When was the last time you were “regular”?

It is important that we are honest and open when it comes to being regular.  When was the last time you had a really good bowel movement?

Most of us have never really given the subject much consideration.  We get up in the morning, give thanks for another day and head straight for the bathroom to make a deposit.  It is hard to imagine what it is like to not release waste on a daily basis–until it hits home.  Eventually, most of us come face-to-face with subtle, yet important issue at least a few times in our lives.

One day, for reasons beyond anything we can fathom, we get on the porcelain throne and no magic.  It just doesn’t seem to happen.  We get a bit concerned, but with little need for hysterics we go on with our day.  We think about “it” from time-to-time during the day, feel a bit off kilter and moody, but hope it will happen later.  Maybe it will happen after lunch?  Sometimes a bit of coffee is all it takes to get things going.

You get to work, say the daily “hellos,” drop things off at your locker or your desk and head straight for the coffee dispenser.  Luckily, your good old friend “caffeine” does the trick.  You make a beeline for the office restroom and notice things don’t come out that easily, and in fact, you it find it a bit trying having to sit there for so long. People seem to knock on the locked door, wanting to use the facilities every five minutes when you sit there, waiting for a miracle.

It is a miracle in a sense.  We can abuse our bodies for many years, even unknowingly, and things seem to work. During my young adult life,  I felt invincible for periods of time.  I could drink beer, party all night and get grub from the drive through every day and never have a problem bouncing back.  Then one day the party stops and life takes over, and you get to hear “have a nice day” more often than actually experiencing one.

Little do we realize that our daily choices are the key to determining whether or not we will have a nice day, especially when it comes to feeling regular.  For some of us, the miracle of regularity has not been with us for years.

We eventually get hip to the fact that going to the bathroom infrequently is not enough, even though we have convinced ourselves that it is more convenient to go once a week. Our daily exposure to stress, our toxic world and the modern diet all necessitate the regular attention to our bowels.

I no longer live in a world that is regulated by the cycles of nature and the change of seasons.  I shouldn’t be surprised that I am chronically constipated or backed up.

A tube within a tube

The digestive tract starts with the mouth and ends at the anus. The digestive tract is not that complicated.   The human body is basically a big tube with a feeding hose running down the middle: “a tube within a tube.”

This feeding tube is the digestive system.  We put things in one end, the mouth–and they come out the other end.  These two openings are the only “holes” in the human body that are connected.  We would never think of putting a carrot in one ear and hope that pulp would come out of the other.  The digestive system is unique in that it essentially winds through the center of body, and supplies nutrients to all the organs and tissues.

The inner tube’s job is to extract what it needs from the food we eat before it returns to the outside world, as compost or waste.  Our bodies are designed to consume and eliminate whole food very efficiently.  The basic function of consuming and eliminating food, as a source of nutrients and energy, are vital to our health.

If we are not able to consume enough of the proper food, we eventually develop disease.  Similarly, if we are not able to eliminate waste that is the by-product of the foods we eat, then we develop diseases that are associated with the accumulation of toxins in the bowels.  It can be argued that it is vital that we eat, BUT it is of lasting importance that we eliminate waste and remove blockages on a daily basis.

In ancient Chinese medicine it is said, “the root cause of all disease is the blockage of the flow of energy in the body.”  Most naturopathic doctors agree that disease is often linked to poor digestive function.  It is most important to keep things moving or flowing in an organism that is not much more than a bunch of cells that need energy.

When food, a form of energy that is turned into waste, sits in the digestive system for more than 24 hours, we are certainly putting this age-old wisdom to the test.

This digestive tube starts in the mouth. The mouth, common to popular belief, does have a biological function other than talking and satisfying our cravings. It is an open door between the inner workings of the body and the outside world. We may never experience a more intimate relationship with our surroundings than when we put it inside of ourselves. Digestion commences in the mouth even before we take our first bite.

Before the teeth go to work breaking food down, we respond to the sight and smell of food by salivating.  Saliva acts as a lubricating and emulsion agent.  Saliva contains enzymes, produced by glands in the mouth, to break down starches or carbohydrates. We have these big teeth and powerful jaws: our body expects the mouth to liquefy our food for easy digestion.  Most of us, however, being habituated by a hurried lifestyle, rush through our meals and do not chew our food thoroughly.

Optimally, every bite of food should be chewed 40 times before we swallow.  Food should have a liquid consistency when swallowed.  It should not be swallowed in big chunks that later show up undigested as waste.  How many times have you gazed down in bewilderment at “the” porcelain bowl filled with what looks like last nights cobb salad? This is not an uncommon site for those with poor digestion.

The digestive system breaks food down into smaller, hopefully microscopic, elements so that nutrients can be absorbed.  When the body does not break down food well, the chances are that we are receiving little nutrition.  A body that is not getting the nutrition it needs will continue to increase the desire to eat, and in many cases, drive itself to over eat or “crave” certain foods.

Our Daily Sugar Feast

The average person in America eats 125 pounds of sugar (a simple carbohydrate) a year.  Why do we crave sugar? Is it because we rush through our meals, bypassing the essential digestive step that is important in getting the nutrient content that it may offer?  Or is it because sugar is a highly processed chemical that has become an addictive irritant?

Sugar is processed by separating the sweet part from the fiber.  Most sugars are derived from cane or fruits.  These sweet substances have a high fiber content that is essential for proper digestion of sugar.  Sugar and fiber are almost always found together, even attached to each other in most fruits.  Fiber holds onto sugar and only release it to the body after it has been broken down.  As fiber is slowly digested, it slowly releases well-digested sugar into the blood stream.  This reduces the harsh insulin imbalancing effect of sugars.

Tagged as: colon