Colonic Irrigation and Colon Hydrotherapy helps Cleanse Your Colon to improve Colon Health ...

Alternative therapies like Colonic Irrigation, Colon Hydrotherapy, Acupuncture, Naturopathy, Homeopathy, Chelation therapy and Massage therapy — just to name a few — can bring you tremendous health benefits.

While not as well known or understood... Colon Hydrotherapy — also referred to as Colonic Irrigation — can provide you with unique health benefits and help you to restore and maintain optimum health...

So if you're looking for alternative ways to avoid many of today's common diseases and health dysfunctions, then review our colon hydrotherapy articles to find out everything you can about the health benefits of Colon Hydrotherapy... And learn how Colonic Irrigation can be beneficial to your colon health and your life!

One of the HOT topics in the health world today... is the connection between good colon health and successful weight loss!

To learn more about the secret to dramatic weight loss and colon health... go to our Weight Loss Center and find some of the articles we've discovered recently.

Many weight loss specialists now believe that our ability to lose weight, is directly related to maintaining good colon health. People with healthy colons generally maintain normal body weight... While those with low or poor colon function gain excess pounds and inches, making it difficult or impossible to lose weight.

What's the answer? Could losing weight really be as simple as improving your colon health? Apparently the answer is YES!

We've also found a great series of Free Health Reports discussing a variety of cutting-edge health and wellness issues. Please feel free to review any and all that interest you... We think you'll find these informative reports especially helpful if you're looking for common sense health solutions, without resorting to drugs or surgery.

Why use Colon Hydrotherapy and Colonic Irrigation?

The foundational principal of all alternative health therapy is that the human body has a natural pre-disposition to be balanced and totally healthy. In fact, your body has within itself, the power of self-healing.

By assisting your body to overcome a particular dysregulation, the self-healing process can be facilitated. If you're suffering with a degenerative disease, chronic illness or general health imbalance... You can become well again!

But first you must identify the root-cause of your ill-health...

Alternative therapies like colon hydrotherapy and colonic irrigation are not just for detoxification, rejuvenation and restoration of good colon health. They also may be instrumental in preventing the occurrence of disease... and when combined with a powerful group of natural health products you may expect to live a long, healthy life!

Conventional Medicine or Alternative Health Therapy...
Who decides what's right for you?

No doubt conventional medicine excels in the areas of trauma treatment and extraordinary life-saving medical procedures... But the prevention of chronic health problems is more often accomplished through the primary application of alternative therapy, or as a compliment to traditional therapeutics.

If you're looking for an alternative health solution, you're not alone...

According to a 1993 New England Journal of Medicine study — of those people seeking all various health treatments — over one-third elected to have alternative therapy, versus conventional medicine!

What was the primary reason given for choosing alternative health therapy?

“A strong desire to avoid traditional medicines' diagnostic
testing and drug treatment regimen.”

Clearly many people have a strong preference towards using alternative healthcare services... Especially when you consider alternative therapy costs are not generally covered by health insurance plans.

Now more than ever... People continue to use alternative therapy services — including Colon Hydrotherapy and Colonic Irrigation — and they're paying directly out-of-pocket up to... Billions of dollars per year!

Apparently, millions of people believe the results they get are worth the cost and...

Alternative Health Solutions Work!

Spend a little time looking around this Web site... You just might find something that changes your life!

Colon Hydrotherapy or Colonic Irrigation is an alternative therapy used to cleanse, maintain and restore optimum colon health.

Colon Hydrotherapy and colonic irrigation offer you an excellent opportunity to restore and maintain optimum colon health in your life.

The colon hydrotherapy articles give you a good introduction to the practice and health benefits associated with the practice of Colon Hydrotherapy... and a basis for determining if colonic irrigation could be of any benefit to you.

The practice of cleansing ones colon (upper and lower bowel) is by no means a new idea, and when you discover some of its many health benefits, you may be encouraged to pursue this further... either by obtaining a colonic (enema) kit, or by engaging the services of a professional colon hydrotherapist.

Just for clarification... You may find this type of alternative therapy referred to by different names, depending on the area of the country you live, and the type of apparatus being employed to effect the colon cleanse.

Colonic irrigation, colon hydrotherapy, high colonic generally involve the use of low-pressure water — created mechanically or by gravity — and administered in the presence of, and with the assistance of, a professionally trained colon therapist.

Enema, colon lavage, clysters are generally self-administered and only involve the cleansing and evacuation of the lower sigmoid colon and rectum. Not as thorough a cleanse, but still of some benefit.

