4 Myths of Colon Cleansing Revealed

As someone who has benefited from and promotes certain kinds of colon cleansing everyday, I am very familiar with the arguments both for and against colon cleansing. Unfortunately there is a quite a bit of hype on both sides of the colon cleansing world. That can make it difficult to get to a balanced view of the truth about this practice.

I'd like to address 4 points that have become "colon cleansing myths" to help you decide if this practice is something you'd like to experience for yourself.

Myth number 1: "Colon cleansing is a quick fix, cure all remedy." Beware of hype and sensationalism. My 14 years experience with internal cleansing and natural healing have shown me that the practice of cleansing is a cumulative process. It's true that a good colon cleanse can make you feel better and improve your overall health in relatively a short amount of time. But for most people it takes several cleanses as well as a daily cleansing diet to get the deepest benefits. It's a process that builds up over time and if you are aware of that and take it slow, you're more likely to succeed and get excellent health results.

Myth number 2: "You don't need colon cleansing - the colon cleans itself." In an ideal world, this would be true. The colon is designed to clean itself - in fact it does so everyday for most of us. But it only works at its best when you provide it with enough dietary fiber. Fiber, which comes only from plants, strengthens the muscles of the colon and helps it to move. In people who have a daily fiber intake of at least 30 grams, bowel disease is unheard of. But in the west, the average consumption is just 11 grams digestive diseases are a leading cause of death.

If you have had a high fiber intake your whole life, you might not need colon cleansing. However, if your like the rest of us, you can definitely benefit from a well designed cleanse that includes adding more daily fiber to your diet.

Myth number 3: " Mucoid plaque is not real." Have you seen the rather unpleasant pictures on the internet of what comes out of some people when they complete a colon cleanse? It looks like long strands of a gooey brown or green substance. Actually, this substance is the consistency of a dark rubber and it's called "mucoid plaque." Some people who haven't tried a quality cleanse, claim that this stuff is actually produced by the ingredients of a colon cleanse. In my experience and that of thousands of other it most certainly is not.

Mucoid plaque forms when we eat a high fat, high protein, low fiber diet. Mucus, from the intestines, can stay in the body too long when the colon doesn't function well and can eventually harden into "plaque." This layer of plaque prevents nutrients from being absorbed and slows down elimination and most people feel a lot better when this is removed.

It is important to note, though, that the only truly proven way to get mucoid plaque out of your body is with a high quality colon cleanse based on herbs.

Myth number 4: "Colon cleansing is expensive." There are a lot of products and treatments on the market and its true that you could easily spend several hundred - even several thousand dollars on some of them. But you don't have to. Most of the ingredients to make your own high quality colon cleanses are easily available. All you need are the best recipes and instructions for creating and taking them. My last colon cleanse cost me just $14 for 10 days and got quite a bit of mucoid plaque out of my body.

Mark Ament is an expert on internal cleansing and raw foods nutrition. He is the author of "Homemade Colon Cleansing Made Easy" and several other books on natural health. Discover how to make your own safe homemade colon cleanse, using Mark’s proven colon cleanse recipes at: http://www.safecoloncleanse.com.