(Don't Wait For Constipation To Kill You)

To most people, constipation is simply a matter of a slow-moving or lazy bowel. To these people, it is a matter of little import whether their bowels move once a day or once a week. Yet, as the following will confirm, constipation is an extremely serious malady, one that cannot be ignored for a day or even for an hour.
 

When food remains in the colon for an extended period of time, it begins to putrefy. In other words, germs invade the food and it begins to rot within us. As always, this putrefaction process results in the production of toxic waste. If this toxic waste remained in the colon, the situation would not be too serious. The reality, however, is that much of this poisonous matter is taken up into the bloodstream. What this means, in effect, is that constipation actually gives rise to a process of self-poisoning. In medical terms, this process is referred to as auto-intoxication.

`Auto-intoxication is the process whereby the body literally poisons itself by maintaining a cesspool of decaying matter in its colon. This inner cesspool can contain as high a concentration of harmful bacteria as a cesspool under a house. The toxins released by the process of decay are drawn into the bloodstream and travel to all parts of the body. Every cell in the body gets affected, and many forms of sickness can result. Because it weakens the entire system, auto-intoxication can be a causative factor for nearly any disease.' (Robert Gray, The Colon Health Handbook, p. 13, emphasis my own)

According to the well-known author and researcher, Dr Bernard Jensen, auto-intoxication is always attended by misery:

`I believe auto-intoxication is currently the number one source of the misery and decay we are witnessing in our society and culture today. Through it comes the host of uncleanliness, with its entourage of imbalance, derangements, perversions, sickness and disease. Auto-intoxication becomes a powerful master over the body, robbing the inhabitant of clear thinking, discrimination, sound judgment, vitality, health, happiness and loved ones. Its rewards are disillusionment, bitterness, disappointment, financial chaos and failure.' (Dr Bernard Jensen, Tissue Cleansing Through Bowel Management, p. 4)

With the above in mind, let us consider the direct impact that auto-intoxication has upon the system. First of all, because the bloodstream is loaded with toxins, tremendous strain is placed on the liver as it attempts to purify the blood. Secondly, the organs of elimination, these being the kidneys, the lungs, the skin and the bowels, will be seriously burdened as they endeavor to expel the toxic waste from the body. This process of self-cleansing will also sap much of the body's available energy resources and, with time, it will lead to a continual feeling of weakness and debility.

The tragedy, however, is that in the case of constipation, the source of self-poisoning is ever present - meaning that there is no respite for the affected organs. Night and day, toxins are taken up by the bloodstream and, night and day, the body is forced to engage in a life and death struggle against this deadly and persistent invasion.

The symptoms of this battle will manifest themselves in any of a multitude of ways. The less serious of these would include sneezing, coughing, sinusitis, skin rashes, fever, and diarrhoea.

Dr. I. H. Moore tells us of some of the more serious ailments that can come about as a result of auto-intoxication.

`The colon is a sewerage system, but by neglect and abuse it becomes a cesspool. When it is clean, we are well and healthy. Let it stagnate and it will . . .

Most people would never dream that such serious ailments could come about as a result of constipation, yet much of the physical suffering in our present world can be traced back to this serious oversight. With this in mind, therefore, let us consider the following most carefully.

If constipation gives rise to auto-intoxication and auto-intoxication, in turn, gives rise to ailments such as nervousness, depression, heart disease, digestive problems, skin problems et cetera, then how should we go about treating these ailments? Should our first priority be to cleanse the bowels and to detoxify the system, or should we, as the case may be, prescribe drugs for the nervousness, tranquilizers for the depression, pills for the heart, powders for the stomach, and ointments for the skin?

Clearly, in the above case, our first priority must be aimed at flushing the colon and helping the system to detoxify itself. By so doing, we will be removing the root cause of our nervousness, depression, heart problems, stomach problems, and bad skin.

If, on the other hand, we choose to ignore the state of the bowels and the toxic state of the system, and we treat the above-mentioned ailments, not as symptoms of a deeper cause, but as though they are isolated diseases in themselves, then all that we can look forward to is life-long dependence on medicinal drugs.

