There is an old saying that “death begins in the colon.” This is an oversimplification to be sure but more accurate than not. In fact, the road to health begins with intestinal cleansing and detoxification — no matter what the disease or problem. March is Colon Cancer Awareness month please take a moment to think about all the food we consume and how much work our bodies have to do to process it, digest it and then eliminate it

Colon cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States, accounting for about 20 percent of all cancer deaths. This year alone, more than 131,000 Americans will be diagnosed with colon cancer, and 56,000 will die from it.

Colon cancer is also one of the most curable types of cancer if it is diagnosed early. When detected at its earliest stages, chances for a cure are as high as 90 percent. There are several excellent screening and diagnostic methods to detect colon cancer early, before it has spread to vital organs. There are also a variety of simple steps you can take to help prevent it. Learning about the risk factors, knowing the signs and symptoms,incorporating regular colon hydrotherapy sessions ,and having regular screenings for colon cancer are your best defenses against this all-too-common cancer.

Healthy Intestines

Unfortunately, most people confine their understanding of intestinal cleansing to its effect on fecal matter. And even though it is true that cleansing programs do draw old fecal matter out of the colon, limiting the discussion to fecal matter misses the big picture and obscures the differences between colonics and colon detox programs.

Understand, the intestinal tract is essentially a continuous tube from the mouth to the anus, and each part of the tube has a specific function to perform. Among these are:

• Digestion — transferring the nutritional value of that food into the body.
• Processing the waste from that food and eliminating it from the body.
• Serving as a drainpipe for waste produced as a result of metabolic functions within the body itself.
• Serving as a drain for toxic substances absorbed through our lungs and skin, etc.
• Functioning as a first line of defense in the body’s immune system by serving as a home to beneficial bacteria that identify and eliminate viruses and unhealthy bacteria ingested with our food.
   

What can go wrong if the system is backed up?

Physically, the colon is simply not designed to store large amounts of old fecal matter. Stores of old fecal matter are not only breeding grounds for harmful bacteria and dangerous parasites, but the extra garbage causes the colon to distend and expand. This causes the walls of the colon to thin out (like blowing up a balloon more and more). As the walls extend out, they press on and compress other organs in the abdominal cavity.

Consider that a sluggish bowel can retain pounds of old toxic and poisonous fecal matter (10-20 pounds is not unusual, and up to 65 pounds has actually been reported). It should be noted that doctors rarely see this accumulated matter during colonoscopies because patients are given purgatives to clean out their intestinal tracts before the colonoscopies, thus removing the evidence — but they do see the effects, the herniations of the colon aka divertuculi.

In fact, a clean colon is essential in our detox pipeline. The liver is the main detoxifying organ of the body; it works by filtering out and/or neutralizing dangerous drug residues and poisons from the blood and then passing them out of the body through the colon via the bile duct. But if the colon is plugged, it’s like flushing a toilet clogged with toilet paper; everything backs up. The net result is sickness and disease. In fact, you can’t even begin to cleanse and repair other body systems until you clean out the colon so that the toxic material will have a clean pathway out of the body.

Again, the net result of a backed-up system is sickness and disease including:

• Constipation and the attendant symptoms of self-toxification.
• Diverticular disease (herniations of the colon).
• Hemorroids.
• Irritable Bowel Syndrome.
• Ulcerative Colitis.
• Crohn’s Disease.
• Colon/Rectal Cancer.
• Other Related Diseases including: diabetes, Gall Stones, Kidney Stones, Gout, Hypertension, Varicose Veins, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Psoriasis, and Obesity.
• Other cleansing treatments (i.e. liver cleanse) are not as effective if the colon isn’t clean.
   

Reducing Your Risk

You can help reduce your risk by keeping in mind several factors that may put you at a moderate to high risk of developing colon cancer. These risk factors are:

YOUR AGE: About 90 percent of all colon cancer cases occur in people older than age 50. About 6 percent of people age 75 to 80 have had colon cancer at some point in their lives.

YOUR RACE AND ETHNICITY: African-American women are more likely to develop colon cancer than are women of other racial and ethnic groups. African-American men have the highest incidence rates of several cancers, including colon cancer. African-American men and women are more likely to die of colon cancer than are men and women of other racial and ethnic groups.

YOUR LIFESTYLE: Eating a low-fiber, high-fat diet, being overweight, smoking, and having an inactive lifestyle can increase your risk of developing colon cancer.

PERSONAL OR FAMILY HISTORY OF COLON CANCER OR NON-CANCEROUS POLYPS: Polyps are small benign (non-cancerous) growths that occur in the colon and rectum. Although most remain unchanged, some develop into cancerous growths.

DISEASES OF THE COLON: These include Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.

SOME HEREDITARY CONDITIONS: Certain hereditary conditions, such as the tendency to have many colon polyps, can result in colon cancer at a young age.

Seasonal cleansing of the bowel is extremely important and should be part of any healthy lifestyle. Proper nutrition will help to nourish your body and feed your body the nutrients it needs to fight disease. Any steps taken towards prevention is key. Love your colon and it will love you back