Colon hydrotherapy is a safe, clean, odor-free method of removing large amounts of waste from the large intestine, without the use of drugs or chemicals. By introducing pure, filtered and temperature-regulated water into the colon, and gently massaging the abdomen, waste is loosened and broken down for easy evacuation.  The process is then reversed, evacuating the water and waste and stimulating the body’s natural peristalsis. This process of introduction and evacuation is usually repeated several times during a therapeutic session.

Imagine a an unemptied garbage can, and the “Why colon hydrotherapy?” question becomes alarmingly simple to answer.  Old food and pieces of garbage, spoiled, rotten and moldy, can create a smelly, noxious and poisonous stew that must be dealt with immediately. This is also the picture that can be painted of a slow and constipated colon, with that smelly, rotten, toxic stew residing inside our bodies. Take a moment and picture that.

Everything that goes into our mouths eventually touches and affects the stomach, small intestine and colon or large intestine. Health professionals recommend three bowel movements a day for a functioning, healthy body. The average American has one bowel movement a day. When ingested substances are allowed to sit, decay and become toxic, it is believed these toxins can damage the surrounding organs, damage the intestinal walls creating a major decline of the absorption of nutrients, damage nerves and glands, and enter and poison the blood stream, tissues and cells. 

Many health care providers believe the contamination and toxicity of the colon can have dramatic health effects ranging from simple allergies to major medical problems including cancer, a lowered immune system and even psychological trauma.  Some research has shown  that as many as 50% of Americans have fecaliths, small pockets of waste in the colon, many that have been there for years or even decades.  The colon is meant to absorb fluids, extract the last nutrients out of our food and release and pass out of our bodies the fecal matter and toxins that are harmful, not store all these poisons for years inside our bodies.

You say you have one good bowel movement a day, so you don’t need colon hydrotherapy? You’re on the run, too busy, can’t stop or be bothered? Everyone gets bloated, cramped and gassy. Hey, isn’t that what windows were made for? All good excuses, but research suggests the average American may have anywhere from 10-30 pounds of un-eliminated feces sitting dormant in the colon at any given time.  Thirty pounds of old decaying feces. Imagine it. What does one watermelon weigh? Or three?

Constipation is, quite simply, a condition of the digestive system where movement has been slowed to hinder or stop normal waste illimination. Many health professionals consider only one bowel movement a day constipation and the possible cause of many familiar ailmets one would hardly ever think to associate with the colon, where as three would be the optimal sign of a healthy, functioning colon.  Constipation can range from the simple form through to cronic constipation that can lead to serious health issues and even hospitalization.

Do the math. Three or more full sized meals plus snacks a day and only one bowel movement when technically it should be three. Over the years with nowhere else to go the colon stretches, backs up, forms pockets and polyps where waste can sit for years or tear and possibly poison the surrounding organs.

Common Ailments.

Many health care providers believe there are many common illnesses that can be attributed to a poorly functioning colon or symptoms of ailments that respond well to, or can be treated by, colon hydrotherapy.  It is important to remember how vitally important the intestines are to the intake of nutrients and over all health of the body and how interconnected the organs, skeleton, skin and blood are. A heavy, toxic, swollen or over flowing colon affects not only itself but the entire body.  Here is a list of a few of the most common ailments that may respond well to colon hydrotherapy:

Allergies, Arthritis, Asthma,Acne, Attention Deficit Disorder, Memory Lapses, Hypertension, Body Odor, Brittle Hair, Brittle Nails, Chronic Fatigue, Cold Hands & Feet, Colitis, Spastic Colon, Constipation, Fibromyalgia, Headaches, Irritable Bowel, Mouth Sores, Nausea, Infections, colds, Pot Belly, Poor Posture, Muscle Pain, Joint Aches, Chest Pain, Swelling,  Bloating, Chronic back pain, Dry skin,  Dizziness, Vertigo, Anxiety, Fear, Insomnia, Carbohydrate indigestion, Diarrhea, Gas, Hemorrhoids, Parasites, Psoriasis, Shingles, Eczema, Inability to loose weight, Back and shoulder pain, Gout and Aching joints.

The health conscious.

They say an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

For those who desire to keep their bodies in peak performance, or already have a healthy diet (athletes, vegetarians or the seriously health conscious), there are several beneficial or preventative reasons to adopt colon hydrotherapy as part of a healthy lifestyle. Keeping and maintaining a strong, healthy colon is one of the basics of keeping the body at its peak performance capablity.  Hydotherapy improves metabolic efficiency, can be beneficial to a cleansing program, raw food diet or fast, and  improves the body’s ability to absorb vitamins, minerals and liquids.

Anyone with a family history of cancer, especially colon or intestinal cancers, should seriously consider making hydrotherapy a part of their health routine.

The seriously ill.

There is growing belief among many health care professionals that several major medical problems may benefit from colon hydrotherapy as part of the treatment or for alleviating discomfort resorting from the illness. Here are a few:

Depressed immune system, diverticulosis, colitis, MS, rheumatoid arthritis, arthritis, liver, gastrointestinal, prostate and other cancers, candida, Chrones disease, constipation due to serious illness, diverse gastrointestinal problems, Hepatitis C, benign prostatic hyperplasia, nocturia, prostatitis, fistulas, chronic constipation, extensive yeast problems, endometrial pain,  detoxing of chemical substances related to alcohol and drug addictions.

