Laxatives, like all medications, have a specific use in human lives. They are designed to relieve constipation by softening the stool with added water in the bowel and stimulating the muscles that line the bowel to help push the waste out. If taken on a daily basis, these drugs could limit or destroy the body’s ability to move waste matter through the colon and out of the body on its own.

The part of the digestive system that is affected by laxatives lies at the end of the line, after food has been digested to whatever extent it will be. This means that all of the calories consumed in a meal have already been absorbed into the body before any remaining material gets to this part of the digestive tract.

The bowel is open at both ends, meaning that it can only hold a finite amount of material. Even a high colonic could only flush out a certain amount of waste matter. Much of this weight would be immediately replaced as more waste comes out of the upper digestive tract into the bowel and makes its way to the rectum. Because laxatives typically only affect the lower one third to one half of the bowel, they could not force any more weight out of the body than a colonic.

The best way to attempt to lose weight is to make changes in one’s lifestyle concerning the amount and types of food consumed and the amount of exercise the body receives as a matter of routine. Reducing the number of calories taken in while increasing the number of calories used is the only real method of losing weight that can have any hope of succeeding.

Of course, the changes made must be at a fundamental level. One can not ‘go on a diet’ and starve oneself until the desired weight is lost, then resume the same old habits. The result would be a rebound in weight. The lost pounds would return and one would be back where he/she started from, if not worse off. Taking laxatives to lose weight is even more futile than starvation dieting and much more dangerous.

To put it very simply, the answer to that question is no. Laxatives have a place in our lives as a treatment for constipation to help prevent the bowel from becoming so packed that it ruptures creating major problems inside the body. However, attempting to forcefully evacuate waste can actually cause a tear in the intestinal wall that leads to a potentially deadly infection.

Anyone who understands the principles of weight loss and keeping excess weight off can tell that the use of laxatives can only result in a maximum of five or six pounds being lost, and most of that being water. This weight will quickly be replaced as soon as the individual eats or drinks anything.

There are different types of laxatives, saline, stimulants, fiber, and stool softeners. Most commercial laxatives contain combinations of two or more of these different types. It is important to note that most of these work by taking water away from the other tissues in the body and forcing it into the intestine in an effort to soften the stool and make it pass more easily. This is the reason the majority of any weight loss through the use of laxatives would be water weight.

Overdosing on laxatives, which is the most common method used when promoting laxatives as a means of weight loss, can lead to dehydration, severe stomach cramps, and repeated abuse can lead to an inability to move the bowel without having to take medications.

It does not matter what type or combination of types of medications go into a laxatives. The simple fact of the matter is there are no safe laxatives for weight loss. Even if there were, the limited scope of function that laxatives serve would not allow for any significant weight loss nor for any weight loss of a permanent nature.