Digestive Wellness: Strengthen the Immune System and Prevent Disease Through Healthy Digestion, Fourth Edition by Elizabeth Lipski Read Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Elizabeth Lipski
secretory IgA and helps with the maturation of B-lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell). These functions help to support local immune function.
Large Intestine or Colon
When all nutrients have been absorbed, water, bacteria, and fiber pass through the ileocecal valve to the large intestine and colon. The ileocecal valve is located by your right hip bone and separates the contents of the small and large intestines.
The colon is short, only three to five feet long. Its job is to absorb water and remaining nutrients from the chyme and form stool. Two and a half gallons of water pass through the colon each day, two-thirds of which come from body fluids. Theefficient colon pulls 80 percent of the water out of the chyme, which is absorbed into the bloodstream.
The large intestine has three main parts: the ascending colon (up the right side of the body), the transverse colon (straight across the belly under the ribs), and the descending colon (down the left side of the body) to the rectum, where feces exit the body. Stool begins to form in the transverse colon. If the chyme passes through the colon too quickly, water is not absorbed, causing diarrhea. Stool that sits too long in the colon becomes dry and hard to pass, leading to constipation. About two-thirds of stool is composed of water and undigested fiber and food products. The other third is composed of living and dead bacteria.
The large intestine contains the majority of commensal and probiotic bacteria by far. In the colon, bifidobacteria ferment fibers that become short-chain fatty acids: butyric, propionic, acetic, and valerate. Butyric acid is the main fuel of the colonic cells. Low butyric acid levels or an inability of the colon bacteria to properly metabolize butyric acid has been associated with ulcerative colitis, colon cancer, active colitis, and inflammatory bowel disease.
When the stool is finally well formed, it gets pushed down into the descending colon and then into the rectum. It is held there until there is sufficient volume to have a bowel movement. Two sphincters—rings of muscle—control bowel movements. When enough feces have collected, the internal sphincter relaxes and your mind gets the signal that it’s time to relieve yourself. The external sphincter opens when you command it. Because this is voluntary, you can have the urge to defecate but wait until it’s convenient. If you ignore the urge, water keeps being absorbed back into the body and the stool gets dry and hard. Some people are chronically constipated because they don’t want to take the time to have a bowel movement or don’t like to have bowel movements at work. This book is about listening to your body signals. Take the time when your body calls you, not when it’s convenient or ideal.
Many health problems arise in the colon: appendicitis, constipation, diarrhea, diverticular disease, Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, rectal polyps, colon cancer, irritable bowel syndrome, parasites, and hemorrhoids.
WHAT GOES IN, MUST COME OUT!
We can learn a lot about ourselves from stool. Dennis Burkitt, M.D., father of the fiber theory, found that on average people on Western diets excreted only 5 ounces ofstool daily, whereas Africans eating traditional diets passed 16 ounces. Well-formed stool tells us when it wants to come out; we don’t need to coax it. It looks like a brown banana with a point at one end, is well hydrated, and just slips out easily. Stool that looks like little balls all wadded together has been in the colon too long. The longer waste materials sit in the colon, the more concentrated the bile acids become; concentrated bile acids irritate the lining of the colon. Hormones that have been broken down by the body are also excreted via our feces. If the stools sit in the colon for too long, these hormones are reabsorbed into the bloodstream, increasing the risk for estrogen-dependent cancers. Betaglucuronidase, an enzyme that may activate formation of
Large Intestine or Colon
When all nutrients have been absorbed, water, bacteria, and fiber pass through the ileocecal valve to the large intestine and colon. The ileocecal valve is located by your right hip bone and separates the contents of the small and large intestines.
The colon is short, only three to five feet long. Its job is to absorb water and remaining nutrients from the chyme and form stool. Two and a half gallons of water pass through the colon each day, two-thirds of which come from body fluids. Theefficient colon pulls 80 percent of the water out of the chyme, which is absorbed into the bloodstream.
The large intestine has three main parts: the ascending colon (up the right side of the body), the transverse colon (straight across the belly under the ribs), and the descending colon (down the left side of the body) to the rectum, where feces exit the body. Stool begins to form in the transverse colon. If the chyme passes through the colon too quickly, water is not absorbed, causing diarrhea. Stool that sits too long in the colon becomes dry and hard to pass, leading to constipation. About two-thirds of stool is composed of water and undigested fiber and food products. The other third is composed of living and dead bacteria.
The large intestine contains the majority of commensal and probiotic bacteria by far. In the colon, bifidobacteria ferment fibers that become short-chain fatty acids: butyric, propionic, acetic, and valerate. Butyric acid is the main fuel of the colonic cells. Low butyric acid levels or an inability of the colon bacteria to properly metabolize butyric acid has been associated with ulcerative colitis, colon cancer, active colitis, and inflammatory bowel disease.
When the stool is finally well formed, it gets pushed down into the descending colon and then into the rectum. It is held there until there is sufficient volume to have a bowel movement. Two sphincters—rings of muscle—control bowel movements. When enough feces have collected, the internal sphincter relaxes and your mind gets the signal that it’s time to relieve yourself. The external sphincter opens when you command it. Because this is voluntary, you can have the urge to defecate but wait until it’s convenient. If you ignore the urge, water keeps being absorbed back into the body and the stool gets dry and hard. Some people are chronically constipated because they don’t want to take the time to have a bowel movement or don’t like to have bowel movements at work. This book is about listening to your body signals. Take the time when your body calls you, not when it’s convenient or ideal.
Many health problems arise in the colon: appendicitis, constipation, diarrhea, diverticular disease, Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, rectal polyps, colon cancer, irritable bowel syndrome, parasites, and hemorrhoids.
WHAT GOES IN, MUST COME OUT!
We can learn a lot about ourselves from stool. Dennis Burkitt, M.D., father of the fiber theory, found that on average people on Western diets excreted only 5 ounces ofstool daily, whereas Africans eating traditional diets passed 16 ounces. Well-formed stool tells us when it wants to come out; we don’t need to coax it. It looks like a brown banana with a point at one end, is well hydrated, and just slips out easily. Stool that looks like little balls all wadded together has been in the colon too long. The longer waste materials sit in the colon, the more concentrated the bile acids become; concentrated bile acids irritate the lining of the colon. Hormones that have been broken down by the body are also excreted via our feces. If the stools sit in the colon for too long, these hormones are reabsorbed into the bloodstream, increasing the risk for estrogen-dependent cancers. Betaglucuronidase, an enzyme that may activate formation of
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