The mainstream medical community challenges the benefit of colon and organ cleansers. There is a long standing debate about if these are necessary for everyone or only for certain people. There are two sides to the argument, each of which has merit.

The body has the ability to remove toxins and waste products, if it is well nourished. If a person drinks plenty of water and gets plenty of fiber in their diet, their digestive system will not be sluggish. The problem is that many people today do not drink enough water. Other beverages are more popular. Most people do not get enough fiber in their diet, so they suffer from chronic constipation, bloating and stomach pain.

Most in the mainstream medical community would say that toxins do not build up in the body, unless a person is chronically exposed to them. For example, if a person ate the same kind of fish on a daily basis and that fish was contaminated with mercury, they would begin to suffer from mercury poisoning, because the body can only rid itself of so much at a time.

On the other side of the debate are groups that have shown that chemicals, such as parabens and other artificial preservatives build up in the body's tissues. This has been proven through the examination and analysis of removed tumors. Many researchers believe that continuous exposure to low levels of environmental toxins over the course of one's lifetime places a heavy burden on the liver and increases our risk of various diseases, including cancer. But, instead of advising a liver cleanse, milk thistle or another remedy, they advise us to avoid exposure to these toxins.

Of course, that can be difficult to do. They are in our water, the food that we eat and the air that we breathe. We can make an effort to eat more organic foods. A recent study indicates that eating only organic foods can increase your lifespan by 10 years. There are two reasons for that.

First, the farmers and ranchers do not use chemical herbicides, pesticides, hormones or other toxic substances when raising the food. Second, organic foods contain more nutrients than those grown through traditional methods. Many health experts believe that increasing your nutritional intake without increasing your caloric intake can help you live a longer healthier life.

For many people, supplementation is the easiest, if not the only way to do that. The best supplements contain 100mg of milk thistle extract, along with lecithin to increase its bioavailability, and over 70 other nutrients that are known to contribute to good health.

The better supplement manufacturers do not refer to it as a liver cleanse; milk thistle is included to support healthy liver function. It has been used for that purpose for thousands of years. If you aren't taking a good multi-nutritional supplement, now might be the time to start.