[Medicine-for-people] Love Your Colon: Honor Your Anus
Douwe Rienstra
medical at olympus.net
Thu Jan 3 14:28:11 PST 2008
==========================================
Medicine for People!
January, 2008
---------------------------------------
Contents
- Love Your Colon: Honor Your Anus
- New Year's Resolution
==========================================
=== Love Your Colon: Honor Your Anus ===
January is the month when people flock to gyms and diet
programs. I'd like to offer you another way to get a fresh start on
health. In this season of the return of the light, I want to talk
about the place "where the sun never shines." That's right folks,
this issue is dedicated to the lovely, five-foot-long structure that
snuggles down in our lower abdomen and has a great deal to do with
whether we feel peppy and energetic or sluggish and dull. This
month's newsletter is dedicated to the colon and how to keep it
chugging happily along.
= Colon Disorders =
Unfortunately, a backed-up colon is more common than you might
think. In many people who don't think they have an elimination
problem, physical examination of the left lower quadrant of the
abdomen reveals a descending colon that is palpable and somewhat
tender. The patient has normal stools, no awareness of discomfort or
problem, yet he suffers from some slowness in the colon. On other
occasions, people come with abdominal pain and heartburn that,
unknown to them, result from a sluggish bowel.
= Colon Disorders are Linked to Diet =
Our modern diet puts an increased burden on the colon. The resulting
disease can be as mild as occasional constipation, as painful as
diverticulitis, or as deadly as colon cancer.
What our diet lacks is fiber. Our ancestors consumed a bulky,
fiber-rich diet. Even today, colon disorders are much more common in
developed countries than where people eat simple, unprocessed food
such as root vegetables, leafy vegetables, and whole grains. In the
US, we tend to consume a lot of meat, poultry, fish, eggs, dairy
products, and baked goods. These foods have their virtues, but none
of them contain significant fiber.
= The Benefits of Fiber =
A sluggish bowel can almost always be improved by eating more
fiber. Here's why:
1. Fiber keeps the stool hydrated. Dry stool doesn't move very
well. Hydrated stool is bulky. The colon can more easily get a grip
on it and move it through. Drier stool results in greater pressure
inside the colon and the formation of pockets called
diverticuli. (See this illustration at
http://www.rienstraclinic.com/newsletter/2008/2008January.html)
Diverticuli are like miniature appendixes, and like the appendix, can
become infected, sometimes dangerously so. Best to avoid them
altogether by maintaining a high fiber diet.
2. A high fiber diet does more than help promote happy bowel
movements. A high fiber diet encourages vital bacteria to grow in
our gut. Bacteria in our colon use a fermentation process to turn
fiber-based gums and pectins into beneficial nutrients such as
butyric acid. Data are conflicting, but some evidence indicates that
butyric acid reduces the risk of colon cancer. Don't bother with
butyrate supplements; the butyrate has to be produced on-site. For a
detailed scientific explanation of butyric acid, go
to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butyric acid
3. Healthy bowel flora provide us with essential vitamin K and biotin.
4. Certain fibrous foods, such as oats, have been shown to reduce cholesterol.
= Types of Fiber =
There are two main types of fiber.
1. Insoluble fiber, such as bran, doesn't dissolve in water, but it
does help to increase the bulk of the stool.
2. Soluble fiber dissolves in water, and though we humans can't
digest it, the beneficial bacteria make good use of it, as mentioned
above. Soluble fiber also increases stool bulk, and includes the
following substances:
-- Arabinose is found in legumes.
-- Beta-glucan, in oats, barley and rye, has been shown to reduce
the risk of heart disease.
-- Gums in beans, rice, barley, oats and seaweed, made into
butyrate by bacteria in the bowel, also can reduce irritable bowel symptoms.
-- Pectin in fruit, made into butyrate by bacteria in the bowel,
reduces absorption of cholesterol.
For more about dietary fiber, go
to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dietary_fiber
== Fiber in Food ==
The best way to obtain more fiber is by eating a diet that is high in
fruits, whole grains, legumes, and vegetables. Unprocessed foods
tend to be a better source of fiber than processed ones. Whole
grains, including brown rice and whole oat groats, do not raise blood
sugar as does grain processed into flour. Whole grain bread is
healthier than white bread but still a mediocre source of
fiber. Juices are touted at healthy drinks but, unfortunately, most
of the fiber has been removed. You can see the amounts of fiber in
common foods by consulting one of the many fiber content charts on
the Internet such as this
one: http://www.hcf-nutrition.org/fiber/fiberchart.html.
== Fiber Supplements ==
Fiber supplements do not replace the many types of fiber listed above
and do not substitute for a healthy diet. However, once you have
achieved as good a nutritional intake as you can, you may still not
be consuming as much fiber as Paleolithic man and you may benefit
from a fiber supplement.
Choices of fiber supplements include:
-- Psyllium seed husk, available as Metamucil in most of the
western world or in bulk at the Food Coop. Metamucil has an orange
flavor. This product is well tolerated by most people but
occasionally can cause gas.
-- Herbal blends such as Rejuve include psyllium along with
bowel-active herbs.
-- Citrucel is a brand of hydrocellulose fiber supplement that is
also easy to take and rarely causes gas. Citrucel is available
over-the-counter at the drugstore.
For any of these fiber supplements, start with one tablespoon in
water twice a day. Drink it right away or you'll get to observe how
much water these absorb and end up with a glassful of gel. Drink
adequate water or you may experience abdominal pain as the fiber
absorbs water in the digestive tract.