If you wish to consult with a colon hydrotherapist... Try looking in your local yellow pages directory under the listings Colonic Irrigation, Colon Hydrotherapy, Colon Therapy, Colon Irrigation or use our colon therapist search to find a colon hydrotherapy practitioner in your area

Colon Hydrotherapy or Colon Cleansers?

Colon Hydrotherapy or Colon Cleansers?

Frequently we are asked, “Do you use an intestinal colon cleanser to prepare for colon therapy... to relieve constipation... or to maintain good colon health?”

The answer is . . . Yes!

We've tried many different colon cleansers over the years and the effectiveness of each varies greatly. Colon cleansing success is dependent on pre-existing colon health and the amount of water you consume on a daily basis. The use of a colon cleanse product may not be appropriate for those with particularly sensitive or diseased colons... But for the vast majority, there are exceptionally good reasons to use an all natural colon cleanser!

For more information about excellent colon cleansers that work for the majority of our clientele... Take a look at the colon cleansing health products we feature in the HealthShop.

And take some time to learn all the benefits of colonic irrigation using Colon Hydrotherapy and why maintaining good colon health could be the smartest thing you do to stay healthy...

An Introduction to Colon Hydrotherapy

Colon Hydrotherapy is a very safe and effective way to cleanse and detoxify the body. 

Not everyone will be open to getting a colonic. For those people there are some great products to maintain colon health. 

Jim Foleys Colon Pills and Colon Cleanse. 100% Herbal capsules guaranteed to maintain a healthy colon. We also suggest adding Living Streams Liquid Probiotic and Mullzyme Mucus Dissolver.

Cancer and Supplements: What Vitamins, Herbs, and Botanicals Can (and Can't) Do

Cancer and Supplements:

What Vitamins, Herbs, and Botanicals Can (and Can't) Do.

Few things in medicine get simpler the more you investigate them, and the use of vitamins, minerals, and herbal and botanical supplements to prevent or treat cancer is no exception. Recent clinical trials, for example, suggest that supplements of single nutrients like vitamins B, C, and E and the mineral selenium do not, as once thought, prevent chronic or age-related diseases including prostate and other kinds of cancer. Some substances, like green tea and ginger, seem to have potential in preventing or helping to treat cancer, but they may also actually interfere with treatment or have other serious side effects. Meantime, countless substances that kill or slow the growth of cancer cells in a test tube have not shown that same success in human beings.

What's going on? As it turns out, the question of whether—and in what form—nutrients can be extracted from food or plants and used to fight cancer is quite complex. Researchers in this young field are probing the connections and contradictions but have not yet found answers to the question of what vitamins, herbs, or botanicals may help prevent, treat, or ameliorate symptoms of cancer. Here are a few reasons—plus guidance on what to do in the face of incomplete information.

It's hard to know what to study. You'd think it would be easy to test whether, say, something as straightforward as vitamin E has a role in cancer prevention. But the difficulties begin at once: Which form do you use? Should a study use supplements of alpha-tocopherol, the form most easily absorbed by humans? Or a mixture of the vitamin's eight forms? It gets even more difficult to identify the best component—or components—to study in herbals and botanicals, which contain many different compounds.

And if you want to study supplements together for cancer prevention, what might work best with what? "Unless we have a very clear idea of the pathways and mechanisms that cancer is using, it's hard to have a very strong, rational basis for choosing combinations" of antioxidants or other nutrients, says Peter Gann, director of pathology research at the University of Illinois in Chicago. The problem exists in treatment, too. With so many chemotherapy regimens and so many herbs or botanicals that might theoretically aid their action, what combinations should be studied?

Clinical trials in humans often turn up results different from what happens in the lab.Curcumin (derived from the spice turmeric), quercetin (a kind of plant pigment), and a host of other food-derived chemicals, vitamins, and herbal products have been shown to kill or slow the growth of cancer cells in a lab. Whether these positive results translate to human beings is an entirely different question—as with drugs, many things that are promising in a test tube or in animals fail miserably when studied in the complexity of a human being.

In addition, those human studies are particularly tough to fund and pull off. Supplement makers rarely have an incentive to support research, since it's already legal for their products to be on the shelves. That same availability also means that people assigned to the no-supplement control group may opt to take the supplement under study on their own, contaminating the results. Work is being done, but drawing conclusions will take time. "It's very important that people understand there's research going on but that not all the answers are in," says David Rosenthal, medical director of the Zakim Center for Integrative Therapies at Dana-Farber Cancer Center in Boston.

