healthyjourney

COLON and DIGESTIVE HEALTH

by Janis M. Betz, R.N., B.S.N.

People in industrialized societies suffer from the highest incidences of digestive and colon problems.  Constipation and poor digestion are epidemics in this country.  Concern for colon and digestive health is often never a thought because people are often unaware of what is going on inside of them.  “Over the counter” drug sales for colon and digestive problems is a “multimillion” dollar industry.

 

There are five characteristics of a poorly functioning colon:

 

1)      Moving bowels less than 2-3 times a day.

2)      Straining to pass your bowel contents.

3)      Having a hard stool that sinks to the bottom.

4)      Chronic diarrhea, loose stool, or constipation.

5)      Excess gas, bloating, and abdominal cramping.

 

Digestion problems and heartburn are on the rise because the majority of people are chronically dehydrated, eat too fast, chew poorly, and their enzyme bank has been depleted due to over consumption of cooked and processed foods.  If food is not digested properly, the small bowel needs to produce mucus to further break down the food and protect the lining of the small bowel.  When food is poorly digested, you do not get the nutrients out of the food you are eating.  The mucus production also blocks the absorption of nutrients from your small bowel.  When you don’t absorb nutrients, your body’s cells are depleted, and they will eventually become diseased.  Poorly digested food and the mucus produced to deal with it will congest your bowel.  A congested bowel often puts pressure on the stomach, which may push up into your esophagus stimulating heartburn.  Caffeinated drinks also stimulate heartburn. The elderly and Blood Type A and AB people have a lower capacity to produce hydrochloric acid and enzymes for digestion.

 

In his book, Colon Health: The Key to a Vibrant Life, Norman W. Walker, D.Sc., Ph.D. states, “The elimination of undigested food and other waste products is equally as important as the proper digestion and assimilation of food.  Infirmity and sickness, at any age, is the direct result of loading up the body with food, which contains no vitality, and at the same time allowing the intestine to remain loaded with waste matter.  The fact of the matter is that constipation is the number one affliction underlying nearly every ailment. Short-term afflictions resulting from the absorption of mucus and toxic waste from the colon into the rest of the body include pimples, sore throats, colds, hay fever, sinus, eye and ear problems.  Afflictions of a more long-term nature caused by a constant influx of toxemia into the body from the colon include degeneration or cancer in vital organs.”

 

“The intestine may harbor the seeds of disease in the form of a false lining that blocks nutrient absorption and creates toxicity.  Many illnesses such as a number of cancers, most allergies, infections, liver diseases, acne, psoriasis, and asthma start in the intestine.  The intestine becomes clogged, toxic, and diseased by what and how we eat and by how poorly we eliminate waste material.  Once the bowel is toxic, it creates toxicity for the entire body and an inability to absorb the nutrients necessary for health and healing.”  (Diamond M.D., Cowden M.D., Goldberg) A clogged colon is also the perfect environment and breeding ground for parasites.

 

Just as the pipes in your home accumulate a slimy, protein build-up, your colon accumulates a build-up of thick, sticky mucus, and poorly digested food debris on its sides.  A narrow passageway is created, which slows up the drainage of the foodstuffs you eat.  This build-up occurs when you eat the Standard American Diet (S.A.D.), and when your diet is deficient in fiber and water.  The following foods/drinks from the SAD diet clog up your colon and cause poor colon health:

 

1.       White flour acts like glue.

2.       Fats are very sticky.

3.       Meat stimulates the production of sticky mucus to help break down poorly digested meat.

4.       Dairy is the most mucus-forming substance you could put in your mouth.

5.       Alcohol, soda, coffee, and other caffeinated drinks stimulate your kidneys to excrete more water than it should to flush these toxic drinks from your body.  This causes chronic dehydration.  Dehydration causes you to lose more water out of your colon, which causes the fecal matter and mucus to become hard and stick to the sides of the colon.

 

The colon has reflexes that affect other parts of your body.  For example, if your ascending colon (goes up right side of abdomen) is swollen and irritated, you may have liver issues, breathing issues or pain in your right leg or arm.  If you have bulging in the turns of your colon (upper left and right quadrants of abdomen), you may have ringing of the ear or dizziness.  If your transverse colon (crosses top of abdomen) is congested with encrusted fecal matter, you may have sinus congestion, allergies, foggy thinking, or memory loss.  If your descending colon (goes down left side of abdomen) is enlarged and contains pockets filled with old fecal matter, you may have heart or lung trouble, shoulder or arm problems/pain, or spleen issues.