= A River Runs Through It =
Once you increase your fiber intake, it might take a few days for it
to penetrate the entire bowel column. I liken the GI tract to a
stream. You can improve the health of the upstream area as much as
you wish, but until that downstream logjam goes, it ain't gonna flow.
So even if a person starts to eat a high-fiber diet, there might be
enough of a logjam at the bottom that they will require a laxative
just to break things lose and get moving normally again. My favorite
laxatives, in ascending order of oomph, are prune juice, milk of
magnesia (one ounce), or castor oil (four or five teaspoons, best to
ask your doctor first).
= The Rectum is a Wonderful Thing =
The rectum, an under-appreciated structure, makes up the last six
inches of the colon. After some twists and turns, the colon makes a
bee line for the exit and it then takes on the Latin name for
straight - rectum (as in rectitude).
Normally the rectum is empty and if I do a rectal exam on a healthy
individual I will not feel any stool. The way the mechanism works is
that the colon will, from time to time, push a quantity of feces down
into the rectum. This stretches the rectum, which causes that
unmistakable feeling. If we obey nature's call, the stool is passed.
Any small amount of remaining stool is pushed back into the sigmoid
colon, leaving the rectum empty. Should we not obey nature's call
when it comes, the rectum becomes habitually full. Those stretch
receptors and their associated reflex mechanisms then lose the
ability to function normally. That nice little cycle of empty
rectum-full rectum- signal to the brain-emptying process-empty rectum
breaks down.
People in this situation report distress from a continued sense of a
need to empty their bowels but not being able to. The result can be
general misery. It is far easier to obey nature's call and keep the
rectum operating normally and happily.
= The Underappreciated Anus =
Here is a traditional tale told by Johnny Moses
(http://www.johnnymoses.com/), a Tulalip Native American storyteller
raised in the remote Nuu-chah-nulth village of Ohiat on the west
coast of Vancouver Island.
Raven gathered the people in the great lodge, complimented them on
their many accomplishments and virtues, and pointed out that if only
they didn't have that shameful anus beneath their clothing, they
would be perfect. So the people gave Raven gifts in exchange for his
magical removal of their anuses. Immediately they felt so much
cleaner and less embarrassed. The next few days, though,
inexplicably, everyone seemed faintly ill-at-ease. Then the people
realized their mistake and began searching frantically for the now
missing raven.
While the people continue their search, let me point out the wonders
of the anus. Consider this: when those stretch receptors in the
rectum signal the brain, the rectum may contain gas, stool, or
liquid. The anus can tell the difference and sort out what action to take.
Sometimes, though, when the anus is ailing, it cannot do that
important job. It may leak. It may hurt. It may be unable to tell
stool from gas. The weight loss drug orlistat (Xenical) works by
impairing fat absorption. As a result the stool contains excess fat,
and this confuses even a healthy anus, which cannot distinguish oily
stool from gas, and lets it pass.
When our mothers made us, they made us with an anus. We need to care
for it as our mothers did, with nurturing concern and freedom from
judgment. Otherwise we'll need, as in the Native American story, to
make amends. Only our gifts will not be to Raven to reverse his
magic, but to a modern medicine man.
So let us always appreciate our colon, the healthy bacteria it
carries, and the anus that bids our stool farewell. Let us treat our
personal plumbing well.
=== New Year's Resolution ===
Easy does it. Rather than a sudden, impossible-to-maintain change,
find foods that are rich in fiber that you'll enjoy in your everyday
meals and snacks. Buy fruit and keep it on the table. You'll remind
yourself to consume it before it goes bad. Cook a pot of beans, and
freeze in portion-size units for last-minute meals. This will make
your colon happy. And when Mr. Colon is happy, everybody is happy.
=====================
=== Recent issues of Medicine for People! ===
December, 2007 What I Learned in
Jail http://www.rienstraclinic.com/newsletter/2007/2007December.html
November, 2007 How to Talk to your Doctor, Winter and Vitamin D,
Mercury-free Flu
Vaccine http://www.rienstraclinic.com/newsletter/2007/2007November.html
October, 2007 What is Science, Colon Cancer Screening
Update http://www.rienstraclinic.com/newsletter/2007/2007October.html
September, 2007 Perscription Medicines: When to Use them, When to
Lose Them http://www.rienstraclinic.com/newsletter/2007/2007September.html
August, 2007 Resist the Hype, Summer
Scrapes http://www.rienstraclinic.com/newsletter/2007/2007August.html
July, 2007 Annual Pharmacy Update, Free Pharmaceuticals, Medicine
Far >From Home http://www.rienstraclinic.com/newsletter/2007/2007July.html
June, 2007 The Long and Winding Road
http://www.rienstraclinic.com/newsletter/2007/2007June.html
May, 2007 Depression, Dementia, and Lithium
http://www.rienstraclinic.com/newsletter/2007/2007May.html
==========================================
=== Reader Alert ===
We publish this newsletter monthly. If you do not receive every
issue, your spam filter may be intercepting it. Please add us to
your email "accept list."
==========================================
Medicine for People! is written by Douwe Rienstra MD, edited by
Carolyn Latteier, and published at Port Townsend, Washington.
Copyright January, 2008.
To subscribe, click
here: http://lists.olympus.net/mailman/listinfo/medicine-for-people
To change your email addresss, go
to http://lists.olympus.net/mailman/listinfo/medicine-for-people to
subscribe using your new address. Unused addresses are removed automatically.
Click here: http://www.rienstraclinic.com/newsletter/archive.html for
previous issues.
Write Dr Rienstra here: MedicineForPeople at RienstraClinic.com.
More information about the clinic: http://www.rienstraclinic.com/
More information about the Medicine-for-people
mailing list