General Information about the Colon & Elimination

The diameter of the colon should be roughly that of a silver dollar. Smaller than that indicates a constriction, possibly due to prolonged stress or accumulated layers of uneliminated debris. Larger indicates lack of colon muscle tone due to lack of exercise, low assimilation of minerals or a low fibre diet.

Food should move through the colon at a relatively even rate of speed. Digestion begins with the peristaltic action initiated by chewing ad continues until elimination. In a healthy colon this takes 24 to 36 hours. Faster usually indicates an accumulated layer of debris preventing the colon from digesting food. More time usually means impaction in or distortions of the colon are slowing down the process. In a healthy colon there should be one bowel movement for each meal.

A healthy stool half floats and half sinks in water. Stools that float are usually filled with undigested fat or fermented gas. Stools that sink usually have undigested minerals or is so compacted from retention it contains little moisture.

The stool should be composed of 95-98% dead bacteria and 2-3% fibre that has not broken down. Dead bacteria is light brown, hence the healthy stool should be light brown. Other colours can indicate the presence of undigested food, or in some cases, blood. Medications and vitamins can also cause colouration.

Your colon is not unlike a furnace. It's composting function is to heat the body. The internal temperature of a healthy colon is roughly 105ºF/ While there can be a number of reasons for cold hands and feet, chronic constipation, indicated the colon is not processing food fast enough to produce heat, is the most common one.

When the bowel is under-active, toxic wastes are absorbed through the bowel wall and into the bloodstream. The blood then circulates these toxins to every part of the body and deposits some of them in tissues. The greatest amounts of toxins are retained in the constitutionally weakest tissues. If any other elimination system is under-active, (lungs, kidneys, skin or lymph system), more wastes are retained in the body. As toxins accumulate, alterations in cellular function take place and organs begin to malfunction. In addition, as our ability to digest deteriorates, partially digested material starts to putrefy, furthering the toxic accumulation. When we reach the degenerative-disease stage (4 stages of disease — acute, sub-acute, chronic and degenerative), it is a sign that toxic settlements have taken over a specific part or parts of our body.

When the body is overwhelmed by toxic accumulations as a consequence of fatigue or poor circulation, proper oxygenation cannot take place in the tissues. Without oxygen, the body loses energy and cannot throw off toxins, which is why sick people are always tired.

One of the least understood aspects of nutrition is healing fats and killing fats. The fact is that some fats are absolutely required for health, while others are detrimental. Some fats heal while others kill. Whether fats heal or kill depends on several factors: what kind of fat it is; how it has been treated; is it fresh; has it been exposed to light, oxygen, heat, hydrogen, water, acid, base or metals like copper or iron?

If we get the right kinds of fats in the right amounts and balances, and prepare them using the right methods, they build health and keep us healthy. The wrong kinds of fats, the wrong amounts or balances, or even the right kinds of fats wrongly prepared, cause degenerative diseases that we call diseases of fatty degeneration. Avoid all products containing hydrogenated oils! They are perhaps the deadliest substance allowed in our foods!

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