In years gone by the first question that would be asked of any sick person was "are your bowels working?" Yet today, for some strange reason, this all-important matter seldom receives the attention that it deserves. As a result, we suspect that millions of people are spending millions of dollars on the "treatment" of a multitude of serious ailments that are nothing other than symptoms of constipation.

As one well-known Naturopath tells us . . .

`Constipation is not regarded as a disease, yet it is a direct or indirect cause of many diseases, its evils can scarcely be overstated. Its foul brood includes appendicitis, piles, fistula, colitis, ulcers, tuberculosis, gastric catarrh, biliousness, bad breath and body odour (both of which are shamelessly exploited), to all of which may be added kidney degeneration, and diabetes. The condition of constipation is either entirely ignored, or it is treated as only an unimportant incident ... and yet constipation is an ominous condition that forebodes tremendous physical and mental evils.
 

`On the authority of many eminent men we learn that constipation is in the history of every case of disease, especially of the stomach and bowels. If people would eat those foods that induce natural bowel activity, they would run but slight risk of cancer. Internal growths need have no terrors for the man who eats intelligently, thereby avoiding bowel stasis [slow movement of the bowels] with all its attendant miseries.' (George Teasdale, Nature Heals!, p. 36)

In the statement following, Major General Sir William Arbuthnot Lane, M.D., a physician who was knighted for his medical work, confirms the fear that constipation is the underlying cause of many diseases. He also suggests that there is a strong link between constipation and cancer.

`Indigestion and constipation are the starting causes of the diseases of civilization. If you wish to produce cancer with a fair degree of certainty, supply constipated patients with plenty of meat and endeavour to deal with their constipation by means of irritating, purgative drugs.' (The Diet System, p. ll)

The reason why Sir Arbuthnot Lane mentions meat in particular is because meat contains no fibre whatsoever. As such, when meat is not eaten together with fibre-rich foods, or when it is eaten in excess, it is a highly constipating food.

Interestingly, Dr Bernard Jensen actually makes mention of the work of Sir Arbuthnot Lane. He suggests that . . .

`Those who doubt the direct relation between the colon and the functioning ability of various organs in the body should consider the daring work of Sir Arbuthnot Lane, in England. He proved the relationship because when he [surgically] removed the lower bowel from certain patients, their symptoms of arthritis, rheumatism, etc., disappeared within weeks. Thyroid enlargements responded immediately; tuberculosis was relieved; amputations were prevented. Even in the case of Raynaud's disease where there was gangrene of the fingers, the hands were restored to perfect condition a short time after removal of that cesspool of infection, a toxin-laden bowel.' (Bernard Jensen D.C.,N.D., The Science and Practice of Iridology, p. 312)

Dr John Harvey Kellogg suggests that most people have defective colons, and that most of us, especially those of us whose bowels move less frequently than once a day, are seriously constipated and subject, therefore, to the ills attendant on the condition of auto-intoxication. Says Dr Kellogg . . .

`It must be remembered that the colon serves the body as a waste receptacle or sewer, and like every other sewer, means must be provided for flushing. A stagnating sewer soon becomes an intolerable nuisance. Unfortunately, the average human colon in civilized lands, if not already a menace and a torment, is liable at any moment to become such.

`It is now known that every person whose bowels move but once a day is constipated and suffering from general poisoning of the whole body. If the bowels do not move well [at least once or twice a day], the colon soon becomes a reservoir of putrefying food residues. The so-called `well-formed stool' is certain evidence of constipation. Normal stools are soft and almost wholly free from odour, and occur after each meal.

