What are the medicines for detoxification and intestinal cleansing?

There is no concept of "detoxification" or "colon cleansing" in formal medicine. Most of them are gimmicks created by commercial marketing. Ordinary people think that they need to cleanse their intestines, and most of them encounter problems such as constipation, blocked defecation, and bloated stomach.

The most common ones are senna leaves and rhubarb pieces that can be found by searching, aloe vera capsules, and some detoxifying and beauty-beautifying Chinese patent medicines that were very popular in the past few years. The ingredients also contain stimulant laxatives, which are very effective. You can run to the toilet within a few hours after drinking them. When I was just working two years ago, I had constipation. I bought a famous intestinal cleansing tea online. After drinking it, I ran to the toilet four times in the afternoon, and my stomach hurt. Later I found out that senna leaves were secretly added to it. It’s okay to take this kind of medicine once in a while, but taking it continuously for more than a week may damage the intestines. My best friend used to drink health tea containing rhubarb every day to “remove moisture”. After drinking it for three months, she went for a colonoscopy and was diagnosed with colon melanosis. The doctor said that it was caused by long-term consumption of stimulant laxatives. The peristalsis function of the intestine itself was destroyed, and she would not defecate on her own without laxatives.

If you really have long-term constipation, the most commonly prescribed laxatives in the hospital are osmotic laxatives such as lactulose and polyethylene glycol. Unlike irritating laxatives, they will not irritate the intestinal mucosa. They just lock the water in the intestines and soften the dry and hard stools so that they can be passed easily. It is absorbed by the body and can be used by the elderly and pregnant women. My grandma has been constipated all year round, so the doctor asked her to drink 10ml of lactulose every day. She will not have stomach pains and has more regular bowel movements. However, you cannot increase the amount randomly. Drinking too much can easily lead to dehydration and electrolyte imbalance, which can be troublesome.

There are also many people who have difficulty defecating not because they have dry stools, but because their intestinal tract moves slowly or the flora is disordered. For example, office workers who sit for a long time and eat takeout every day always feel that their stomachs are bloated and their stools are sticky and cannot be flushed in the toilet. At this time, there is no need to take laxatives. Instead, take some mosapride to promote gastrointestinal motility. Strong medicine, or probiotics such as Bifidobacterium triple live bacteria, coupled with walking two more stops a day, will probably get better. Some time ago, I ate takeout for a week to catch up on a project, and my stomach was so bloated that I couldn't button my jeans. After taking live bacteria powder for three days, I gradually recovered without taking laxatives.

Nowadays, it is always said on the Internet that cleansing the intestines can nourish the skin and lose weight. The opinions of the two sides are very different. People who support it say that the acne on their faces has disappeared after cleaning the intestines. Those who oppose it say that cleansing the intestines is purely an IQ tax. In fact, to put it bluntly, those who say that cleaning the intestines can nourish the skin are mostly acne caused by long-term constipation and accumulation of metabolic waste. After clearing the intestines, it will be cured naturally, and the bowel movements are normal. People, blindly cleansing the intestines will destroy the intestinal flora barrier. My cousin used to drink intestinal cleansing tea every day to lose weight, and lost 7 pounds in three months. However, my aunt postponed it for half a month, her face was still sallow, and she went to see a nutrition department. The doctor said that all she lost was water and muscle, and not even half a cent of fat. Instead, it messed up the intestinal flora, and she had diarrhea after eating something cold.

There is really no need to take bowel cleansing pills when nothing happens. The intestines have their own cleansing rhythm. People who have normal bowel movements every day do not need any additional intervention. If you really don’t have bowel movements for several days in a row and your stomach is uncomfortable, you should first see a doctor. Don’t buy the highly hyped Internet celebrity bowel cleansing products. Many of them secretly add banned stimulating laxative ingredients, and you won’t even have time to cry if you eat them.