MOVING ON

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MOVING ON

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Working as a nutritionist, I hear a great deal about people's bowels

and am frequently astounded by what they consider to be normal

behaviour on the part of their nether regions.

More staggering still is the `sang froid' with which many people

regard the dilatory nature of their bowel movements.

 

`My bowels move regularly, once a week, whether they need to or

not!'

 

is often the attitude. Most people, indeed, see nothing wrong with

this situation; but ideally, according to naturopathic principles,

when two or three meals are being eaten daily the bowel should move

at least once or twice a day. If this shocks you, you should

probably read on…

 

Let us take a look at what the bowels should be doing and what may

happen if they don't do it properly.

 

TO START AT THE TOP

 

It is vitally important that food should be chewed in the mouth,

beginning the process of digestion correctly. The act of chewing

starts to break the food down. As the Chinese say, `The stomach has

no teeth': if your food isn't chewed in your mouth, it certainly

won't be anywhere else. Chewing also alerts the stomach to the

imminent arrival of food, triggering the production of stomach acid

and digestive enzymes.

 

The production of digestive juices in the stomach stimulates the

rest of the digestive tract to produce digestive secretions. Most of

the absorption of food constituents into the bloodstream takes place

in the small intestine.

If the original chewing doesn't take place, or if you run around

like a demented duck whilst eating, this won't happen! You will then

get partially digested foodstuffs fermenting and blowing you up like

a balloon, causing gripping pain and inflammation, and generally

creating havoc.

 

What's more, if your food isn't broken down and absorbed

effectively, you won't get the nutrients you need from it, so you'll

become malnourished despite eating plenty of food. Bizarre but true.

In fact, you often get hunger pangs because your body is looking for

sources of the nutrients it is lacking. Sorting out your digestion

can therefore reduce those troublesome cravings as well as removing

stomach pains and abdominal cramps!

 

MOVING ON

 

The main functions of the large intestine or colon are to absorb

water and salts from the food residues. The longer the bowel

contents hang around, the more water is absorbed and the harder and

drier they become. Dry, compacted faeces are much harder for the

bowel to grip and move along, so the bowel movements become slower

and less effective. Thus, transit time (the time it takes your food

to get from mouth to anus) increases and you're on your way to

constipation.

 

Wastes that sit around inside the colon for long periods of time can

stick to the gut wall, gradually hardening there. The gut wall

becomes inflamed and you get pain, cramping, bloating and all that

IBS stuff that is so common these days. When the gut wall becomes

suitably inflamed and irritated, new food arrivals trigger

diarrhoea. Many people's diarrhoea is caused by their long term

constipation, little though they might suspect it.

 

What else can happen when your digestive tract is `under-

functioning'?

 

Flatulence arises from the bowel contents sitting stewing instead of

moving on. Diverticulitis comes about when the muscles of the colon

sag, creating pockets that can fill with impacted faeces, creating

inflammation and further weakening the tone of the gut wall.

 

A sufficient supply of water is vital for the whole body, but

particularly the bowel!

 

Without sufficient water the bowel contents soon dry up, as

described earlier. The lining of the colon also changes, becoming

thicker and stickier rather than providing a smooth lubricant for

the passage of the faeces.

 

Drink! Taking 1.5 litres of water a day is a cheap and effective way

of improving health and raising energy levels. Try not to drink too

much just before, during or after eating, as this will dilute the

digestive juices. More than 20 minutes before or after eating is the

best bet for effective drinking.

 

Avoid coffee, alcohol, sugar and tobacco particularly if you are

constipated, as they upset the gastric secretions and deaden the

response of the bowel when used long term.

 

Foods that will help include:

 

• Short grain brown rice, cooked with lots of water and chewed well

• Figs, raw or cooked

• Dates, raw or cooked

• Carrot juice

• Prune juice

 

Exercise regularly, if only gently, as this stimulates muscle

activity and assists peristalsis.

 

SUPPLEMENTS

There are two main ways of encouraging better bowel movement with

supplements, either by using bulking agents or taking laxatives.

 

Bulking agents include products such as linseeds and psyllium husks,

which when taken with plenty of water, swell up inside the bowel to

soften the stool and provide the bulk needed by the bowel wall.

 

If these simple remedies are not enough to get your bowel moving,

you may need to use herb laxatives. Popular natural laxatives

include senna, cascara and buckthorn bark. A middle strength product

I recommend is an effective tablet which includes frangula, chicory,

blessed thistle and fumitory.

 

For more intensive action, granules of linseed and senna are very

effective. When using these laxatives, start with the smallest dose

recommended and work up until your bowel is moving well. Don't whack

in with a huge dose or you may well have to increase your household

expenditure on toilet rolls…

 

Once your bowel is working well, reduce the dose and use the bulking

agents to continue the beneficial effect. Employ the lifestyle

changes as well, rather than depending on the laxatives.

 

That's you: no bloating, no bubbling and boiling, stomach flatter,

skin clearer, eyes brighter, with a water bottle clutched firmly in

your hand and a definite spring in your step.

 

Healthy bowels: healthy body.

http://www.healthywaymagazine.com/issue28/05_bowels.html

_________________

JoAnn Guest

mrsjoguest

www.geocities.com/mrsjoguest/Genes