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Posts Tagged ‘Colon Health’

A Proper diet is important for us to maintain optimum health but many people do not realize just how important a healthy diet is for a healthy colon. When we eat right our colon will actually help us stay healthier and can even help to reduce high cholesterol and high blood pressure.

Your colon is like a mini recycling center. It is able to absorb huge amounts of water which it uses in the recycling and waste removal process, it can actually absorb as much as eight times more water than the rest of the body does on a daily basis. While going through this process the colon separates waste from what is recycled which is water, electrolytes, and bile salts taken back into the body’s system.

To make sure that our colons remain healthy a good diet along with proper sleep and regular exercise is essential. As part of a healthy diet eating a good amount of fiber is crucial to the proper function of the colon as well and contributes to overall health as well. There are also certain kinds of friendly bacteria such as acidophilus that are good for you and help the colon to work properly.

Some of the maladies that indicate poor colon health are the following: Constipation and hemorrhoids which are both caused by a lack of fiber in the diet and colitis which is caused by an inflammation of the inner lining of the colon. Colon cancer can be prevented with a proper diet as well and due to testing available today is also one of the most curable cancers as well. Smaller problems can also be caused by colon-related functions. Things such as bad breath, acne and spider veins can be caused by a malfunction in the colon, because the colon rids the body of waste, it also cleanses the body. Poor health overall is the result of poor detoxification.

Colonics are a popular approach used to cleanse the colon using chemicals, tubes, and water to push fluid through the colon and remove leftover waste. Many people abuse these processes and end up harming their colon due to the removal of necessary bacteria. Colonics can be helpful if used properly, but it is best to consult with your doctor before using any of these therapies. Often they are not needed, and the “toxins” that are supposedly building up in the colon and intestine are often natural residue from the body’s natural processes. It is debatable whether or not the residue left in the colon really does affect the body in a negative way, although patients from colonics often report fresher skin, whiter eyes and a lighter sense of balance when the procedure is complete. The procedure can have some harmful side effects, however, and patients should be aware of these before undergoing treatment.

There are easier, healthier ways to clean the colon than this process. Changing your diet is one. A diet of fiber and raw foods helps clean the walls of the colon, and diuretics are helpful in producing excess waste and stools.

Care of the colon results in clear skin, healthy eyes and a good sense of balance.

thirty percent of the people in the USA do not suffer with constipation, but the other 70 percent struggle to get constipation relief and to create colon health. Some believe this percentage is even higher, 80- 90%. People are rushing out to buy laxatives to a tune of 1 billion or more each year. It appears that getting constipation relief is a major health issue that most of us have to deal with at one time or the other. Using natural means to create good bowel movement is what you should be striving for.

To create good health you need to use mostly natural foods and supplements that are free of various farm additives that are harmful to your body. You need to eat the right foods and watch how you prepare them so you can digest and absorb them without creating or leaving residues that get turned into toxic matter in your colon. Taking digestive enzymes, when you eat, will make sure that you digest your food so that you don’t have any undigested foods moving into the colon where they become toxic. This is how you create colon health

Now, if you go to a nutritionist or any other health practitioner to improve your health or deal with a health issue, the first question they should ask you on your first visit is, “how many bowel movements do you have each day or each week?” The discussion from this point on should be on colon health and getting constipation relief if you have and even if don’t have constipation.

If you visit a doctor, your colon health is the last area they discuss with you, unless you bring it up. And perhaps, this is an area they may never discuss with you at all.

In the Healthy & Natural Journal, April 1997, Majid Ali, M.D. wrote an article called, The Bowel is an Ecosystem, where he says,

“When I returned to the clinical practice of environmental and nutritional medicine after years of pathology work, I began carefully testing the assertions of nutritionists, naturopaths and clinical ecologist who claimed that various types of colitis [a deterioration of your colon wall] could be reversed with optimal nutritional and ecologic approaches. To my great surprise, I found that such professionals, who are usually spurned by drug doctors, were right after all. My patients responded well to the unscientific therapies vehemently rejected by my colleagues in drug medicine.”

Without good regular bowel movements and colon function, you will create various illnesses, colon discomforts, and diseases – cancer, colitis, diverticulitis, ulcerations.

