Sorry for this lengthy post ladies, but I'm dragging out MY soap box.
The fact that we aren't SUPPOSED to need any help going to the bathroom, and that God made our bodies efficient is absolutely correct.
That being said-Adam and Eve didn't eat quarter pounders with cheese, or lean cuisines, or anything else that is prepackaged, or full of preservatives and a myriad of other chemical concoctions. Heck-even our meat supplies are full of hormones and chemicals! I'm sure that there is a very small group of people in American society that eat only natural, organic, and unprocessed foods, but the rest of us MAY end up with problems due to what we have eaten for our entire lives-even if these things are considered healthy.
The American Medical Association defines chronic constipation as evacuating the bowels 3 times per week or less, and that evacuating twice per day is normal-so no offense luckyducky, but if you don't know any doctors that would "in their right mind" say that we should go that often, then apparently you have yet to ask them-and you shouldn't tell people with concerns about their digestive health that it is normal to go more than a week without a bowel movement-that can actually be dangerous. I'm sure your words of warning were well intended, but stating (twice) for effect that you work in the medical profession, and then advising incorrectly hit a nerve with me. A surgical assistant has no more training in digestive health than a dental hygenist. And the diverticulosis you talk about? You yourself say that it is a condition common to our western "meat and potatos" diet, hello, that's us! I'm sure most people do only have normal fecal material impacted along the colon-you say that like it's not a big deal. That alone can have an ill effect on our health, because it blocks nutrient absorption.
While I agree that a colonic or colon cleansing products could be dangerous for people who do not need them, I also think that the longer all of these impure things stay in our bodies, the more harmful they can be. Yes, if it is done unnecessarily, a colonic COULD upset the delicate balance of bacteria in the body. Not to be too crude here, but so can douching-and Summer's Eve isn't considered evil! And yes, there is a risk of infection from the chance that the administering equipment may not be sterile-but I'm sure that it's quite a lot less than the risk of getting a tattoo or an ear piercing-and quite frankly, there have been PLENTY of cases of that happening, yet we think nothing of it. The only factual evidence I have been able to find that colonics, NOT colon cleanses, can be truly harmful is if they are used too often, and the user does not replace the electrolytes lost in the process. There have in fact been a few rare cases of death in very elderly people for this reason.
Below is a link to a family medicine site stating the reasons for and benefits of colon cleansing, that is in no way affiliated with any product or company.
http://www.healthatoz.com/healthatoz...irrigation.jsp
Actually, many doctors do recommend a colonic in certain cases, and often it is considered to be an integral part of cancer treatment. In fact-a colonic is very similiar to an enema-the only difference is the amount of water used-and many doctors REQUIRE the use of an enema before childbirth. The risk of infection and/or tearing from the apparatus used is the same as with a colonic.
On that note, isn't the equipment used to perform an endoscopy of the digestive tract even more invasive than that, and does it not carry the same risk of tearing or infection? Don't get me wrong-I'm not foolish enough to believe that equipment in a hospital (or the abilities of an actual physician) isn't much more safe than going to a spa. My point is that these things CAN occur anywhere, and people HAVE gotten infections from hospitals, and complications from procedures generally deemed to be safe.
There is a risk associated with any medical procedure or medication out there. The decision we all make anytime we have surgery, take a pill, or even have an x-ray is whether the possible benefits outweight the possible risks.