Taking Care of Colon Problems

Strategies to Keep Your Colon Healthy

The colon is the least appreciated organ of the body – until it doesn’t work!  People with colon problems can be miserable.  The symptoms of colon trouble can include a wide variety of issues:

• Constipation
• Diarrhea
• Pain
• Depression
• And even cancer

If you’ve been wondering how to care for your colon, this is the article for you!

The colon is the large intestine.  It is the waste dump for everything we eat.  The small bowel absorbs all the nutrients from our food. Whatever is left over goes to the colon where the waste ferments through multiple types of bacteria. 

In the colon we have our main store of bacteria – trillions of them!

In fact, we have ten times more bacteria in our colon than we have cells in our whole body!

The types and amounts of bacteria we possess in our colon are essential to life. Even though they are residents of the colon, bacteria are very much a part of us, and in some ways make us what we are. They may determine our:

• Body weight[1]
• Moods[2]
• Inflammation[3]
• Hormone status[4]
• And, of course, bowel habits

When we were babies in the womb we were sterile. Our first exposure to bacteria came from the birth canal, which supplied our intestines with bacteria needed to digest milk. People who are born by caesarian section don’t pick up the bacteria from their mother’s colon. Instead, their intestines start growing bacteria obtained from the skin. These bacteria don’t help digest food and can even cause inflammation over one’s entire lifetime!

One researcher concluded:

“Concurrent with the trend of increasing [Caesarean Delivery], there has been an epidemic of both autoimmune diseases such as type 1 diabetes, Crohn’s disease, and multiple sclerosis and allergic diseases, such as asthma, allergic rhinitis, and atopic dermatitis.[5]”

The Wrong Bacteria in Your Colon Can Make You Fat!

Additionally, those who are born by C-section are more susceptible to metabolic diseases and obesity.[6] Multiple studies in rats and humans have shown that bacteria in the colon have a large effect on obesity. One study used mice that had intestinal bypass surgery. Those mice that had the surgery now developed different bacteria. When that bacteria was given to obese mice, they lost weight without the bypass surgery. Essentially, bacteria from a thin mouse caused an obese mouse to lose weight.[7]

Humans also experience weight gain or loss associated with their gut flora.  In one study, humans with higher levels of a certain bacteria, M. smithii, were much more likely to be overweight than those with low levels.[8]

Wrong Colon Bacteria Can Cause Arthritis

Studies on the types of bacteria in the colon suggest that arthritis can be caused or worsened by our bacteria.  One study suggested that a single organism can make the difference between having arthritis – or not.[9] The organisms that cause inflammation grow on simple sugars and starches.  On the other hand, those bacteria that grow on prebiotics create butyrate. Butyrate acts as an energy source for cells lining the colon and reduce an inflammatory response.

Prebiotics are the fiber found in fruit and vegetables. They have certain fibrous carbohydrates that nourish the good bacteria to help them to grow.

God gave us quite the gift when it comes to prebiotic foods because there are many that have just the right “ingredients” to improve gut function without us having to do anything else but eat them! The top most nutrient-dense prebiotic foods are:

• Asparagus
• Bananas
• Onions
• Garlic
• Cabbage
• Beans
• Artichokes
• Root vegetables
• Apples

Prebiotic foods are like fuel for good bacteria. They escape digestion in our small intestine but continue to the colon where the “good” bacteria digest them.  These bacteria make butyrate, which prevents inflammation, such as arthritis.

Because of these bacterial studies, many have proposed fecal transplants to treat arthritis and obesity, instead of surgery and drugs.

What is a Fecal Transplant?

It is just as it sounds. Stool from one person is given to another person to change the bacteria in their colon.  When this procedure first started, the diluted donor stool was put through a tube that went from the nose into the small intestine. However, standard procedure today is done by way of an enema.  Doctors who do this procedure will use a colonoscope to get the bacteria all the way through the colon.

The purpose of a fecal transplant is to populate the colon with good bacteria and give it more biodiversity.

People with only a few types of colon bacteria have many more problems with their bowels and bodies.

We not only need lots of bacteria, but a diverse population of bacteria growing together in harmony.  Research shows that this procedure can remedy many different problems such as drug resistance, chronic diarrhea, arthritis, obesity, and diabetes.

Probiotic Supplements

Because of this research, many advocate that we take probiotic pills that contain certain amounts of good bacteria.

Until the modern era, humans (and all animals for that matter) ate food laced with bacteria.  Dung fertilized the soil, allowing colon bacteria on the growing food.  People ate food that easily fermented and contained live bacteria. These are foods such as sauerkraut, natto (fermented soybeans), miso (another type of fermented soybeans), yogurt, kefir, and cheeses of all kinds.  Also, without refrigeration, food grew bacteria quickly.

Traditional cultures did not know all these important reasons to eat cultured foods.  However, they definitely knew that fermented food lasted longer, tasted better and made them feel better.  We would be wise to remember techniques our ancestors have left us about probiotics to help the colon!

By contrast, today, we take great measures to prevent bacteria from getting into our food.  For a longer shelf-life, food is:

• Pasteurized
• Radiated
• Gassed
• Sprayed with chemicals
• Refrigerated
• Frozen

Milk that has not been pasteurized lasts only a few days, even refrigerated. Whereas, pasteurized milk lasts for weeks. And ultra-pasteurized milk lasts for months without even being refrigerated!  Many think they may be getting some bacteria in yogurt or cheese. But most dairy products are also heated to prolong their shelf-life.  Canned kimchi and sauerkraut are heated so they contain little or no bacteria.  While there are benefits to decreasing bacteria in food, such as less food poisoning, there is a downside, as well. We don’t get many probiotics anymore.

