Colon Cleansing
Updated Jul. 02nd, 2026 | Read Time: 4 Minutes | What You Will Learn:
- What Is Colon Cleansing?
- Natural Colon Cleansing Remedies
- Colon Cleansing Dietary Tips
- Fasting & Natural Supplement Remedies
- Physical Therapies & Lifestyle Tips
- Bowel Cleansing
- Important Information
- Nutritional Information
- Reader Comments (7)
Supporting digestive health is an important part of overall health and well-being. With modern day stress and diets impacting how efficiently your body functions, natural remedies are becoming more popular due to their gentle yet effective approach. Your body has effective ways of dealing with toxins and waste products, but often times these pathways are not working up to speed or become blocked. As a result, natural colon cleansing remedies are being sought out as part of a holistic approach to overall health.
Let us help you explore simple, supportive strategies to get you feeling your best by optimizing your digestive wellness.
What is Colon Cleansing?
Cleansing our body in this sense is called detoxification. Detoxification is often focused on one or several organs like the kidneys, bowel, lungs, liver and skin and consists of dietary, physical and supplemental interventions. If you are interested in reading about heavy metal toxicity, please see the article on mercury toxicity. In homeopathy, cellular cleansing is referred to as homotoxicology, and if you are interested, please see a health care professional. This article’s focus will be on the major organs of detoxification.
General detoxification guidelines are given here. Then, specific interventions for each organ will be examined.
What Are Natural Colon Cleansing Remedies?
Colon Cleansing Dietary Tips
Your body needs a variety of vitamins, minerals, and other molecules so that it can process and excrete toxins. It is important for you to help your body by giving it a variety of fresh and nutritious foods. These suggestions are intended as a guide. Do not consume any food that you are sensitive to even if it is listed here.
Avoid: packaged or fast foods, coffee, black tea, chocolate, alcohol, white sugar, salt, condiments, tobacco, dairy products, fried food, preservatives or artificial sweeteners.
Consume: 2L of filtered water daily, herbal teas and 100% pure fruit juices. Eat fresh or steamed fruits and vegetables, whole grains, lean meats, fish, soy products, nuts, seeds, cold-pressed vegetable oils and spices. Drink a glass of warm water with the juice of half a lemon each morning. This simple act will regulate bowel and liver function.
Fasting & Natural Colon Cleansing Supplement Remedies
Fasting has been performed for hundreds, if not thousands, of years as a treatment for many physical conditions. Restricting food intake allows the body to redirect much of its energy away from digestion to focus on cellular regeneration and detoxification. As fat stores are mobilized, hidden toxins are released and can be processed by the body. Fasting is usually done for a period of three to ten days. Shorter durations cleanse the body, while longer durations both cleanse and heal the body.
Prepare for fasting by eating only raw fruits and veggies for two days. During the fast, consume at least 2L of steam-distilled water each day along with diluted fruit and vegetable juices. Up to 2 cups of herbal tea can also be added. Come out of fasting by eating raw fruits and vegetables for another two days. The use of supplements during fasting is up to the individual. If you suffer from blood sugar problems, include a protein supplement in your fasting regimen.
Recommended juices: lemon, apple, beet, cabbage, carrot, celery, cranberry, grape, green drinks.
Recommended herbal teas: alfalfa, burdock, chamomile, dandelion, echinacea, milk thistle, pau d’arco, peppermint, red clover, rose hips, slippery elm.
Physical Therapies & Lifestyle Tips
Moderate physical exercise increases circulation and helps the body to eliminate toxins. Reduce your stress level because stress is an additional burden on the organs of detoxification. Brush your skin daily (towards the heart) with a natural fibre brush. This stimulates the immune system and increases circulation.
At the end of your shower, alternate several rounds of hot and cold water (30-second to 1-minute intervals), always ending with cold. This hydrotherapy treatment increases the immune system and aids in detoxification.
Sauna treatments will also increase the effectiveness of detoxification, but make sure to increase your fluid intake to avoid dehydration.
Bowel Cleansing
Cleansing of the colon itself is important, but colon function is also important when you are cleansing any other organ.
Follow the general guidelines for detoxification and consider the appropriateness of a fast. The following supplements can be used during colon cleansing. Adult doses are given.
Important Information For Natural Colon Cleansing Remedies
Cleansing can result in worsening of symptoms or an alteration of medication levels and is not safe for some individuals. Consult a health care professional before detoxifying. You may experience some of the following symptoms during cleansing: flu-like symptoms, fatigue, irritability, headache, diarrhea, loose stools or food cravings. These are signs that your body is mobilizing toxins. They will diminish in severity as the cleanse progresses. Taking in sufficient water and doing the physical therapies listed below will help your body to excrete these toxins.
The colon is probably this most important organ in the body. I take pysllium husks every evening and this gives me an excellent bowel movement first thing in the morning. Taking magnesium is also very healthy for the colon as well as so many other benefits taking it. Most people do not get enough magnesium and this can affect many body functions.
Hello Susan,
We're glad you enjoyed our article and have found natural supplements to support your health. Fibre is an important part to intestinal and colon health and yes, magnesium can also support colon health too.
Stay healthy & well!
Colon cleansing can sometimes be harmful. In fact, coffee enemas sometimes used in colon cleansing have been linked to several deaths. Colon cleansing can also cause less serious side effects, such as cramping, bloating, diarrhea, nausea and vomiting.
Other potential concerns with colon cleansing include:
Dehydration
A tear in the rectum (perforation)
Infection
A change in your electrolyte balance, can be dangerous if you have kidney or heart disease or other health problems
Hello Paul,
Correct, as mentioned in the article, there are side effects that can come with colon cleansing and there are unsafe protocols out there, that's why it's important to consult a proper health care practitioner before starting a colon cleansing protocol. Thank you for sharing your insights and comments.
Have a healthy day!
I agree with Susan that the colon may very well be the most important organ in the body and seeing her note, I am going to do a quick cronometer analysis of my diet to double-check that I am getting enough magnesium. Anyway, I appreciate your tip to advise caution when considering a cleanse; some of the ideas out there are dangerous and while a colon cleanse can indeed be a way of restoring health or promoting colon health more generally, it is best to go about it carefully in order to avoid adverse effects that may otherwise result
Hello Rachel,
Good call, many people are low in magnesium, but it's an important mineral for overall health. Thank you for your engaging comment, we're thrilled you enjoyed this read too. Be sure to learn more about magnesium here: https://www.nationalnutrition.ca/articles/supplements/magnesium-which-form-is-best/
I thought cleanses for the colon were a scam just meant to sell expensive juices and supplements. As you say, "The body has effective ways of dealing with toxins and waste products." I did indeed hear our liver can do that on its own, so no supplement or juice needed. As you say too, "Cleansing can result in worsening of symptoms or an alteration of medication levels and is not safe for some individuals." You suggest it may be needed or wanted at some point though. Would liver damage and thus inability to cleanse "toxins" mean a person would need to cleanse? It would be useful, if you could say when cleanse is needed or should be done or should be safe. But maybe it is very individualistic. Your tip to ask a health professional is smart here. As long as they are certified and well-reputed, should be good advice!