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Gastroenterology and Health

Purging the bowels

The Fallacy of Colonic Cleansing

By Dr. W. Gifford Jones

January 14, 2001

Why didn't they teach me this treatment at The Harvard Medical School? It could have saved my patients and me a lot of headaches. A simple procedure that helps every disease in the book. But can colonic irrigation accomplish all these things? And is there a dangerous downside?

Several readers have seen web sites advocating this practice and wonder about its benefits. So I clicked into the internet to see what's offered. And there's plenty to entice the unsuspecting medical consumer.

Ads selling colonic kits claim that Marilyn Monroe and Princess Di spent thousands a year purging their bowels. It's puzzling why these troubled celebrities would be chosen as examples of the beneficial effects of colonic irrigation. This alone should make any intelligent person run for the woods.

But's human preoccupation with the large bowel is nothing new. The ancient Egyptians believed that stagnation, decay and disease originated in the colon. And centuries later this obsession continues to thrive.

I was a victim of this anal fetish years ago. My Mother's advice was often right. But in this case my Mother was dead wrong. She had the notion that forcing castor oil down my throat every Saturday night was a healthy practice. I rebelled against it even then.

This universal fear of "autointoxication" and the desire for a good clean-out has made laxative companies rich. And it has ruined untold numbers of normal colons.

Colonic irrigation is not like a standard enema. Rather, it involves the insertion of a tube into the rectum and a long way into the large bowel. Then large quantities of water, either continuously or by giving successive irrigation, are pumped in.

The water contains a variety of additives. The usual ones include soap suds, coffee, coffee grounds, and herbs. But it can also include a whole list of potentially irritating substances.

Several of the web sites I investigated, and the claims they made, reminded me of the old snake oil salesman of the past. He could cure everything, supposedly, and so can colonic irrigation.

A typical site asks, "Do you look and feel older than you are? Do you know that a colonic high irrigation improves skin and muscle tone and decreases aging. And that it can ease sinusitis, poor eyesight and poor memory." The list goes on and on.

Another claims it will ease the discomfort of weak, stiff and painful joints. That it will eliminate moodiness and fatigue and you will enjoy increased energy. And if your waistline is getting bigger a single purging will remove 2 to 4 pounds.

If this doesn't open your pockekbook then other claims will, that without purging some food may stay in the colon for months or years putrefying and then poisoning your body. And that this may result in cancer of the colon.

An old saying warned that "When sometimes seems too good to be true, that's usually the case." And there's no medical evidence that colonic purging cures anything or is even a sound practice.

Rather, pumping anywhere from a few pints to a few gallons of fluid into the bowel can be dangerous. Nausea and diarrhea may occur. Illness and death can result from blood poisoning, known as septicemia, due to contaminated equipment. And it can destroy normal bowel function.

Death can also occur from disturbances in the fluid balance of the body due to electrolyte depletion. But in addition to these physiological problems the colon can be perforated, a very serious complication.

Why do people subject themselves to this procedure? Some believe themselves "tainted" or "soiled" in some way. Or as The National Council Against Health Fraud says, "Colonics is a kind of Dr. Feelgood quackery, a procedure that elicits a feeling in a patient which is interpreted as beneficial."

My advice is to quickly delete these web sites. And then click on some common sense to keep a healthy colon. Advice that's sorely needed by many people in this country.

In my office I see damaging bowel habits every day. Patients who on examination have hard rock-like stools in the lower bowel.

These patients don't require colonic irrigation. Rather, they need to drink more water and increase the amount of fiber in their diet. Fiber holds onto water making bowel movements bulky and soft as toothpaste.

This helps to promote normal peristaltic movements of the bowel. I've written before that if your stools don't float, you're not getting sufficient fiber. The best routine to start is to toss out the sugar cereals and switch to high fiber ones. Them watch the toilet bowl to see the results.


W. Gifford-Jones M.D is the pen name of Dr. Ken Walker graduate of Harvard. Dr. Walker's website is: Docgiff.com

My book, �90 + How I Got There� can be obtained by sending $19.95 to:

Giff Holdings, 525 Balliol St, Unit # 6,Toronto, Ontario, M4S 1E1

Pre-2008 articles by Gifford Jones
Canada Free Press, CFP Editor Judi McLeod