Spring cleaning: scrubbing the colon clutter

Journal Staff WriterSpring has sprung, and it?s time to rid the body of wintertime clutter. Vegetables and other greens are natural cleansers, scrubbing the digestive tract of leftover food particles. While natural roughage has long been a staple of balanced meals, sometime it?s not enough to entirely cleanse the body of built-up waste. Hence a rise in digestive-tract cleansers, or colonics.Kim Wilks, product consultant at Sunshine Natural Foods in Auburn, said colon cleansers are a popular item at the store. But she warns that cleansing, or detoxification, must be done carefully because it releases toxins into the blood stream, which can make one sick if done too quickly.?There?s definitely a way it needs to be done,? Wilks said. ?The colon needs to be moving well, then you cleanse the liver and kidneys together.?Natural colon cleansers are mostly fruit and vegetable compounds that purge the colon of waste and help flush the liver and kidneys of stored toxins. The greens ?oxygenate and cleanse the blood and fiber keeps everything moving through,? she said.Wilks said that these toxins are created from undigested food that starts to decompose in the body and cling to organ walls. Decomposition releases bacteria, or toxins, which are filtered from the blood by the kidneys and liver. Cleansers scrub the organs, releasing the stored toxins and removing the caked-on decayed food from the abdominal walls, she said.However, releasing the toxins sends them back into the bloodstream, which can be dangerous if done too quickly, Wilks said. She suggests doing a slow detoxification ? most take 10 days to three weeks ? and balancing it with a simple diet of fruits and vegetables.?That gives the digestive system a break,? she said. ?You don?t want the body to have to work on digestion while it?s working to detox.?Not everyone is convinced, however. Dr. Stephen Barrett, a consumer advocate who spearheads quackwatch.com, is less concerned with the danger of colon cleansers than with the sheer lack of proof that it works.?Some chiropractors, naturopaths and assorted food faddists claim that death begins in the colon,? he writes in his consumer report on colonics. ?Cleansing with products composed of herbs and dietary fiber is unlikely to be physically harmful, but the products involved can be expensive.?Barrett discounts colon cleansing as nonsense ? the body performs as it was meant to perform and needs no assistance from vegetable powders and dietary supplements.However, Lorette Lynch of Auburn has tried a cleanser and said she felt much better afterward, even feeling lighter in the stomach area. While there are several brands of cleansers to choose from, the most popular are the ?whole food? supplements, which contain all the necessary minerals and nutrients, said lifestyle counselor Noel Gilbert, who has worked at Sunrise for six years. A new cleansing product on the market, Uri Complete Food, is finding followers in the foothills, and the company?s founder, David Uri LaBaron, will be visiting Auburn Friday to promote the body-cleansing powder, which is comprised entirely of vegetables. ?Greens are without question the No. 1 healing food you can put in your body,? LaBaron said. ?You need the fruits and vegetables to get the nutrients you need ? not just to heal but allow your body to rebuild.?Denise Nichols of Auburn sells Uri Complete Food and is hosting Friday?s open house for the company?s founder. She said she has gained immeasurable energy, waking up at 5 a.m. refreshed and ready to face the day.?Obviously, they don?t want to detox too fast,? he explained. ?They start backing off the product and taking it in moderation. But you do want to eliminate the toxins that have been building up in fat and arteries and tissues.?