What Does the Colon Do?

The colon is one part of the large intestine, an organ contained in the digestive tract.

In order to better understand the role of the colon, it’s useful to follow how the food we eat travels through our bodies.

The journey begins of course in our mouth, where the food is chewed into small pieces. Saliva juices then aid in further reducing the pieces into even smaller units so that they can easily be swallowed and transferred via the esophagus to the stomach.

The stomach utilizes gastric enzymes to further break the food down until it is liquefied, and then pushes the liquid into the small bowel. Here juices from the liver, pancreas and the gallbladder mix with the liquefied food and remove the nutrients from the food and transfer them into the blood stream, where they are taken to the body’s other organs to aid in repairing tissue and cells.

The remains of the liquefied food then are pushed into the colon, which is an intricate pathway measuring some five or six feet in length. The colon absorbs the water portion of the liquid and then breaks down the remaining waste and bacteria and pushes them to the rectum, for expulsion from the body.

How Does the Colon Become Unhealthy?

Proper functioning of the colon is important to ensure that waste and harmful bacteria are properly expelled from the body.

In a less than healthy colon, fecal matter accumulates on the colon’s walls and cells. And through the passage of time, this waste matter encrusts itself in the colon, impeding its openings and causing a slowdown in the expulsion of waste. Over the months and years the build up continues, leading to a putrification of the body as a whole.

In addition, in a poorly functioning colon, important fibrous materials, like bran and raw vegetables are too bulky to pass through the tiny holes remaining for passage of feces. So they accumulate, fester and further worsen the problem. It has been estimated that the colon of a typical person in the western world holds around eight meals of undigested food and waste material.

Medicine’s standard text for the diagnosis of disease, The Merck Manual, reveals that the incidence of colon degeneration is increasing dramatically.

And some physicians are of the view that many of the body’s maladies are directly rooted in the colon.

Early indications of colon problems may include: muscle pain, stiff joints, coated tongue, body odor or bad breath, lethargy, headaches, bloating, poor appetite, fatigue, excess weight, irritability, hemorrhoids, a metallic taste in the mouth and vision problems.

How Can a Colon Cleanse Help?

The benefits of a regular regime of colon cleansing, with its removal of the toxins, waste and bacteria that have built up, may include:

• Improved overall health. Nutrients can be more readily absorbed from the food you eat, while toxins are eliminated from the body.*
• Alleviation or prevention of constipation, caused by the built up encrustation on the colon’s walls.*
• Weight loss. Some people actually find they lose weight, as a colon cleanse can eliminate many pounds of accumulated fecal matter.*
• Clearing up of skin problems.*
• Improvement in the ability to concentrate.*
• Increased energy levels.*

  * These statements have not been evaluated by the Food & Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.