The idea of cleansing and detoxifying the body has been around for thousands of years. References to colon cleanses appear in the Old Testament, the Vedas, and other spiritual texts and are part of just about every culture on the planet. Given that the digestive system and colon are two of the main entry and exit routes of the body — most cleansing systems focus on these areas. Plus, it’s now well known that years of poor eating habits can cause toxins and other matter to build up in the colon and intestines. So that’s where detox is primarily focused.

Colon Cleansing and colonic treatments have been gaining in popularity since they hit the mainstream in the 1990s. Now, you can find all sort of programs, products and procedures to help detox your body and restore that youthful bounce in your step.

Colon Cleanse Programs

Cleansing programs usually focus on a product or set of products that move your bowels and then detox your intestinal tract. Some programs are just a few days, while others are designed to be taken over a longer period, such as a month. While there are many different products for this, most of them use combinations of a few key ingredients:

Cascara sagrada
Slippery Elm
Psillium Husk
Garlic
Black Walnut Husk
Cayenne Pepper
Coffee

There are many other botanicals that work, but these are the main active ingredients you’ll find in these products. To accompany these, many formulators add soothing herbs like mint, tea tree oil, licorice root, and so on — to lessen the impact of these harsher ingredients.

Detoxification is the second stage of cleansing and it often revolves around a “drawing formula” that pulls toxins from the body. The main ingredients used in this step include:

Bentonite or Zeolite Clay
Activated Charcoal
Distilled Water

A couple of good cleanse programs include DrNatura and Health Force Nutritionals Cleanse.

Liver Cleanse

The liver cleanse is a more advanced form of cleansing and helps to purify your blood while cleaning your most important organ, the liver. Liver cleanse usually includes a gall bladder cleanse to remove gall stones (we all have them) and involves a multi-day program with a special diet. The key is the use of epson salts, olive oil and grapefruit juice to cause the gall bladder to release bile along with its gall stones. For this one, you need to be near a bathroom most of the time. Not for the feint of heart.

Colonics

Colonics, which used to be called enemas, are a slightly more invasive, but perhaps more effective way to cleanse the colon. They include various types of herbs and botanical substances to help clean, detoxify and sooth. One of the more popular is the coffee colonic. Most experienced practitioners agree that this procedure is best performed by an expert — and not done at home.

Fasting

Then we come to the age-old and time-tested cleanse and detox program…the fast. Fasting is known to not only cleanse and detoxify, but to help break food addictions, correct bad eating habits, modify portion control, and much more. The most difficult of the cleanses to complete successfully, fasting should be done according to a tried and tested method, such as the “Master Cleanse” fast. Most experienced fasters agree that three days is the minimum amount of time for an effective fast.

So there you have it…an on-going and evolving trend in natural health and wellness. If you’ve never cleansed before, then be sure to start slowly and feel your body’s response.