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There are hundreds of different ideas floating around about the best way to lose weight. Some of them make sense while others are completely unrealistic. One of those outright insane theories is that you can lose weight with laxatives.

The way laxatives work is that they stimulate the colon, which causes an increase in the rate of peristaltic movements in the bowel’s wall, as well as raises the level of water in the bowel. Neither of these actions will cause permanent weight loss.

The absorption of nutrients into the body during normal digestion is not inhibited by these drugs. Any part of what is consumed that can benefit the body in any way finds its way into the bloodstream and into the cells of the body. Waste material is the only thing left that cannot be used by the body. The bowel is limited in size and can not hold more than about five pounds of waste material.

Laxatives can help this waste to be flushed from the system more quickly and they also may help to rid the body of water; however, the weight lost from flushing these substances will not exceed six to seven pounds. This process can also result in healthy problems such as abdominal cramps, dehydration and other undesirable consequences that are actually more dangerous than the consequences of having those six or seven pounds present in your system.

People who use laxatives routinely as means to attempt to lose weight often find that their bowels will no longer work properly without them. Not only is this bad for your overall health; it may cause a loss in self confidence to be dependent on these drugs.

Not only is laxative abuse useless in the fight to drop pounds, it’s damaging to one’s health. It does not create any significant weight loss. Any weight you manage to lose will return as soon as you consume any food or beverages. You can’t lose weight with laxatives because it isn’t possible, so your best course of action is to try to find a more practical way to shed unwanted pounds.

Losing weight is an admirable goal, especially given that obesity is reaching epidemic proportions. But one of the least intelligent weight loss methods that has been promoted is using laxatives.

Digesting your food starts with chewing it, then makes it’s way down your esophagus into your stomach.  After, it travel more than twenty feet, through various organs and through passageways such as the upper and lower intestines. By the time the remainder of your food reaches the large intestine, it is entirely waste material.

The large intestine is alive with a wide variety of bacteria, which are not dangerous to the health if they stay confined to the intestine. The function of these bacteria is to help process the waste into smaller pieces in order that the body can safely and easily shed it.

There is also a very delicate balance between solid matter and water in the large intestine. As that balance can sometimes be messed up, you may perhaps find yourself either loose or hard stool. Constipation is the outcome of an excess of solid matter, while diarrhea is the outcome of an excess of water.

Laxatives are meant to relieve constipation by absorbing water back into the bowel from the surrounding tissue and softening the stool so that it can pass more comfortably. Since laxative weight loss works in the large intestine, which contains an insignificant amount of body weight, this is a harmful and ineffective method of weight loss. The large intestine rarely hold more than five pounds of waste and water at any time.

The problem is that while a laxative will certainly help get the accumulated waste in the large intestine out quicker, the human is going to continue replacing it rather quickly by consuming additional water or food, and most likely both! The only way to achieve measurable results with weight loss is to change the way a person he is and the amount of exercise the person receives.