Colonics and The Raw Food Diet
Tuesday, June 8, 2010 at 10:01AM | by Juanita Watson 
I have to say a few words about colon cleansing and how critical it is to the raw/live food lifestyle. Here is Austin, TX, the raw food movement has gained some serious momentum over the past few years. At this point there are 4 official eateries (Beets Living Food Café, Borboleta, Daily Juice Café, and Whole Foods Living Foods Bar), and a plethora of raw/live chefs teaching classes around town. I am amazed to see how rapidly the idea of “enzyme-rich,” “nutrient-dense” raw food is penetrating the mindset of health conscious people. Start a conversation with anyone here about healthy eating and inevitably the question will come up…. “so, what percentage raw are you?”
My first experiments with raw/live foods in the early 1990’s were precipitated by numerous trips to the Optimum Health Institute in San Diego, California. It was a pretty radical food lifestyle back then, and the food was certainly not of the gourmet variety that we are seeing today. The flavor of the preparations today, and the inclusion of different kinds of foods/superfoods, has completely revolutionized the raw/live food lifestyle. This is good news for newbies as it is much easier to “go raw” when you have a wider variety of flavorful choices than just sprouts, sunflower seed cheese and wheatgrass juice!
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Now, here’s where colon cleansing comes in. When you undertake a raw/live food diet, it automatically puts your body into detoxification mode. The closer to completely raw/live you get, the more your body begins mobilizing the countless toxins stored throughout the body. This is mainly due to increased fiber and live enzymes loosening up old impacted waste throughout the digestive tract, and high quality vitamins, minerals, and naturally occuring cleansing compounds providing the body what it needs to effectively remove toxins from the body. This is why it is absolutely necessary to pay close attention to our main paths of elimination when beginning to introduce raw foods into the diet.
A critical component to the program taught at the Optimum Health Institute, and now adopted in most all other raw/live food health facilities is colon cleansing/colonics. The experts in this field absolutely knew that the body would be overwhelmed with toxic debris if the wastes were not cleared out effectively. Many people experience a myriad of detoxification symptoms in the beginning stages of a raw/live food eating plan because of this autointoxication. Quite honestly, the body simply cannot keep up with the high levels of toxic materials being released into the colon and the body begins to reabsorb them. They essentially make their way back into the bloodstream, and the liver must process them all over again.
It is always interesting to have clients come to my office that have been on raw foods for a while. Nine times out of ten, they will have some of the most momentous colon therapy sessions. The amount of dark, sickly releases coming out of them is astounding, and usually quite shocking to the client. Most report that they immediately feel a clearing throughout their entire body, and any lingering cooked food cravings are gone. Each person is unique to this process, and certainly one colonic won’t clear out a lifetime of toxic wastes. But clients that I’ve seen that adopt colon cleansing as a component to their raw food diet seem to have much more success staying raw, and feel much better as a result. Consistanly I hear from raw foodists that colon cleansing was critical to the success of their lifestyle change.
How many colonics one may need is a very individual number, with many factors coming into play. What most people choose, and what anecdotal evidence suggests works best, is undertaking an initial clearing series of 3-10 colonics, and periodic maintenance sessions. My recommendation as a colon hydrotherapist of over 10 years is to search out a seasoned practitioner that has experience with the raw/living foods diet. There are some factors that are unique to this eating lifestyle and how it relates to detoxification and colon cleansing that an understanding and experienced therapist will recognize. And as always, make sure they are certified by the International Association of Colon Hydrotherapists (I-ACT).
