About colon cleansing products
DEAR DR. BLONZ >>
I have read a lot about colon cleansing products lately. Are these products effective, or simply an expensive laxative?
My vote is that they are “expensive laxatives.” Colon cleansing — also known as colonics, intestinal hygiene, colonic irrigation or detoxification therapy — is based on the concept that you need to periodically flush out the toxin-filled waste materials that build up along the walls of the intestines. As the sales message goes, failing to do these routine cleanses diverts the attention of your immune system, leaving you vulnerable to a host of ailments.
The cells that comprise the lining of the intestines are shed periodically, meaning the lining itself changes from month to month. This places the concept of “caked-on toxins wreaking havoc on your health” on dubious footing. That said, regular bowel habits are essential to good health, and the foods and fiber we eat determine how well our digestive and elimination systems work.
Fiber-rich whole foods are essential to our diets. A considerable body of research has associated an increased fiber intake with positive effects on heart disease, certain cancers, diabetes, constipation, diarrhea, diverticulitis, hemorrhoids and colitis. That is quite impressive, considering that dietary fiber isn't even absorbed! Unfortunately, statistics indicate that the typical person only consumes about half the recommended amount of fiber.
Bottom line: The foods and fluids we consume should keep things moving regularly. Physical activity also helps. This makes more sense than relying on periodic “toxin flushing” to accomplish the job.
DEAR DR. BLONZ >> As a tea drinker, I am fascinated by the allure of weight-loss teas, or “slim” teas. I see these online and at drug stores, and wonder if there is any truth to their claims they can help with weight loss.
— F.P., Tulsa, Oklahoma
DEAR F.P. >> Consuming fluid with (or before) a meal contributes to feelings of fullness and can help reduce the volume of food you eat. Some teas claiming an ability to cause weight loss may rely solely on this natural phenomenon to accomplish that purported effect.
Other teas, though, might contain herbal diuretics such as couch grass, buchu, dandelion, uva-ursi or broom. Taking a diuretic tea can decrease the amount of water in the body, therefore resulting in a short-term decrease in body weight. This drop in pounds, however, does not reflect lost body fat.
Tea is a great beverage, and we are learning that some of the compounds found in green, black and oolong teas offer health benefits. But using tea in an attempt to lose weight is a short-term approach to a long-term problem. Claims of dramatic success, absent objective evidence, should be viewed skeptically.