RESCU: What is a colonic?
Monique Bolland: Colonics, colon hydrotherapy, colonic irrigation, colonic lavage – it’s all the same. It’s a gentle method of hydrating and cleaning out the colon to assist it in functioning properly, alleviate gas and bloating, and rid the body of built up toxic waste.
Since the day we opened the doors at Alkaline Spa & Clinic, nearly four years ago now, colonics have been our most asked about, and hands-down, most popular treatment month after month. Hippocrates once said that ‘Death begins in the colon’ and we truly believe that colonics are the best treatment to help you achieve optimal health.
RESCU: What are the benefits?
Monique Bolland: People have reported improvements in digestion, sleep patterns, energy levels and skin conditions. They are great for alleviating gas and bloating, and for helping to get the bowel functioning and eliminating properly. As a detox treatment, you can’t beat it! The bowel is the body’s waste disposal unit so if you’re looking to get rid of toxins, it’s definitely the place to start.
RESCU: Where did the idea come from?
Monique Bolland: Colon cleansing has been used worldwide for centuries. There are documents from Ancient Egypt stating that colon cleansing was used by physicians to treat fever and disease, all the way back to around 1150BC.
RESCU: What are the risks associated with colonics?
Monique Bolland: The potential risks that colonics held in the past have been minimised, if not completely eradicated, with the technological advancements in equipment and sterilisation. Going back a few decades, speculums and tubes were used repeatedly, simply sterilised between patients (sometimes not very effectively)! These days we use single use, sterilised tube sets; and have both pressure and temperature gauges on the machine to ensure your sessions are comfortable.
RESCU: What are the options?
Monique Bolland: There are two mainstream options in colonics – The Open System, and the Closed System. The key differences being that in the Open System, the patient is on an open table and performs the insertion and controls the water flow themselves, whereas a Closed System (sometimes known as a Pressurised System) is operated by a practitioner and everything (water and waste) is filtered through a completely closed in machine at the foot of the bed.
At Alkaline we use the closed system, but both have their strongpoints. In essence they are similar treatments – both use warm filtered water, both hydrate and exercise the bowel, both assist with removing built up toxic waste.
RESCU: What are some tips I can do to help care for my colon?
Monique Bolland: Plenty of fibre and hydration. Your colon requires both of these things in order to function. Liquid Chlorophyll is a great tonic for the digestive system as it alkalises, hydrates, and helps to clear the bowel of toxic waste.
RESCU: Is there anything I should do before to prepare my body for a colonic?
Monique Bolland: We suggest that you prepare your body by properly hydrating, and by eating a light, fresh diet, avoiding any gas forming foods or food that tend to clog the digestive system such as white bread, pasta and red meat. We provide all of our clients with a pre-treatment diet sheet to make sure they get the most out of their colon hydrotherapy sessions. If you have specific goals in mind we suggest talking to our naturopath first to determine how many treatments you need, and what else you can do to maximize the benefits.
Monique Bolland is the owner and founder of Alkaline Spa & Clinic, an integrated day spa and wellness clinic offering the most innovative treatments specialising in detox and wellbeing.
To find out more about Alkaline Spa & Clinic visit www.alkaline.com.au