Constipation is one of the most common digestive disorders, most often occurring in women and the elderly. It is so common, in fact, that many people take a nonchalant attitude towards it, believing it to be normal after a certain age. However, constipation is more than just an annoying condition. The longer you live with it, the greater the chances that you may develop more serious problems.

Chronically constipated bowel has been linked to a variety of disorders. These run the gamut from fatigue and mood swings to heart disease, diabetes, and autoimmune diseases. How can constipated bowels have such an effect? Think of your colon as a great holding tank for toxic debris. The problem is, that's not what it was designed for. Besides, holding tanks have tough, impermeable walls so that the poisons they contain can't escape into the environment. Your colonic lining is exactly the opposite: a highly permeable surface, allowing for absorption of vitamins and nutrients into the bloodstream to feed the body.

Effects of Constipation

Why the toxic holding tank metaphor, then? With chronic constipation, that's exactly what your colon becomes. Food and waste matter goes nowhere; it just sits and gets stuck in the colon. There it rots and putrefies, accumulating and compacting to form a hard plaque that can weigh up to 15 pounds! When this happens, your colon has become a toxic organ, unable to effectively do its job of digesting, and threatening to leak poisons to the rest of the body.

If this happens, your vital organs are at risk. Toxic colons have been known to leak their contents into the bloodstream, thereby reaching the heart, lungs, liver, kidneys, or pancreas. Once there, they can cause disease in these crucial organs. The good news is, we can do things to prevent this. Switch to a healthy, high-fiber diet. Exercise and drink at least one liter of purified water daily. Consider yearly colon cleansing therapy. Forget about laxatives; colon cleansing is the only safe and effective way to get rid of the hardened fecal plaque that stands in the way of a clean, properly digesting colon and good overall health.