Colon health is a big deal here at the Finchley Clinic. We are big on keeping your colon free of toxins and maintaining a healthy population of friendly bacteria; it’s one of the most widely-used ways to promote overall good health.

We also want you to fully understand what you’re getting when you use supplements. After all, it is your body and your health so you should be the one to make informed decisions about what goes into it.

You might have heard a lot about herbal supplements and taking extra fibre to keep your bowels in order. While it is true that a fibre-rich diet is good for your guts, taking fibre supplements might actually do you more harm than good. Herbal supplements can contain toxic contaminants and allergens – and that’s just the side effects. Their intended effects can be directly harmful to your internal health.

Take psyllium, for example. Widely promoted as a healthy way to cleanse your bowels, it’s been known to cause serious allergic reactions,so it isn’t suitable for everyone. While reactions are fairly rare, psyllium can also result in the exact opposite of its goal by causing new bowel obstructions. Although we don’t doubt that they can provide great results in the right situation, some people, our company director included, find psyllium products to be extremely bloating and constipating even when taken as directed with plenty of water.Ironically, psyllium treatments can actually be very risky for those already suffering from painful constipation. Using psyllium in the long term may also affect your ability to absorb vital minerals such as iron.

Cascara sagrada or buckthorn bark was banned in the US in 2002 for use in laxatives, but still finds its way into bowel cleansers. Like senna, another popular cleanser, buckthorn is a type of anthraquinone – a naturally-occurring but nevertheless harsh compound that irritates your bowels to cause contractions and force a bowel movement. Apart from causing diarrhoea, nausea and a fair amount of physical discomfort, this irritates your colon’s population of healthy bacteria – so you end up with a less healthy gut than you started with.

 

This is why we usually recommend a mineral colon cleanser like Oxy Powder over and above fibre based products– even though we sell a few of them. It’s an oxygen-based product that uses magnesium oxide compounds to slowly release nascent oxygen into your bloodstream and digestive system. The oxygen creates an environment hostile to harmful anaerobic gut bacteria, but rather than forcing your bowels to move, it simply loosens and breaks down toxic build-up. At the same time, it feeds beneficial aerobic bacteria, to encourage them to multiply and create a healthier, more stable colonic environment.

Many of us fall into the trap of believing that because something is “herbal” or “natural”, it must be good for us. It’s important to stay informed and realise that not everything green is your friend.