel preparation – a way to rid the colon of feces for a surgical procedure or colonoscopy. Yet society has now established multiple definitions for the term colon cleansing.
Colon cleansing may mean the use of laxatives, enemas or supplemental fibers. Depending on the websites, the authors backgrounds and the products sold - you may see, hear or read different descriptions of colon cleansing. In this article I will try to give an overview on colon cleansing, briefly discuss each type, and discuss some of the pros and cons of the various methods.
Colon cleansing is a term I define as "any mechanism used to decrease the colonic transit time, or the time it takes feces to move through the colon." To summarize, when we swallow food it goes through the esophagus into the stomach. The stomach breaks down the food into a creamy substance called chyme with the help of enzymes. The liquid chyme passes into the small intestine, where it mixes with bile made from the liver. Throughout the length of the small intestine we absorb nutrients from the food - that is the small intestine's job. Towards the end of small intestine, the bile gets reabsorbed and the leftovers enter the colon. The colon's job is to re-absorb water from the waste, allowing us to conserve fluid and prevent dehydration. The right side or ascending colon gets the liquid stool from the small intestine, and as the stool continues through the colon it becomes more solid until it gets concentrated in the rectum. Normal colon transit time is anywhere from 40 to 72 hours in adults. Women have slightly longer colonic transit time than men.
So now that you have an overview on how the system actually works, we can analyze the different mechanisms that will increase colonic transit time.
Colon Cleansing -L-type