If your colon is toxic, the blood will also be toxic. If your colon is toxic, these toxins will gradually reach all parts of your body through the blood and lymph liquid. The result is the body and various organs affected will become less efficient. Overtime this decreased efficiency will cause the body will become diseased and you will lose your good health.

By concentrating on getting constipation relief and preserving colon health, you can take a major step in preventing many body conditions and illnesses that can shorten your life or make your senior years a miserable time.

When it comes to colon health, cat digestive systems are quite similar to those of humans. Just as with humans, cats can suffer from a number of digestive disorders. In fact, constipation is relatively common in felines. Therefore, as a pet owner, it is important for you to understand how to recognize digestive problems as well as how to help your cat maintain a healthy colon.

Feline Constipation

Concerning colon health, cat constipation is relatively easy to recognize. Fortunately, it is fairly easy to help your cat recover from feline constipation.

Just as with human colon health, cat colon health problems have a great deal to do with the age of the cat. As in humans, older cats are more susceptible to constipation. Those that are eight-years-old and above are more likely to become constipated. Nonetheless, it is possible for a cat of any age to become constipated.

A cat with bowels that are functioning efficiently will usually have one or two bowel movements every day. Of course, just as with humans, every cat is different. Signs of feline constipation include:

No bowel movements, or very infrequent bowel movements

Straining during a bowel movement

Painful bowel movements

A sudden decrease in the amount of stool produced

When it comes to colon health, cat constipation is a sign that something is not working correctly within the digestive tract. And, if you fail to take action, your cat may become quite ill. Signs the constipation has advanced and is becoming serious include:

Failure to keep itself groomed

Lethargic behavior

Loss of appetite

Crouching and hunching up

Vomiting

Passing a small amount of diarrhea, which is runny and blood-tinged

Some potential causes of cat constipation include:

Ingesting foreign bodies, hair, and animal bones

A dirty litter box

Recent hospitalization

Lack of exercise (let your cat out to run)

Obstructions, such as improperly healed pelvic fractures or tumors

Medication

Hair matted with dirt/mud

Injuries from cat fights

Obesity (don’t overfeed your pet please or share your meals)

Parasites, usually obtained from dirt, animals, or unclean water

To maintain proper feline colon health, constipation needs to be treated as soon as possible. The first approach is to address the underlying cause of the problem. A cat that is dehydrated, for example, may receive intravenous or subcutaneous replacement fluids to help encourage a bowel movement.

If a change of the underlying cause is not enough to get things moving again, the veterinarian may administer an enema to your pet to help induce a bowel movement. If the cat is severely constipated, however, it may be necessary to place the cat under anesthesia and remove the feces manually. This can be a very time consuming process.

Feline Obstipation

Feline obstipation is similar to constipation, but must be treated differently. Whereas constipation is characterized by difficulty in eliminating waste, obstipation occurs when the cat’s bowels are blocked and it is unable to pass any waste at all. The cause of obstipation and the signs and symptoms of the disorder are usually the same as with constipation.

Feline Megacolon

A cat that suffers from chronic constipation or obstipation may ultimately develop Megacolon, which is a distended colon with poor movement. When this occurs, fecal matter remains in the colon and becomes continuously drier. As a result, the colon becomes filled with waste almost as hard as concrete.

Maintaining Colon Health Cat Style

Maintaining your cat’s colon health requires many of the same steps for maintaining the health of a human colon. Placing your cat on a high fiber diet, for example, will help prevent your cat from becoming constipated. Like humans, cats are unable to digest fiber. As the undigested fiber sits in your cat’s colon, it absorbs water and helps loosen the stool while also providing it with extra bulk.

Since cats tend to have more sensitive digestive systems than humans, however, it is important to implement a high fiber diet slowly. Changing your cat’s diet too abruptly can cause it to experience gas pain. Therefore, you should spend about five or seven days gradually modifying your cat’s diet.

Foods that can be added to your cat’s diet to increase its fiber intake include:

Canned pumpkin

Bran

Vegetable meal

Whole grains

Your cat may not want to eat any of these foods alone. Therefore, you will need to mix them in with your cat’s canned cat food. It is also important to ensure your cat drinks plenty of water. This is particularly important when increasing fiber consumption since the fiber will absorb water within your cat’s digestive system.

By helping your pet maintain proper colon health, its digestive problems should not be of serious concern. However, if problems arise, contact your veterinarian right away to take care of the issue before it worsens.