01 Feb What do your stools say about your health?
In 1991 I wrote my Master Herbalist Thesis: Bridging Herbal Medicine and Colon Therapy for Dominion Herbal College http://www.dominionherbalcollege.com.
My interest in Herbology and Colon Therapy stems back to 1980 when I first had surgery on a rectal fissure. The operation was very painful and traumatic. Being relatively healthy at the time, I bounced back to health fairly quickly. Not only did my health return but so did my poor eating habits and life style. The surgeon did not council me on diet, nutrition, exercise or prevention and as a result, 5 years later, I had to have surgery again on another fissure. Not only was I disgusted with the medical profession for their lack of prevention education I was also disgusted with myself for my lack of taking responsibility for my own health. Realizing and understanding that I was responsible for my body was a turning point in my life. I improved my diet, started drinking water, exercisised and became a Certified Colon Therapist in 1990. I began researching nutrition, diet and herbs in relationship to the colon and the body as a whole.
The role of the colon (large intestine) is to eliminate materials that are not needed by the body and to recover nutrients and water. The colon along with the lungs, kidneys and skin all contribute the elimination of waste products. When these organs do not function properly the body becomes toxic. Constipation is one of the chief causes of disease. A congested and backed up colon can lead to a broad spectrum of illness, skin problems and emotional difficulty.
Your stools can be an indication of your over all health. Let’s take a look at the stool and what it can mean (this is not a medical diagnosis and you should consult your health care practitioner if you have concerns)
- Hard Stools: constipation, old feces, poor diet. Dehydration is the main cause of constipation. I remember doing colon irrigation on a woman who was so constipated her breath smelled like poop!
- Water in the stool can change in color if their is blood present, toxins or bile. If the water is cloudy there could be to mucous, toxins and/or blood present. If opaque diarrhea or toxins are coming from the cecum
- Mucous can be transparent to cloudy yellow to dark. The older the mucous the darker the color. Mucous can be stringy, gluey or clumpy. Large amounts of mucous can be caused by toxins, nerve irritation, colds, flu, mucous producing foods or injury
- Fermentation looks like tiny bubbles that pass with out sound. This can be caused by yeast infection, food that is in the intestines for too long or the muscles of the colon have lost tone
- Gas is different from fermentation by its sound and the bubbles are longer and bigger. Gas is hard to remove from the colon and it feels very hard when the colon is massaged. Gas can be caused by swallowing air, improper digestion or carbonated beverages
- Blood can appear as clotted dark red bits or bright red and may result from a number of reasons. Consult your health care practitioner
- Undigested Food can mean a lack of digestion and/or enzymes or rapid movement through the system. A good way to see how quickly food passes through your body is to eat a lot of corn or beets and monitor the amount of time time it takes to pass. The average time for these foods to appear is 12-14 hours. If it takes longer than 72 hours for the you may have slowed bowel function
- Unidentified Objects could be worms or parasites
- Color brown-normal, green– eating a lot of green leafy vegetables, iron supplements, moving to quickly through the colon dark black and tarry– dry blood, internal bleeding, red– bleeding ulcer in lower intestines or hemorrhoids yellow or pale liver, gallbladder disorders bright blue or purple-beets or food color
You hear this over and over but we truly are what we eat and drink. I personally eat 90% healthy for my body and 10% for my soul. The 10% soul food is chocolate, chips or what ever I want to treat myself with : )