 

A healthy colon is about five feet long, two and a half inches in diameter, and weighs two to three pounds.  The average American’s colon weighs ten to fifteen pounds.  It is not uncommon for an unhealthy colon to weigh up to 60 pounds.  When John Wayne died, the autopsy reported was said to reveal that his colon weighed between 70-80 pounds.  The colon’s main function is to remove water from the chyme (digesting food particles) and bulk up the stool.  Friendly bacteria continue to further break down any partially digested food/meat substances.  Friendly bacteria make nutrients such as vitamin K and some of the B vitamins.  Your colon should eliminate its contents every 8-12 hours.  Ideally, your stool should be a foot long, 1 inch around, and partially floating.

 

Ten steps to a healthy colon:

1.       Consume raw vegetation, up to 65% of your diet.

2.       Have good digestion by taking enzymes.

3.       Increase fiber by taking a natural fiber supple-ment (i.e. psyllium, ground flax seeds, or equal parts oat bran, prune juice, and applesauce).

4.       DRINK WATER!  Water is nature’s best stool softener.  Drink half your body weight in ounces of water per day (135 lbs. = 68 oz. or 8 C./day).

5.       Eliminate refined, white flour and sugar, processed and deep-fried foods, dairy, and soda.

6.       To aid in the most thorough bowel movement, place your feet on a stool about 10 inches high.  This squat type position produces a more natural way to pass your bowels.  It also supports your abdominal muscles and colon muscle.

7.       Take a flora/probiotic (good bacteria) supplement, which contains two of the most common forms of good bacteria – acidophilus and Bifido bacterium, at bedtime.

8.       Maintain a healthy gallbladder function because bile acts like a detergent to clean the walls of your colon.  Bile makes your stools dark brown and move with little effort.

9.       Never repress the urge to pass your bowels!  Holding back the urge will cause a lazy bowel with subsequent chronic constipation.

10.   Exercise helps to stimulate intestinal contractions.

 

Colon Hydrotherapy and occasional enemas can help loosen up old built-up fecal matter on the sides of your colon.

 

Seven steps for healthy digestion:

1.       Chew your food until it is mush in your mouth.

2.       Take a good digestive enzyme after every meal.  If you are elderly or Blood Type A or AB, make sure the digestive enzyme has hydrochloric acid in it.  A two-phase digestive enzyme is best.

3.       Maintain a healthy colon.

4.       Stay hydrated between meals to keep excess stomach acid diluted.  Baking soda water may help neutralize excess acid and help heartburn.

5.       Avoid drinking with your meal to prevent diluting your digestive enzymes.

6.        DO NOT DRINK CAFFINATED DRINKS DURING OR AFTER YOU EAT!!! (i.e. coffee and soda)

7.       Maintain good gallbladder health because it breaks down fat so minerals and nutrients can absorb through your small intestine. Take an Ox Bile or Bile salt supplement, if needed, and do a liver/gallbladder flush to clean out stones.

References:

Balch & Stengler, Prescription for Natural Cures (2004)

Diamond, Cowden, Goldberg, Definitive Guide Cancer (1997)

Goldberg, Alternative Medicine Definitive Guide (2002)

Jensen, Iridology Simplified (1980)

Walker, Colon Health: The Key to a Vibrant Life, (1995)

V.E. Irons, The Healthview Newsletter, (1982)

 

ãHealthy Journey

 

DISCLAIMER: The information within this web site is not intended to take the place of medical advice from your personal physician. Readers are advised to consult their own physician or qualified health care professional regarding the treatment of their condition.  Janis M. Betz, R.N. and Healthy Journey does not offer medical advice diagnose or prescribe the use of diet and/or supplements as a form of treatment for a specific illness or disease.  It is your decision and constitutional right to treat yourself.  Janis M. Betz, R.N. and Healthy Journey is not responsible for any possible consequences from any treatment, action or application of herbs, vitamins, minerals or other supplementation.