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Colon cleansing – a thing of beauty?

A firsthand account

By Christy Breithaupt

I’m not one to talk about bodily functions. Blood and gore don’t bother me too much – after all, CSI and Nip/Tuck are my favorite television shows – but when it comes to other things the body expels, I have a weak stomach. I just consider them very private things that, in my world, people don’t even do.

That being said, I’m pretty comfortable with my body. I do yoga, run, eat well, and all in all take pretty good care of what I consider to be a machine that takes maintenance.

So, when presented with writing a story about detoxification, my initial response was curiosity and excitement. I truly enjoy learning about how a body works and new ways to help it along.

Then I learned about colon hydrotherapy.

Denise Strauss, owner of Healing Waters Cleansing Center Inc., in Livonia, told me all about her colon-cleansing machine and the benefits it offers. Then she dropped the bomb. She suggested I give it a whirl so that I might better understand how it works for the story I was writing.

Now, as a journalist, my theory has always been that if I’m writing about something I’ve never done before, I will try nearly anything myself. Once.

But this was different. This was my worst fear. I was being asked to expel waste in front of another human being.

My initial response was absolutely not. But then Strauss informed me of the possibility that I (along with everyone else in the world) might be carrying around pounds of undigested waste in my colon.

Well, that changes things a bit. The only thing scarier than disposing of my waste is knowing I’m transporting it everywhere I go. So, I acquiesced to her kind offer.

It took me forever to get the tube in place because I was so nervous. Then the process began. It was indeed embarrassing, though Strauss did a wonderful job of keeping my mind on other things. I can see how, after several treatments, you might not even think about what you’re doing at all.

While it’s not painful, it is a tad uncomfortable. The closest thing I can compare it to is the cramping sensation you get when you’ve eaten something you shouldn’t have. But that sensation passed quickly.

When it was over I felt a tad tired – the fact that I hadn’t eaten yet that day may have been partially to blame – but very light and clean. Still, being as neurotic as I am about that particular bodily function, it wasn’t an easy experience to shake.

Later in the day I spoke with a cancer survivor who credits colon cleansing with her survival. Her story was so moving and her energy so catching that it forced me to reframe my thoughts on my fear colon-cleansing.

I have the luxury of being shy about my bodily functions because I am lucky enough to be healthy. I’ve never had to let specialists and doctors probe and poke at every bodily crevice so that I might live.

I now look at the experience a bit differently. I’ve done one small thing to help my body process food better and possibly reduce my risk of certain deadly ailments.

And that is a beautiful thing.