Your show on whether or not we need to clean our colons was a bit misleading.
Yes, Dr. Ho's claims might have been far-fetched in that we don't need a commercial product to do that cleansing.
We can cleanse our colons by eating the right foods and lots of water.
However, the other doctor you interviewed said "2-3x a week for a bowel movement" was fine and that it was "individual"...if one felt fine, then there was no concern.
My question to you is: Why would you interview a doctor that studies the body and drugs but has only 1 week of nutritional training? Wouldn't a nutritionist be more qualified?
Also, the show "You are what you eat" and "Skinny vs Supersize" have trained nutritionists that say otherwise. Dr. Ho was correct in saying we SHOULD have a bowel movement each day!

The lady taking the fiber supplement was constipated because she didn't drink enough water.

Dr. Ho's busted, yes, because of cost. However, colon cleanse is real. The three test subjects were relatively healthy. So, the tests are skewed. I suggest testing on sick people(eczema, obesity, so on).

I wanted to say thankyou, your program is very informative and keeps us common folk up to speed with scams. God knows there is alot of them out there.

Why are these crooks allowed to advertise products that have no real proof they work like they claim they do, in the first place? Aren't there any laws to prevent or penalize these practices?,( I am referring to other advertising as well like "earn money at home" typing or stuffing envelopes)

A thought from a senior citizen. Many programs aired on the tv have the acompanyment of background music that drowns out the dialogue that one is trying to hear during the program. Is there some way that this annoyance can be turned down in volume allowing the listener to follow what is being said.
Thanks for you attention to this request and my appreciation to you if something can be done.

Someone else commented on this too, I love Marketplace but they didn't ask the doctor they interviewed what is done before he looks at them. The patient is practically given a an enema, made to take laxatives and doesn't eat for awhile. No kidding there colon is clean, they had a colon cleanse! Come on...

I've had colon irrigation and I honestly can say I went down a belt size in a week and my skin is great. It's not something I would do often at all, maybe once every year tops. Family doctors and Dr.Oz on Oprah recommend them for gods sake. In my own case it worked very well. However, i would not buy anything from Dr. Ho ever, most informed people wouldn't either...

Marketplace is better than this, pull up your socks.

Yours the most informative and necessary program that cbc produces. Everytime i watch an episode i feel as though finally i have been spooned some good old fashion honesty. Its nice to see someone jar these greedy corporations and throw them off there song and dance. Since Consumer Affairs Canada cant seem to do their job, its nice to have such a well suited back up. Some topic ideas that i would like to see. Credit Reporting agencies, Revenue Canada, Direct Energy (split billing, One for gas/or Hyro - One for distribution?) Seems they split the company, sold the power lines to charge the consumer more???) and well you know the list goes on... This country is full of scamers and snake oil salesmen.

I have never tried colon cleansers because I have had most of my colon removed in an attempt to prevent colon cancer. This seemed the only way to get rid of the numerous polyps that had developed and were in a precancerous stage. So I began a quest to find out as much about cancer and how to prevent it as I can. Recently I discovered a Food Matters documentary. Several doctors including Dr Ian Brighthope, Dr. Christina Gerson and others who speak about how important food is in preventing and treating cancer. I found it very good and very believable.

I was very disappointed with the colon cleanse info from last weeks show. Being a Holisitic Nutritionist, I know first hand the importance of bowel movements. In regards to Dr.Ho's plan the 3 ladies followed, there was no mention of how much water intake these ladies had to drink (considering when you increase fiber intake, you need to greatly increase your water intake), and there was also no mention as to what these ladies were eating over the 4 week period! Although I have never used Dr.Ho's detox, I have used others and so have my clients, with amazing results!! The most disappointing thing of all was the Doctor who said that once a day bowel movements is fine, even if someone is going 2 to 3 times a week!!! I was shocked! If you are going 2 or 3 times per week, you are constipated!! We eat 3 meals per day, some of us more, and if we're not going 2-3 times per day, EVERYDAY, then this is an issue. I encourage people to drink plenty of water and eat a high fiber diet for optimum bowel movements. Having regular bowel movements is the first sign of having healthy intestines.

I was glad you included the medical doctor who specialized in the study of the colon as a part of your program. The images he showed of the interior of the colon clearly demonstrate that nothing "rotting" or "stuck" in there. I have tried to convince friends of the uselessness of 'colon cleansers' and will refer them to this broadcast on your website.

To maintain colon health, the best advice is simply eat a balanced diet, drink enough water, and maintain a healthy weight. There are NO magic pills or powders that will ensure health of the colon or any other part of the body.

I believe in colon cleansing, once I went on a 7 day fast and at the same time I took a fiber product (not Dr. Ho) and purged myself. After the 5th day, stuff was coming out that I couldnt belive. I know it was not fresh, after that fast I felt very light and clean.

Although I agree that the hype about colon cleansing is overrated and over-priced there is a bit of truth in cleaning yourself out. Research done by Denis Burkitt (for whom Burkitt's Lymphoma was named). He weighed the bowel movements of Africans and Westerners and concluded that more fiber was needed in the Western diet. Africans, who had much larger bowel movements than Westerners, also had lower rates of colon cancer.

