Bowel Health

I am always amazed at how many people have problems with their bowels and don’t do anything about it – accept the occasional use of laxatives.
Most bowel problems are caused by our modern food and lifestyle habits. There are few bowel problems amongst the people who work in the rice paddies of Vietnam and yet they are far poorer than us. Why is this so?
In this article I will briefly outline some of the common bowel problems that we get and the causes and remedies for them.
The number one problem suffered by people of the first world is hardly ever an issue in the third world. It is constipation.
Constipation is usually caused by a diet too high in refined carbohydrates and meat protein and too low in fibre-rich vegetables and fruit as well as a lack of adequate exercise and water consumption.
It should be simply resolved by increasing the amount of fibre in the diet – both soluble and insoluble, eating less meat, drinking more water and regular exercise – even in Jane Austin’s day they knew the benefits of the daily constitutional walk.
Unfortunately, for some people, these changes don’t always resolve their constipation. This is because their lifetime of eating refined carbohydrates (mainly sugar and white flour) have caused chronic inflammation in their bowel and over time this can even lead to permanent damage to the walls of the digestive tract and malabsorbsion of nutrients. They could also be suffering from an overgrowth of yeast in their digestive tract and they may even have killed off all their good bacteria from too many antibiotics.
These issues can be helped by a qualified naturopath who can advise on diet and supplements to help restore the normal environment of the bowel. I have also recently heard of a new treatment where the patient has a “poo” enema from a person with healthy bowel flora to replace theirs. Apparently they are having wonderful results but this treatment is only available in a few hospitals so far.
Another cause of chronic constipation is a lazy Iliocecal valve. The Iliocecal valve creates a one-way door between the small and large intestine.
In the stomach, food is mixed with digestive juices. Then as it makes its way through the small intestines nutrients are slowly absorbed through the walls. By the time it reaches the iliocecal valve, the remainder is waste. In a normal body, the iliocecal valve opens periodically to allow the liquid waste to pass through into the large intestine (or colon). Bacteria in the colon further break down the waste and water is reabsorbed through the walls of the bowel. The solid waste is then excreted each day as soft stools.
If someone has a lazy iliocecal valve, it doesn’t open regularly. There is then a build-up of toxic waste in the small intestine, and excess water is absorbed – along with some of the toxins – through the small intestine walls. The waste in the colon doesn’t have the regular addition of new liquid to keep it moving along normally, so it stalls and more and more water is reabsorbed from it. This cause it to gradually harden and it is passed infrequently as small hard stools. These bowel motions are often painful and unsatisfying as often only small amounts pass at any one time - or no motions at all for up to 2 weeks at a time.
This often ends with an explosive elimination when the ileocecal valve finally opens normally, letting out an accumulated build-up of waste.
The unfortunate person can then suffer from diarrhoea which is the next most common bowel problem suffered from people in the western world.
In fact, many people with lazy ileocecal valves oscillate between constipation and diarrhoea constantly and live a miserable bowel life which they often keep largely secret. This condition is often referred to as irritable bowel syndrome which is then treated with a range of drugs.
In Chinese medicine, bowel health is considered to be of great importance and many of their medicines and therapies are aimed at helping to restore normal bowel function.
Western medicine focuses on symptoms only which has led to an overuse of constipation and diarrhoea medications without any attempt to correct the causes of the problems.
Bowen therapy has moves that can restore the iliocecal valve to normal function and together with diet and lifestyle changes and the use of some natural products such as aloe vera juice, slippery elm, normality can be reached by most people.
Of course, there are serious bowel complications that can occur if no action is taken. Diverticulitis is when a small pouch forms in the colon (often due to frequent straining stretching the bowel wall). Waste can get caught in the pouch and infected, causing extreme pain and in some cases, hospitalisation and operations are required.
Colitis and Chrone's disease are other inflammatory diseases of the colon that causes pain and discomfort. These conditions are routinely treated with antibiotics which can then lead to more bowel problems – it’s a vicious circle.
Stress is another factor which can effect bowel health and it is another thing that is on the rise in our busy, modern lives.
In the worst case scenario bowel cancer can form. This disease is on the rise in the western world despite campaigns to encourage people to have bowel scans regularly.
We could do well to copy the lifestyle of the rice paddy workers of Vietnam who live in harmony with nature. They get plenty of fresh air and exercise while they tend their crops. They prepare simple meals dominated by rice and fresh, organic vegetables and drink mainly water and green tea.
They also live in groups where family gatherings and social interactions with close friends are a vital part of their daily routine. It has been shown that harmony in our lives with others can help us to maintain health and the village lifestyle seems to offer a rich source of this vital ingredient.