Those using Pharmaceutical Supplements.

It’s a fact that many of the pills, tablets, capsules and other forms of medication or nutritional supplements we take don’t always dissolve in our stomachs and small intestine due to the differing quality of the medication and production. The medication that doesn't break down is passed along to the large intestine where it is very often stuck along with all the other matter that has not been evacuated. Since the large intestine doesn't have the chemicals and enzymes needed to break down and digest food, these tablets can sit and slowly dissolve against the colon wall or inside “pockets” formed in the colon. These tablets can damage the colon lining and cause infection over longer periods of time with the very real possibility of damaging or even perforating the colon wall.

Any person taking large quantities of medications, from pain killers as simple as aspirin to prescription medicins, should seriously consider colon hydrotherapy to prevent the often irreparable harm undigested medications can cause.  We have become a society where popping a pill for every small problem has become run of the mill and major illnesses often require  medications by the handful. We cannot stress enough the potential danger posed by undigested medication to our colon. 

As has been previously discussed, the average American can have anywhere up to 30 or more pounds of unevacuated waste literaly “hanging” around inside their colon. That beer gut so many men fondly slap at barbeques or use as a mobile t.v. tray may be nothing more than their colon full, sagging and stretched sometimes to the size of an inner tube. People have been know to lose as much as fifteen pounds in a single session and several pants sizes purely through loss of old fecal matter. One woman left holding up her pants because she had not worn a belt that day! Yet as dramatic as this sudden loss can be, this is but the most simple effect of colon hydrotherapy where weight loss is concerned.

Weight gain and the ability to lose it again can be affected by many different things and be different for each individual. But there are three things almost all people who are overweight have in common, that hinders weight loss, and all three can be helped by colon hydrotherapy:

A heavy, poorly functioning colon is not only a problem in itself, but may also affect your liver, gallbladder, kidneys and other organs which in turn slows down your metabolism. A slow metabolism may be the number one factor in weight gain and deterent to weight loss. The better your body functions, the more calories your body burns, the more weight you lose. It’s that simple.

The inability to properly absorb all the nutrients from the food we eat creates a hunger cycle where the body demands more and more food, (hunger) to supply all nutrients we need, which of course means more and more overall unused calories eventually turned to fat. Proper digestion and nutrional intake means more nutrients taken in from a smaller amount of food and less hunger.

Lastly, water retention. The body needs to cleanse itself of toxins produced and ingested by the body. Your body, absorbing water through the large intestine works constantly to flush out the toxins held in the muscles, fibers, cells and fat. The more toxins in the body, the more water your body retains in fat cells, the heavier, bloated and swollen you are. 

Colon hydrotherapy is no substitute for a healthy diet and plenty of exercise or a cure-all for being overweight, but it has been a great help for thousands of people starting down this road. Anything mechanical runs better when it is oiled, rust-free and in top working order. Our bodies are no different. A clean, healthy, functioning colon is imperative to good nutrition and keeping one’s weight down. Very often the “jump start” caused by colon hydrotherapy and its immediate physical and psychological effects inspire people to continue to lose the weight they never managed to before.

The intestine is the portion of the digestive tract leading from the stomach to the anus and in humans consists of two segments, the small and the large intestines. While the stomach is primarily responsible for breaking down food into nutrients so they can be absorbed, it is the intestine’s job to extract and absorb those nutrients so they can be used to run the complex machine that is the human body. The small intestine, roughly 3.5 times the length of the body,  is the portal of virtually all nutrients into the blood.  By the time foodstuffs have reached the small intestine they are liquid in form and when mixed with pancreatic enzymes and bile enable digestion and absorption into the bloodstream.

The large intestine (Colon) is anywhere from 4-7 feet long and deals mainly with the absorption of water and minerals from digested food, and the evacuation of everything the body cannot use after moving through the small intestine: toxins, poisons, bacteria and physical matter that the body cannot destroy or find a purpose for. In the large intestine the very last nutrients are extracted, and then, mixed with mucus and bacteria, waste is collected and eventually evacuated through peristalsis.

It is widely thought that the Greeks came up with the idea of “auto-intoxication” or the theory that toxins originating in the intestine can enter the circulatory system and poison the body. Yet there is plenty of evidence that cultures have been utilizing the benefits of colon hydrotherapy for thousands of years, as far back as ancient Egypt and China. The idea of “auto-intoxication” was widely accepted until the early 20th century and was commonly used for a wide variety of systemic disorders.

Towards the end of the 1930’s drug-based therapy was entering an era of revolutionary expansion, medically and financially, that would soon relegate practitioners of hydrotherapy and other traditional healing methods to quaint obsolescence and ridicule in most physicians’ minds. A practice that sadly continues today.

While colon hydrotherapy is making huge strides again, it still faces an uphill battle against the drug-based establishment. Yet there is light at the end of the tunnel. Today more and more health care professionals are realizing the benefits of colon hydrotherapy and are willing to speak out in favor of, and are utilizing, all available methods to ensure a patient’s continued health.