Your supplements may vary. The pills and capsules you pick up off the shelf of a health-food store can vary enormously in quality and dose. About 25 percent of supplements tested fail when evaluated by whether they contain the claimed amount of a key ingredient, can be readily absorbed by the body, and are free of harmful contaminants, says Tod Cooperman, president of ConsumerLab.com, an independent lab that tests supplements. When his lab tested five green tea products, for example, two failed. (One brand contained as much caffeine as two cans of cola despite saying otherwise, and it had half the active ingredients it claimed.)

Moreover, the botanical—and then how it acts in the body—can vary depending on where it's grown, how much sunlight it receives, the soil, and other factors, says Jeffrey White, director of the National Cancer Institute's Office of Complementary and Alternative Medicine. That can make botanicals tough to standardize, which is essential in order to study and take advantage of their effects.

Effects are complicated and change depending on the circumstances. A rose is a rose is a rose, but that doesn't hold for antioxidants. Beta carotene in the diet, for example, is associated with a lower risk of lung cancer. But when studied as a supplement, it actually increased the incidence of the disease among smokers. The thought is that under certain circumstances, its action changes, and it has damaging effects. "A single nutrient can shift from Jekyll to Hyde," says Keith Block, cofounder and medical director of the Block Center for Integrative Cancer Care in Chicago.

An earlier version of this article misstated Peter Gann's title. He is director of the division of pathology research, not director of pathology.

Vitamins and Cancer: What about taking diet supplements and vitamins

Vitamins and Cancer: What about taking diet supplements and vitamins
Should I consider taking vitamins and nutritional supplements before, after, or during chemotherapy?

Ask your physician, nurse, or dietitian about using nutritional supplements such as Boost, Ensure, and Carnation Instant Breakfast to help meet nutritional needs and maintain or gain weight. There are many products available that can't be purchased at the grocery store. Call 1-877-4WebMed to order products for home including those that are found at the grocery store. A dietitian can help you add commercial supplements to your current diet, or if necessary, comprise your entire diet to meet all your estimated nutritional needs.

Will taking vitamins during chemotherapy help?
Diet vs. supplements - the preferred choice to meet nutritional needs is from the diet. The vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals (a variety of compounds produced by plants) needed to help our bodies fight cancer are found in a well-balanced diet emphasizing plant-based foods. According to the nutrition-based literature available, an inverse association has been noted between fruit and vegetable consumption and cancer risk. In other words, eating more fruits and vegetables may lower your cancer risk.

It is difficult to determine if a specific nutrient is protective, or a specific combination and ratio of phytochemicals. The ultimate goal is to maintain a well-balanced, plant-based diet, low in fats and sugars to help lower the risk of cancer. Recommendations include at least 5 servings per day of a variety of fruits and vegetables with breads and starch consumption including 2-3 servings of whole grains.

In cancer research, the intake of individual vitamin supplements, as opposed to consuming fruits and vegetables, has not shown increased protection from these supplements. In fact, three clinical studies were done examining the protective effects of beta-carotene and lung cancer, two of which found a higher association among cigarette smokers when beta-carotene was supplemented. The third study showed neither benefit nor harm from the beta-carotene.

Phytochemicals refer to a wide variety of compounds produced by plants. They are found in fruits, vegetables, beans, grains, and other plants. There are thousands of phytochemicals and they fall into groups such as the polyphenols (subgroup flavonoids), antioxidants (including carotenoids), and sulfides. Phytochemicals have either antioxidant or hormone-like actions.

Flavonoids are found in soy beans, soy products, garbanzo beans, chickpeas, licorice, and tea. These are estrogen-like substances from plants called phytoestrogens.

Antioxidants are commonly found in vegetables such as broccoli, brussel sprouts, cabbage and cauliflower. There are many phytochemicals that fall into this category including carotenoids which are founds in carrots, yams, cantaloupe, butternut squash, and apricots. The term antioxidant is often associated with vitamins and cancer protection. Antioxidants include vitamin C, vitamin E, selenium, and carotenoids. These nutrients are associated with a reduced cancer risk due to their ability to scavenge free radicals from our body. Free radicals are reactive compounds that can damage normal cells.

Sulfides are found in garlic and onions and may have a role in reducing risk of stomach cancer. These nutrients are found naturally in many fruits and vegetables. Due to their protective association in food, researchers are trying to determine if this benefit exists with supplemental phytochemicals.

