At the recently concluded Vegetarian Festival in San Francisco, plant food specialist Dr. Milton Mills gave a lecture for everyone under the strange title “The Large Intestine.” At first, an uninteresting topic turned into a discovery for the majority of vegetarians and meat-eaters present.
Milton Mills began by reminding people of the difference between plant and animal foods. Animal food consists mainly of proteins and fats, which are easily absorbed by the body. animal food DOES NOT CONTAIN FIBER. “What is so terrible here,” many will think.
Plant foods are made up of carbohydrates, proteins and fiber. Further, Milton Mills consistently proved how important the last component is for the human body.
How long does food stay in the human body? From 18 to 24 hours. Let’s trace its path: 2-4 hours in the stomach (where the food is moistened), then 2 hours in the small intestine (where nutrients are extracted ready for absorption), and then the rest of the time – 12 hours – the food stays in the large intestine.
What is going on there?
Fiber is a breeding ground for the growth of a vital bacterium – SYMBIOTIC bacteria, from the presence of this bacterium in the colon, it turns out, THE HEALTH OF OUR BODY DEPENDS.
Here are the processes in the colon that this bacterium is responsible for:
– production of vitamins
– production of bioactive fatty acids with short chain links
– energy production
– stimulation of the immune defense
– prevention of the formation of toxins
Bioactive short link fatty acids are involved both in the process of energy production and in other processes that favorably affect our psychology. In turn, if a person lives on the standard American diet (abbreviated as SAD, the same word means “sad”), then a diet low in fiber can have a negative effect on our mood and cause mental disorders. This is a consequence of the toxic metabolic fermentation processes of unfriendly bacteria and animal protein residues in the colon.
The process of fermentation of friendly bacteria in the colon helps the production of PROPIONATE, which allows you to control blood sugar. Another important action produced by the fermentation of friendly bacteria in the colon is the reduction of bad cholesterol levels. The lack of fiber in animal food has already been noted by modern medicine as a negative and dangerous phenomenon for health. So the meatpacking industry has responded to this shortage by producing various preparations and nutritional products, high-fiber supplements designed to compensate for an unbalanced diet based on animal products. These funds are widely advertised in magazines and on television.
Dr. Mills drew attention to the fact that these products are not only not full-fledged substitutes for the fiber naturally present in plant foods. They can also cause an overload of fiber in the body, which is almost impossible in the case of direct consumption of a full-fledged plant-based diet. The same applies to various biologically active agents such as «Activia»also widely advertised. Drugs of this type supposedly create a favorable environment in our intestines (poor favorable bacteria due to the lack of fiber in food) and help healthy digestion. Dr. Mills says it’s ridiculous. Our body will create an environment for the natural and healthy growth of the bacteria it needs if we provide it with healthy plant foods.
Another aspect of compensating for the lack of fiber in the animal-rich standard human menu, Dr. Mills called the popular practice of using the drug “Kolonik” for colon cleansing. This cleansing allegedly helps to get rid of years of accumulated toxins. Milton Mills emphasized that the fiber present in plant foods provides a natural colon cleanse through the presence of beneficial bacteria. Additional cleaning steps are not required.
At the same time, the doctor added, by getting rid of negative toxins in the large intestine by the “Colonic”, a person also violates or loses a healthy layer of favorable bacteria, which is very dangerous for the body. If a person still eats mainly animal food, then for a normal cleansing of the colon, Activia and Colonic will not be enough for him. Soon he will need much more serious help.
Dr. Mills gave a diagram – what threatens food, poor in fiber. Acquisition:
— diverticulosis
– hemorrhoids
– appendicitis
– constipation
It also increases the risk of diseases:
– colon cancer
– diabetes
– prostate cancer and breast cancer
– cardiovascular disease
– psychological disorders
– Inflammation of the colon.
There are several types of fiber. Basically, it is divided into two types: water-soluble and insoluble. Soluble – various pectin substances. Insoluble is present in vegetables, fruits, as well as in whole unrefined and unbleached grains (rice, wheat). The body needs both types of fiber equally.
Thus, a varied plant-based diet is an essential condition for maintaining human health. Fiber fermentation in the colon is an important and indispensable aspect of our physiology.