Will a colonic make me constipated or give me diarrhea?
The most frequent post colonic experience is to have a slight delay in bowel movements and then a resumption of a somewhat larger, easier to move stool. Sometimes if the colon is weak and sluggish, there may be no bowel movement for several days following a colonic. This is not due to the colonic, but rather to the weakness of the muscles in the colon, and should be interpreted as an indication that the colon requires strengthening and healing. Infrequent diarrhea or loose bowels may be experienced. This could be due to the extra water introduced into the colon or to the stirring up of toxic waste. I've heard that I shouldn't get colonics because it upsets the electrolyte balance. Is this true? Electrolytes are minerals in the body (mainly sodium and potassium salts) that maintain the proper electrical charge and pH balance (acid and alkalinity balance) in the various organs and tissues of the body. The stomach, for example, should maintain an acidic pH, while the duodenum (first part of the small intestine) should be alkaline (basic) in order for proper digestion to occur. If this balance is disrupted, then digestion will be impaired. The pH electrical balance in the colon is very near neutral, ideally being slightly acidic. A strong acid or alkaline environment is not necessary because digestion does not take place in the colon. Rather, a major function of the colon is to reabsorb the fluid and electrolytes from the unformed stool that is moving into the colon from the small intestine. After the fluid and electrolytes are reabsorbed and stool is formed, the colon moves the stool into the rectum and out of the body. The majority of the material released during a colonic is formed stool that has already had the fluid and electrolytes removed from it, so the amount lost is very minimal and easily replaced by the body from the food and fluid we ingest. Some people say that colonics wash out the intestinal flora and valuable nutrients. Is this so? The truth is that the washing out of putrefied material in the large intestine, which is only partially reached in any colon irrigation, increases the good intestinal flora. Good bacteria can only breed in a clean environment that has been washed free of putrefaction and its accompanying harmful bacteria. That is why the intestines of a newborn baby immediately begin to grow good intestinal flora. Each time you clean out the putrefying "garbage" and make a better environment for the flora, they start to multiply immediately in their natural media. With this in mind, it is a good idea to supplement with good intestinal bacteria after a colonic or series of colonics so that colonization can take place in a healthier medium, i.e. the intestinal mucosa. Prevention is much easier by assisting your colon in maintaining healthy bacteria rather than waiting until bad bacteria have changed the environment of the colon to an unhealthy state.