Herbs have been used for hundreds of years to treat disease. Many are safe, and others may have severe and harmful side effects, and possibly interfere with cancer therapies such as chemotherapy, radiation therapy and recovery from surgery. A recent example has been the discovery that levels of chemotherapy were reduced in the body in people who were using the herb St. John's Wort.

Safety considerations are to tell your health care team about any herbal products you are using or are planning to use before, during, or after chemotherapy. Ask your physician, nurse, or dietitian for reliable information about dietary supplements. Stop taking the products immediately and contact your physician if you experience side effects such as wheezing, itching, numbness, or tingling in limbs.

The jury is still out regarding supplementation of various phytochemicals and herbs to help prevent or fight cancer. There are many studies being conducted regarding supplementing and/or megadosing different phytochemicals or herbs. It appears that much of the encouraging herb / vitamin / cancer data has been seen in animal studies, which do not necessarily cross over to human studies. There isn't enough consistent and significant data at this point to draw any strong conclusions or associations to recommend the use of supplements.

Vitamins, Minerals, Herbs and Chemotherapy / Radiation Therapy for Cancer

Research is underway to determine the safety and possible benefits in using herbs, antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals during treatments.

Megadoses - The literature available has not proven that taking vitamins in small or large doses helps to prevent or reverse cancer. Megadoses of vitamins can prove to be toxic or harmful in some instances.

Water-soluble vitamins are generally harmless due to our body's ability to excrete the excess vitamins as waste. In some instances there can be negative effects, for example, high doses of Vitamin C can increase the risk of oxalate kidney stones, posing an increased risk for individuals with renal failure. B6 (pyridoxine), even in moderate dosages, could result in nerve damage.

Quite the opposite of fighting diseases such as cancer, fat-soluble vitamins in large doses can become toxic, because they are stored in the body. Vitamin A toxicity can lead to changes in bone development, an enlarged liver, anemia, and loss of hair. High doses of Vitamin D can produce high calcium levels with calcifications in the kidney and blood vessels, and possibly result in osteoporosis.

Note: We strongly encourage you to talk with your health care professional about your specific medical condition and treatments. The information contained in this website is meant to be helpful and educational, but is not a substitute for medical advice.

Vitamins and Supplements for Cancer Patients

Vitamins and Supplements for Cancer Patients

Here are tips on supplements after you’ve been diagnosed with cancer.

WebMD Feature

By Hilary Parker

Reviewed By David Kiefer, MD

If you’re among the 1.5 million people in the United States diagnosed with cancer each year, you may be considering taking vitamins and supplements for cancer. Supplements, herbs, and extracts are increasingly used in integrative medicine to:

1. Help strengthen the immune system
2. Help ease side effects of chemotherapy and radiation.

What should you know about vitamins and supplements for cancer patients?

First, many supplements may interfere with your cancer treatment, so never take anything without discussing it with your cancer doctor and treatment team. Your cancer treatment center or hospital may have an integrative medicine division. That’s a good place to start if you want to know what herbs, teas, or nutritional supplements can help you stay strong and cope with treatment side effects.

Second, research or ask your treatment team about the best supplements for your specific situation. Most supplements have not been studied extensively in large clinical trials. It’s important to choose wisely, and be informed.

1. Maintaining a Strong Immune System When You Have Cancer

The complicated relationship between immune system functioning and cancer is often misunderstood, according to Tim Birdsall, ND, the vice president of integrative medicine at Cancer Treatment Centers of America and a member of the National Advisory Council for Complementary and Alternative Medicine for the National Institutes of Health.

Your immune system is designed to recognize and destroy abnormal cells. But in many instances, especially in early stage cancers, the surface markers on cancerous cells are identical to those on normal cells, making it impossible for your immune system to recognize them as a threat.

Although boosting your immune system isn’t an actual treatment for cancer, it’s incredibly important as you fight cancer. Cancer patients are susceptible to infection from the disease, as well as from treatments that destroy white blood cells.

“Infection is a huge issue to cancer patients,” Birdsall says. “It is important to do things to boost the immune system and reduce the likelihood of infection.”

Here are supplements, vitamins, and extracts you may hear about to help boost the immune system.

Vitamins and Supplements Lifestyle Guide

This content is selected and controlled by WebMD's editorial staff and is brought to you by Nature Made.

Mental health

Mental health describes a level of psychological well-being, or an absence of a mental disorder. From the perspective of 'positive psychology' or 'holism', mental health may include an individual's ability to enjoy life and create a balance between life activities and efforts to achieve psychological resilience. Mental health can also be defined as an expression of emotions, and as signifying a successful adaptation to a range of demands.

