Published On:Tuesday, March 09, 2010

By REUBEN SHEARER

Tribune Features Reporter

rshearer@tribunemedia.net

LET'S say your garbage bag starts to become filled with waste; would you continue to load trash upon trash into the bag without emptying it? Most likely, not. Just as garbage begins to develop an odour, grow bacteria, mold, develop viruses, and probably infect the entire home with its stench, so does the colon.

Like our garbage, we must empty our colon before we decide to fill it up again. And nutritious foods ensure regular bowel movements. But the fact of the matter is that most persons aren't filling up on the right foods, and having a consistent bowel movement.

The typical diet lacks the sufficient amount of fiber needed to excrete fat, long, and bulky excretions.

If this is not the case, your colon may be experiencing a blockage, which means your body isn't getting a regular pass, and is lacking in fiber.

The colonic procedure is suggested to detoxify the body, avoid cancer, stop constipation, acne, chronic fatigue syndrome, allergies and to lose weight.

But what may be a "regular" pass for one person is not "regular" for another, says Julia Lee, RD MS, a dietitian at Doctors Hospital. "You don't have to have a bowel movement everyday; that wouldn't be correct," she told Tribune Health.

Emptying your colon, which is the receptacle for waste is vital. As the body takes in nutrients, air, water, oxygen, and food to keep it functioning properly, the colon correspondingly eliminates what it doesn't need and excretes it from the body.

Ms Lee and Nathelyn LaCroy, colon hydrotherapist, explained that one colonics session is the equivalent of having 10 to 15 bowel movements.

Mrs LaCroy is one of few colonic hydrotherapists on the island, and explained the procedure she administers to Tribune Health:

"When the colonic begins, the physician will introduce the colon hydrotherapy equipment into the client's rectum," said Mrs LaCroy. "The physician will control the temperature, and low pressured water flows through a little tube into the colon."

"All the while, there is no sucking out the feces. Once the water comes in contact with the feces, the feces blocks the water," she said. "When the water makes its way through the feces, it flows right through the closed tube."

"In the end, the physician will gently massage the patients stomach to rid him of the last few remaining feces. And depending on the patient's weight, there could be a great deal of excess abdominal skin."

If the colon is not relieved as much as possible, then balance in your body is lacking. And you must get the digestive system working the way it should, because the digestive system is the feeder for the blood, she explained.

"When you're eating breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and dumping food on top of food, this is piling up on the colon," said the colonics specialist. If the colon which is-five feet long, and two and half inches wide in diameter is stalled, you will know, because the scent of your stool will tell the tale.

"The colon can hold up to 40 pounds of fecal matter, a decent amount of space to hold your waste. And just as a cesspit can be backed up, the colon needs relieving at least two to three times a day," said Mrs LaCroy.

At the end of a colon hydrotherapy procedure, you will feel like you haven't used the toilet for a month, and this will be a sign of dehydration. During this time you may experience a rise in the electrolytes in your body such as potassium and sodium. This can be quite dangerous, and damaging to the kidneys and heart.

This may be why some doctors won't recommend colon hydrotherapy for detoxification.

Mrs Lee, holds to this view that colon cleansing can be damaging. "The more traditional physicians wouldn't recommend it to their patients," she said. Colonics can be damaging to the colon as the colon is very capable of cleaning itself, she said.

Persons should evaluate the risks before they have the procedure done and see a GI (gastro-intestinal) specialist for more information on the procedure.

* March is colorectal cancer awareness month.