Reur recent Reader's Digest program. I can't believe anyone would buy any product just to enter into their contest. I have been totally put off by all their contest junk and have adopted the suggestion of Andy Rooney in regard to all unsolicitated mail, I shove it back into their own postage prepaid envelopes. I wrote to R.D. and told them that I refuse to waste my time and eyesight reading all that fine print and to quit sending it. They said they would but the junk mail still kept coming in the package with the digest. I took out the Digest and marked the package "Return to Sender". I have also expressed my displeasure with the content of their magazine. Each edition keeps getting smaller and with less real articles.
A good third is advertising and another third we don't know what it is because they don't tell us if it a genuine article on health or nutrition or just a paid advertisement. At least on Television we are usually advised of Paid Commercial programs.

I certainly agree with the point of your program that the best form of colon clensing is the addition of fiber either in diet or suppiment. However when talking to the Doctor you asked if he had ever seen a dirty colon and his reply was never. That was probably true but what he didn't mention was that before a colonoscopy is done the patient is thoroughly cleaned out with laxatives as well as a clensing emema and if feces is found the patient is returned to the floor if they are an in patient and the staff are instructed to repeat the process until the colon is clean.

Re. the Readers Digest report, I think it is criminal that they can be so unscrupulous as to take such advantage of seniors and others. And that our Gov't (taxpayers) subsidizes them 2 million dollars annually to mail this "junk" is outrageos!!! I am a letter carrier, so I know how much of this is delivered, and mainly to seniors, unfortunately. We recieve this magazine in our household only because someone sends it to us as a gift subsription. Quite a few years ago, I wrote them to say that if they did not stop sending the
"crap" with the magazine, I would cancel the subscription, Guess what...it worked. We have that option. But I really wish the lawmakers would deal with it.

Several year ago, I too became frustrated with all the contest material that I was receiving from Reader's Digest. I contacted Reader's Digest asking that both my name and my mother's name, be removed from their mailing list. Within 3 months all contest entries stopped arriving and I continue to receive the magazine, as well as their Our Canada publication without having to be told regularly that I am a preferred customer who is about to become rich.

your show was really interesting, for so long I thought this cleansing thing was a good idea...now I realize that a lot of it is just hype and false information. Shame on these advertisers for misleading the public.

Why is Dr Ho even marketing his products in Canada. I guess Dr Ho hasn't heard of a fleet enema before.

I got sucked in with the colonix colon cleaner, I purchased it and took as prescribed for 30 days... Well, nothing came from it other than a whole in my bank account. I learned my lesson the expensive way, I wish I would have seen your show before. You are absolutely right in saying that this stuff is garbage and does NOTHING.

Great show, looking forward to next week, as always...

I have regular bowel movements and as the doctor at Queen's University said that respectively depends on the individual. My colon cleanser is the conversion to vegetarianism in mid October of 2003. Further more it only costs a bit of resolve in sticking to it. I know for over five years I feel better.

I do agree that the claims made about the colon cleanses are very far fetched. Typically they are a type of laxative, meaning they irritate the bowels to the point of evacuation. I don’t agree with the statement the MD made in the interview. His comment that “normal is your normal” and you could go as little as a couple of times a week isn’t healthy. Bowel movements should be occur daily, for some people it can happen more than once. As long as the stool is firm and whole, no diarrhea, blood, mucus, or undigested food then there is little concern. There are so many factors that can affect the movement of the bowel, such as stress, bowel adhesions, medications and food sensitivities especially gluten, diary and sugar.

The other point I want to make is with chronic constipation typically people do have residual stool in the bowels within the folds (haustra or flexures) hence the stool that is removed with colonics. When you are scheduled for a colonoscopy you are given a laxative that irritates the bowels cleaning them completely out. Which might be a factor the bowels in the video are very clean! I know family members that have had the procedure lost close to 10 lbs with the laxatives!

Finally, I am interested in knowing what kind of fiber was used as the control with your investigations? If it was psyllium there is a large portion of the population that actually has increased gas, bloating and constipation while taking it. There are better fiber options that do not cause these and are natural.

Have you folks at Market Place looked at bentonite? Google it. Bentonite is a type of clay that has been used for colon cleaning. This is what causes a cast of the colon to develop when a colon cleaning product containing it is used. Bentontite what appears in those pictures shown in advertisements that you showed on your report.

Why is this important? Because that stuff that is purportedly coming out from the body through colon cleansing is not waste that has been rotting away. It is merely the bentonite! Colon cleanser advertising is deceptive because it strives to mislead the consumer into thinking that it is clearing out something from the body that what in fact, never there!

Anyone who does colonscopy knows that the colon looks very much like the inside of a cheek because the cells (epithelial) are very similar and are continually being renewed. Don't be fooled by claims that colons are like "old rotting pipes". It is just not true.

I have tried Dr. Ho's Ab Trimmer in the past. I never took it because I expected to lose weight from one little product like that. Anyone with a functioning brain knows you need to exercise as well as watch what you eat. I tried it because I had irregularity issues. When I was on the Ab Trimmer stuff I felt better, and was regular (never had any bloating). I believe that every product makes exaggerated claims. That's just advertising and we all should expect that.

The Ab Trimmer didn't make me run to the loo like fibre (or other cleansers) seem(s) to do, so I was able to take it with me when I travelled. It is a bit expensive and tastes horrible, but as far as I am concerned it was worth it.