`A firm, `well-formed stool' always means constipation. Its significance is that the colon is packed full like a sausage and the faecal matters have been so long retained that they have been compacted by the absorption of water. The whole colon is filled, and the bowel movement is the result of the pressure of the incoming food residues at the other end. When the body wastes are promptly discharged as they should be, the colon will never contain the residues of more than two meals, and at the after-breakfast bowel movement it should be completely emptied.' (How to Have Good Health Through Biologic Living, pp.394-399)

When we normalize our food intake by including more fresh fruits, raw salads, steamed vegetables, and whole grain products into our diet, there are a few interesting changes that will take place. As Dr Kellogg tells us, we will notice that our stools will become . . .

In his book, The Missing Link in the Medical Curriculum, Dr Hoffman also suggests that healthy stools should be . . .

Bearing in mind that our regularity, and the state of our stools, are usually very good indicators of the general state of our health, these are signs worth striving for and worth watching for.   Figures 3a and 3b are diagrammatic representations of the various organs that make up the digestive tract. Figure 3a illustrates a digestive tract that is functioning naturally. You will notice that lunch is presently in the stomach and that breakfast is now passing through the ileo-cecal valve into the large bowel or colon. The remainder of the digestive tract is having a good rest in preparation for the arrival of the next meal.   Figure 3b is an illustration of the state of the colon of the average person who tries to survive on a diet consisting primarily of a combination of refined foods, greasy foods and flesh foods. In this case, the colon is packed with the residues of many meals, all in varying states of putrefaction. As Dr Kellogg tells us, the only reason anything passes out of the one end of the large intestine or colon is because more food has been forced in at the other end.   Unless a drastic change is made, this situation will persist year in and year out for decades. The individual may not understand why he never feels too happy, why he has ever-recurring colds and other infections, why he has bad skin, why his breath is never too fresh, and why he has such a desperate need of underarm deodorants. Yet an enlightened physician would tell him that because of his unnatural diet and lifestyle, the state of his colon has resulted in a polluted bloodstream and, until such time as he changes his eating and living habits, and he assists nature to cleanse his system and to regulate the functioning of his digestive organs, he will never feel too well, and he will never overcome his ever-recurring illnesses.   Nature demands that every muscle in our body has some time of rest. Even the muscles in our heart have a rest in-between each beat. In the case of a colon that is `packed full like a sausage,' however, the muscles in the colon never rest because the colon is never emptied. The inevitable result is that these muscles start to collapse. This, in turn, will give rise to bulging in some areas of the colon and contraction in other areas.   Figure 4 gives us some idea of what prolonged constipation eventually leads to. The colon represented here was encrusted with hard faecal matter with only a small hole through the centre as large as a pencil. Research revealed that the encrustation could well have taken more than 20 years to develop. This means that this encrustation included the residues of

Lunch in stomach, breakfast passing into colon Figure 3a   This colon contains the residues of many meals Figure 3b   Figure 4

meals that were eaten twenty years previously?

On numerous occasions this writer has been able to assist people who have unsuccessfully sought relief from all manner of ailments by simply recommending that they flush the colon and regulate their diet. One lady who had suffered with back pains for more than six months, and who had vainly sought help from all quarters, obtained almost immediate relief after taking three enemas in a row. The problem in her case was that the colon had distended in the area of her lower, middle back to such a degree that it was putting sufficient pressure on the spine to cause discomfort. The tell-tale sign that led us to suspect that her colon was the problem was her disclosure that, for some reason unknown to her, her stools were as thick as a pencil.

The material that builds up in the colon is referred to as post-putrefactive matter - implying that it has gone beyond the process of putrefaction. The following reports give us some idea of just how bad this build-up can become.

`One autopsy revealed the colon to be 9 inches [22,5 centimeters] in diameter with a passage through it no larger than a pencil! The rest was caked up layer upon layer of encrusted faecal material. This accumulation can have the consistency of truck tire rubber. It's that hard and black. Another autopsy revealed a stagnant colon to weigh in at an incredible 40 pounds! [18 kilograms]. Imagine carrying around all that morbid accumulated waste.' (Dr Bernard Jensen, Tissue Cleansing Through Bowel Management, p. 27)

The renowned herbalist, Robert Gray, tells of another autopsy. This one revealed a specimen that was even larger than those mentioned above.

