|
|
Colon II Warm Greetings, Last week, if you remember, in our exploration within the digestive tract, we reached the Colon. One of the chief functions of the colon is the reabsorption of much of the water used in the digestive process. If all the water in which the digestive enzymes were secreted was lost in the faeces, man would have to drink continually. If too much water is expelled with the faeces, then a condition known as diarrhoea exists. Diarrhoea happens because of an irritation in the stomach and the small intestine due to unsuitable food or inflammation. In this case, the colon expels its entire waste residue upon entry without holding it for water reabsorption. On the other hand, if the waste material moves too slowly through the colon, then excessive water is reabsorbed and the faeces become hardened. This is called constipation. Waste material may move too slowly through the colon for a number of reasons. Perhaps the most usual reason is that peristaltic nerves are paralysed by toxicity from decaying foodstuffs. Another reason for constipation is that the passage way has become too small due to poor tone or to hardened faeces clogging the intestinal walls. When the body is abused by the modern diet, the colon often suffers the most. On a conventional low-fibre diet, the average adult continually carries around about 5kg of faecel material on the colon walls. Fortunately, a diet high in natural fibre ( raw fruits & vegetables ) can greatly help the body to restore the health of the intestines. The last portion of the large intestine is the rectum. This segment serves as a storage chamber for the faeces until defecation. The faeces are eliminated from the rectum through an opening called the anus. And so the journey of food through the body is completed. Many healthy individuals process the food from the mouth to the anus in about 16 to 24 hours. Most adults eating a conventional diet, however, generally take from 48 to 72 hours for their food to complete the journey. Most of this added delay is due to incompatible food combination and lack of colon vitality. A wealth of information exists about the physiology of food digestion and absorption. Unfortunately, the science of nutrition has often depended upon "rat experiments" and artificially induced deficiencies, rather than upon the true needs of humans, to determine dietary requirements. A more reasonable approach to determining the true dietary nature of humans is to study human anatomy and physiology. By studying human physiological nature, certain characteristics of the proper diet can be deducted that are in accordance of the inherent nature and anatomical make-up of human kind. This approach does not depend upon contrived experiments, nor is it already biased by what the majority of people believe a traditional diet should be. Instead, human physical capabilities and predispositions are the chief factors in determining true dietary needs. Next week we will have a closer look at food appropriation. Stay well and happy Until next week, The Crazy Nut Team