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According to the National Digestive Disease Information Clearinghouse (NDDIC) 60 to 70 million people are affected by digestive diseases and 14 million are hospitalized from them. Do a search on Google on digestive disorders and you get 173,000 search results. The general consensus seems to be that the incidence of digestive disorders is increasing.

Digestive disorders stem from a variety of causes such as food allergies, medication, stress, hormone changes, low fiber intake, infections, parasites, and lactose intolerance. It seems that anything that disturbs the intestinal bacterial balance or the ratio of good bacteria to bad bacteria can make the digestive system malfunction.

One of most talked about digestive system illnesses has been colon cancer. When Katie Couric's husband Jay Monahan died of colon cancer, the general public learned a lot more about the disease. We found out that the same number of women and men are diagnosed with colon cancer every year (about 73.000) and colorectal cancer is the second-leading cause of cancer deaths for Americans.

All this publicity about colorectal cancer has lead many people to take an interest in colon cleansing. The blood that flows through all major organs comes from the colon. When the large intestine does not function well, it can not remove waster efficiently. This cause hard, impacted stools and allows toxins to be absorbed into your bloodstream, and through your liver Colon cleansing is thought to improve your general health as well as combat a variety of digestive disorders. Toxins come from the foods we eat and the air we breathe.

Of course, a clean colon can have many other benefits. People report a quick weight loss and reduced belly size, because they were not actually carrying fat around but an impacted colon. Others report having more energy because their digestion system can utilize the energy of the foods they eat more efficiently.

There are several different types of colon cleansing.

Colon hydrotherapy or colonic irrigation uses warm, filtered water which is gently fused into the colon through the anus via deposable plastic tubing. Experts recommend that this procedure only be performed by a certified or licensed professional.

Enemas are another method though they are only effective for loosening fecal matter in the lower portion of the intestine. The process for an enema involves a small amount of liquid, usually water, being inserted through the anus into the rectum to clear the bowel. Enemas are awkward to use and do not provide long term results for improving wellness.
Laxatives work by softening stool and causing a contraction of the intestinal muscle which result in a bowel movement but do not remove impacted fecal matter from the intestinal walls.

Herbal Colon Cleansers contain psyllium and are an alternative to commercial laxatives. They cause the stool to increase in volume which causes the colon to contract but again this process does not remove impacted fecal matter from the intestinal walls.

Oxygen based colon cleansers react chemically with the hydrochloric acid present in our stomach. After the chemical reaction occurs, the fecal matter melts into a liquid and gas and can be easily eliminated. These are usually taken orally in capsule form.