The World Health Organization defines mental health as "a state of well-being in which the individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to his or her community". It was previously stated that there was no one "official" definition of mental health. Cultural differences, subjective assessments, and competing professional theories all affect how "mental health" is defined.

 There are different types of mental health problems, some of which are common, such as depression and anxiety disorders, and some not so common, such as schizophrenia and Bipolar disorder.

Most recently, the field of Global Mental Health has emerged, which has been defined as 'the area of study, research and practice that places a priority on improving mental health and achieving equity in mental health for all people worldwide'.

Emotional mental health improvement

Being mentally and emotionally healthy does not exclude the experiences of life which we cannot control. As humans we are going to face emotions and events that are a part of life. According to Smith and Segal, “People who are emotionally and mentally healthy have the tools for coping with difficult situations and maintaining a positive outlook in which also remain focused, flexible, and creative in bad times as well as good” (2011). In order to improve your emotional mental health the root of the issue has to be resolved. “Prevention emphasizes the avoidance of risk factors; promotion aims to enhance an individual’s ability to achieve a positive sense of self-esteem, mastery, well-being, and social inclusion” (Power, 2010). It is very important to improve your emotional mental health by surrounding yourself with positive relationships. We as humans, feed off companionships and interaction with other people. Another way to improve your emotional mental health is participating in activities that can allow you to relax and take time for yourself. Yoga is a great example of its meditating aspect which calms your entire body and nerves. According to a study on well-being Richards, Campania and Muse-Burke found, “mindfulness is considered to be a purposeful state, it may be that those who practice it believe in its importance and value being mindful, so that valuing of self-care activities may influence the intentional component of mindfulness” (2010).

Mental Health: Coping with Chronic Illness and Depression

Coping with Chronic Illness and Depression

Living with a chronic illness is a tremendous challenge. Periods of grief and sadness are to be expected as you come to grips with your condition and its implications. But if you find that your depression persists, it is important to seek help. While you get treatment, experts offer these lifestyle tips:

1. Try not to isolate yourself. Reach out to family and friends.
2. Learn as much as you can about your condition. Knowledge is power when it comes to getting the best treatment available, and maintaining a sense of control.
3. Make sure that you have medical support from experts you trust, and can talk to openly about your concerns.
4. If you suspect that your medication is causing you to be depressed, consult your doctor about alternative treatments.
5. If you are in chronic pain, talk with your physician about alternative pain management.
6. As much as is possible, remain engaged in the activities you enjoy. Stay connected with your community.

Source:

WebMD Medical Reference. Coping With Chronic Illnesses and Depression. 2007.

Mental Health: Put Yourself on Your Priority List

Do you make resolutions to improve yourself, but never stick to them? It's all too common. But maybe your reason for not sticking to resolutions is not lack of will power, but a failure to prioritize your own well-being.

Many people, women especially, find themselves caring for others, while neglecting themselves. We get wrapped up in the daily demands of activities such as work, child care, tending to an aging parent and upkeep of the house and lose ourselves.

Thoughts that indicate you may be too far down your own priority list include telling yourself that "other people's problems are more important than your own" or that "I can't stand it if someone gets upset with me."

If you suspect that your sacrificing your own well-being to accommodate other people's needs and demands, it may be time to make a change.

To do this, make a list of your own priorities. These are the things that are important to you, deserve your attention and make life meaningful and fulfilling. They can include your spiritual needs, your need for intellectual growth or your health and wellness needs. Once you've made your list, identify your top three priorities.

Now make a similar list, but this time, focus on those needs and demands of others that you find take up your time and energy and take you away from focusing on your own priorities. You may want to jot down items as you go through a typical day. Notice demands, such as washing dishes, mundane tasks at work, volunteer work, responding to email and preparing meals. Once you've made your list, identify three or more tasks that you can simply not do (sometimes we get stuck doing things because we feel we "should" but no real harm will come from skipping them) and those you can give to someone else.

Giving unwanted tasks to someone else can be difficult, but it is possible. Initially you may get some flack, but you can ease your load, say by training your children to clear the table and load the dishwasher, negotiating with a spouse to pick up some of the household chores or delegating some tasks at work.

Once you have given up some of those demands from others, be sure to replace them with your own priorities. Making a new habit takes time. Pay close attention for several weeks, to ensure that new demands don't creep up on you. Once you've made a habit of including yourself on your priority list, you'll be better able to say 'no' to other people's demands that interfere with your ability to take care of yourself.