The modern and hectic lifestyle that many of us live has clearly taken its toll on our health. With the numerous tasks we need to attend to, there is very little time to eat right and get enough exercise. Most of us would probably admit to making unhealthy food choices on a regular basis as well as having a sedentary lifestyle. The path to improved health starts with changing our eating habits, this specifically means consuming more high-fiber foods as well as undergoing regular cleansing and detoxification.

For many people detoxification is just the same as colon cleansing. The colon is our major organ of elimination and when it is not working properly, toxins remain in the body creating a very unhealthy internal environment. Thus, it is very important that the colon is regularly cleaned out.

The colon makes up the last portion of the body’s sewage system. When a person is constipated and waste is not flushed out of the body, a dirty fecal-mucoid coating from food forms along the colon walls. This decaying waste matter can build up to a layer that can be as much as ½-inch thick. It turns hard and black very much like a piece of hardened rubber from a truck tire.

In her book "Essential Cleansing for Perfect Health", New York Times bestselling author and authority on nutrition and digestion Brenda Watson explains that constipation can result in autointoxication. She writes that there are toxic substances within the body as well as in the environment and that in order to stay healthy despite the presence of toxins everywhere, we need to cultivate lifestyle habits that will keep our contact with health damaging toxins at a minimum. Exposure to these toxic substances can leave us susceptible to illness and fatigue and if allowed to accumulate within the body, it will zap our energy and weaken our immune system.

In another book, Fiber 35 Diet, Watson writes about the effect of toxins in our body. According to her it lessens our body’s fat burning capability, causes us to feel sluggish and slows down our metabolism. Thus we are advised to have regular body cleansing and detoxification while maintaining our weight or working towards weight loss.

The serious problem of obesity and obesity-related diseases in America is often blamed on the Standard American Diet (S.A.D.) which consists of entrees which are high in fat and refined carbohydrates. The diet is also low in raw fruits and vegetables. The recommended dietary allowance for fiber is 20-25 grams daily for adults. However, for most Americans 20-35 grams is plenty.

We obviously cannot control the presence of toxins and chemicals in our environment. Instead of waning, the number of toxins in the air, water and land around us is growing and our prolonged exposure to these is resulting in poor health and increasing incidences of chronic diseases.

The best way to cope with this situation is to make lifestyle changes that would lessen your exposure to these toxins in the environment. Amazingly, our body has seven distinct organs and organ systems that specifically function to filter and eliminate toxins. These seven channels of elimination include the liver, lungs, lymphatic system, kidneys, skin, blood and bowel or colon.

Cleansing the colon is essential to good health and the good news is that there is really no need to use products such as laxatives or supplements or visit a colon cleansing clinic. The best, simplest and most natural way is to increase your fiber intake. Eating a diet which consists of high-fiber foods offers many important health benefits and colon cleansing is one of them. Fiber naturally sweeps out the colon of toxins and waste matter build-up thereby promoting colon health. A clean colon means the absence of digestive trouble such bloating, gas and constipation. A high-fiber diet also provides the body with the essential nutrients it needs. Combined with sufficient intakes of water, a high-fiber diet makes for a clean and efficient digestive tract and a happier and healthier you.