A Guide to Intestinal Health

There is a 30-foot pathway that, in the Western world, is overlooked and at times ignored. The condition of this passageway plays and important role in an individual’s quality of life and longevity. It is the gateway that guards us from invaders, which may lead to disease and eventual death. So where is this 30-foot tract found? It is found in the abdomen region of every human and is called the intestinal tract. 

In Eastern medical practice, the condition or health of the intestinal tract is extremely important. Ayurvedic medicine, which dates back some 5,000 years, places great importance on cleansing and detoxifying the intestinal tract. A therapy called Shodan is used to rid the body of toxins and to aid in healing and restoring health. Ayurvedic medicine views toxins as the root cause of all disease; toxins are believed to stem from undigested and unabsorbed food, which builds up on the walls of the large intestine or colon and becomes a breeding ground for bacteria and parasites. 

In Western medicine, many of the antibiotics that some experts believe are over-used to treat infection and rid the body of bacteria may actually weaken intestinal health and compromise our bodies’ natural healing powers. Dr. Mark Pochapin, Director of Gastrointestinal Health at New York Presbyterian Hospital, has been quoted as saying, “Indiscriminate killing of good and bad bacteria is too drastic.” Pochapin further states that, “In fact some doctors point to reduced bacterial counts in the intestines for the upsurge in intestinal disorders such as Irritable Bowel Syndrome and Crohn’s Disease.” It’s time for East to meet West and to develop a system of health where its foundations are built on prevention rather than repair. 

The intestinal tract transforms the foods we eat into macro (protein, carbohydrate and fats) and micro (vitamins, minerals, enzymes, phytochemicals and fiber) nutrients, which provide the building blocks for cellular repair and energy for life. The intestines also remove the by-products of waste and toxins from the transformed food, which, if allowed to remain in our system, could lead to disease and possible death. 

The three functions of the intestinal tract are digestion, absorption and elimination. The first 25 feet of the intestines, called the small intestine, consists of three parts – the duodenum, ileum and jejunum. Together, they perform the function of digestion and absorption. The cells in the wall of the small intestine, called the mucosa, secrete mucus, peptidase, maltase, lactase and lipase , along with the enzymes and digestive bile secreted from the liver, pancreas and gallbladder, to digest food and make it available to be absorbed through the small intestine’s walls to enter the blood to be used by all cells. 

The last five feet of the intestines, the large intestine or colon, consists of five parts the cecum colon, ascending colon, transverse colon, descending colon and sigmoid colon, which completes the function of absorption of certain vitamins, minerals and water. The colon then performs the function of formation and elimination of feces consisting of nutrient-void food, along with toxins that are the byproducts of chemical digestion. Unlike the small intestines, the mucosa cells in the walls of the large intestine produce only mucus, which protect the cells from the toxins in the waste material as it passes by. It takes three to ten hours for the partially digested food called chyme to pass through the small intestine and enter into the large intestine. The transit time of waste material in the large intestine can be hours or days. It is this extended period of digestion, absorption and elimination that provides the battleground for bacterial microorganisms to play a major role in keeping our defense mechanisms free of disease. We don’t catch diseases; we create them when our natural defense mechanisms are broken down. 

What are your first thoughts when you think of bacteria? Are they good or bad? If you’re thinking of the kitchen counter or toilet seat, your anti-bacterial conditioning will have you saying bacteria is bad. However, when it comes to your intestinal health, the correct answer is both. We need good bacteria to digest food, to synthesize vitamins and minerals, to clean up toxins and dead cells and to compete with the bad bacteria for nutrients. The bad bacteria are pathogenic and disease-causing. They attempt to overtake our immune systems and compete for the same nutrients that bring life to our bodies. So, for optimum health, we must understand the intestinal world of friendly or harmful bacteria. The lyrics in Dave Mason’s hit song say, “There ain’t no good guys, there ain’t no bad guys, there’s only you and me and we just disagree.” I hope you and I agree on this: He was not singing about your intestinal tract. There is a war taking place in our intestinal tracts between the good guys (good bacteria) and the bad guys (bad bacteria) each day.