The bacteria in your colon are like a fingerprint. Your native gut flora have been present since birth. They are uniquely you. They don’t like other bacteria coming in and growing so they usually kick them out.  If you thought you could take a probiotic for a short time to get it to grow inside the colon, guess again!  Probiotics do not become established members of your gut ecosystem. When you stop taking them, their numbers dwindle quickly. That specific probiotic strain level declines and eventually disappears. Within a couple of days to weeks, you’re back to your old self again.

This is why we need a constant supply of good bacteria, or probiotics, from our food.  However, since we don’t get much from food, we often supplement with probiotic pills.  For some people, taking probiotics can make a huge difference in:

• How the colon functions
• How you feel
• Your mental state
• Inflammation in your body
• Boosting your immune system

Because of individual differences, those who start off with good bacteria have less need for probiotic supplementation.

The way to determine the health of your gut flora is to take probiotic supplements to see if they make a difference in your body. And it isn’t necessary to take them every day.  Most of the time, once per week is enough to keep the good bacteria in the colon. I recommend probiotics to be rotated on and off, long term. Rotate the strains you are using every three months and take a few months off each year. (Fasting is maintenance.) 

How to Change Your Gut Bacteria

Feed the Good

You can influence how bacteria grow in your colon by what you feed them.  If you feed bacteria with a diet of simple sugars, starches, and proteins, then you will grow bacteria that produce chemicals that cause inflammation.  However, if you feed bacteria fiber, then bacteria will flourish that make chemicals to suppress inflammation. This is one of the ways diet affects your whole body.

A diet that feeds good bacteria includes:

• Vegetables
• Fruit
• Fermented foods
• Fasting

Starve the Bad

We have many patients who regularly clean out their colon with enemas and “colonics.”  Some have noticed that their bowels function better after a colonic.  It seems that we need to clean out the colon periodically to keep it functioning well.  This is true, but there is another way.  We don’t have to fill the colon with water, coffee, or other liquid to clean it out. The body was created with a natural mechanism to clean house.

Bacteria in the colon grow very fast.  For example, one E. coli bacteria will divide into two every hour or so.  If you take a single one and give it all the food it needs and take away the waste it produces, the colony will be bigger than the whole Earth in only 48 hours.  Of course, there are so many factors that prevent this from happening in our colons. The point is that if you feed bacteria, they will grow.

Periodic fasting causes the relative types and amounts of bacteria to change.  Those that live on fiber will tend to grow more bacteria than those that live on simple sugars.  This means that our colon will preferentially select the bacteria that lower inflammation and keep our bowels functioning. Similarly, our colon will suppress those that cause inflammation, depression, and cancer.

Taking a Peek Inside the Colon

I had a patient with an itchy rash at the base of her thumb that wouldn’t go away.  We tried creams and gels, and all sorts of concoctions on it, but nothing worked.  One day, she was with her acupuncturist and mentioned the rash on her hand.  The acupuncturist took a look and mentioned that the base of the thumb is the colon in Chinese medicine. She suggested having her colon looked at, even though she was only in her 30s. The patient went to a gastroenterologist and struggled to convince him she needed a screening colonoscopy.  But, she got one and the doctor found a small cancer.  It hadn’t spread so they just removed the tumor. Before she even healed from the surgery the rash on her hand disappeared!

Colonoscopies are praised for how important they are in preventing cancer.  However, colonoscopies are only important for a select group of people: those with colon cancer risk. It doesn’t hurt to test if you have any of the following:

• Chronic diarrhea
• Chronic constipation
• Blood in the stool
• Pain on the left side of the abdomen

I do not recommend that anyone get a colonoscopy just to have a look. The risks outweigh the benefits.  There are a good number of people who get punctures in the wall of the colon from the procedure. This allows bacteria into the abdomen and causes disastrous, and even deadly infections.

Some prefer screening at age 50 with a “virtual colonoscopy,” which is a CT scan.  This has a few risks such as radiation, but nothing life-threatening.  But I don’t even think this is necessary.  Neither of these tests for cancer are conclusive; they may detect about half of colon cancers.  I still believe the best way to avoid colon cancer is prevention. 

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Preventing Colon Cancer

It seems that the colon is sensitive to inflammation.  Chronic inflammation in the colon will cause polyps and growths that can become cancerous.  There have been several studies to show that those who take anti-inflammatories such as Ibuprofen and Diclofenac have less colon cancer.  But these medications also run the risk of life-threatening bleeding from stomach ulcers.  A better way to decrease inflammation is by diet and probiotics, as discussed above.  My recommendations include the dietary guidelines above, plus adding vitamin D and selenium, which have been shown to decrease the rate of cancer.

We Care About Your Colon

Caring for your colon is not difficult.  It includes diet, probiotics, and a few supplements. The majority of colon problems can be prevented or resolved with these few simple steps:

• Vitamin D3 50,000 IU once per week
• Selenium 200 mcg up to 1 mg per week
• Probiotics 100 billion once per week – change brands frequently
• Eat a diet high in fiber and low in sugars and proteins
• Fast periodically, one to two days per month with water only

As the “yuckiest” of all organs, the colon earns little respect. However, take continual care of this lowly organ to live a long, healthy, and happy life!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sources:
[1] http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-gut-bacteria-help-make-us-fat-and-thin/
[2] http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/28/magazine/can-the-bacteria-in-your-gut-explain-your-mood.html?_r=0
[3] http://www.nature.com/ajgsup/journal/v1/n1/full/ajgsup20124a.html
[4] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/6231418
[5] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3110651/
[6] http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/28/health/studies-focus-on-gut-bacteria-in-weight-loss.html
[7] http://stm.sciencemag.org/content/5/178/178ra41
[8] http://press.endocrine.org/doi/10.1210/jc.2012-3144
[9] http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1074761310002049