`There is an autopsy on record wherein the colon was removed and was found to weigh sixty pounds [27 kilograms]. It will take far longer than the typical two to three months to cleanse such a colon.' (Robert Gray, The Colon Health Handbook, p. 67)

One can only imagine how miserable these poor people must have felt in the years preceding their death?

Earlier we noticed how, around the turn of the century, Sir Arbuthnot Lane removed the entire colon from his patients and how they recovered from various ailments as a result. Today specialists in this area have developed less drastic methods of dealing with the same problem. Robert Gray has developed a special herbal formula that breaks up the post-putrefactive matter in the colon. It is this treatment that he is referring to in the statement above when he speaks of a two to three month time period.

Dr Jensen, on the other hand, has developed a very effective treatment that involves feeding his patients a special diet and subjecting them to a continuous type of enema - which he refers to as a Colema. On completion of his seven-day treatment, the entire mass of encrusted faecal material is dislodged and passes out of the body.

Figures 5a and 5b are reproductions of actual photographs that were taken of this post-putrefactive matter. As we saw earlier, it is as black and as hard as truck tyre rubber. Notice how this matter has taken the shape of the intestinal walls.

A Major Cause of Infection

Figure 6a is a photograph showing the condition of the ankles of one of Dr Jensen's patients on the day that the post-putrefactive matter was removed from his colon. Figure 6b shows how the same patient's ankles had cleared up just seven days later. Now who would ever associate infection of the ankles with the state of the colon? Yet here is all the proof that we need.

As Dr Jensen tells us . . .

`The bowel is probably the root of most of our trouble and it is there we can almost always find the greatest amount of toxic material. The bowel seems to be the centre of importance in the body and when it is clean and in a healthy condition other organs are, as a rule, healthy. A toxic intestine acts as a seat of infection, throwing out its toxins into the blood stream, and thus infecting other parts of the body. Infection in the body can be fed directly from the intestinal tract.' (Dr. Bernard Jensen D.C., N.D., The Science and Practice of Iridology, p. 143, emphasis my own)

Should a physician examine the colon through a scope, he will not by this means be able to detect the presence of toxins because they are microscopic in nature. Even if his examination reveals that there is no post-putrefactive matter present in the colon, this is no guarantee that the bowels are not acting as a seat of infection. The all-important factor, therefore, is not the visible state of the contents of the colon, but the length of time that this matter has been present in the colon.

Sometimes, and especially in cases where the person has a long history of constipation, some of the sacculations in the colon can become quite distorted - even to the point that they form pockets. The food waste that lodges in these pockets will not be visible through a scope but, with time, it will most certainly become a major source of toxic matter and misery.

The point we want to emphasize, however, is that the bowels can be a major source of infection, and that this infection can manifest itself in any organ in the body.

Most people have never dreamt that fermenting food residues in the bowels could give rise to infection in such remote organs as the ankle or the ears yet, once we understand how fermentation in the colon leads to a poisoned bloodstream, we can appreciate just how easily this can come about.

Bearing in mind that the bowels could be the seat of our infection, we need to ask ourselves how we should deal with an infection of this nature. Should we focus on the infection, as though it were an isolated entity, or should we focus primarily on the bowels, and seek to remove the offending matter that is polluting the bloodstream and giving rise to the infection? Obviously, whatever treatment is prescribed, we simply cannot ignore the condition of the bowels - for by so doing we will be ignoring the root cause of our infection.

The standard treatment for ear infection is a fine example. For this ailment antibiotics are usually prescribed and often a grommet is used to drain the offending fluid from the ear canal. So far, so good, but what of the offensive matter in the colon that probably gave rise to the infection in the first place? The antibiotics may have killed the infecting bacteria, the grommet will have helped to remove some of the offending material from the ear canal, but if the treatment ends there, we have done no more than suppress symptoms, while the patient returns home with his bowel as primed as ever it was to wreak havoc in some or other organ in the body. The organ infected is usually the weakest organ in the body in that it will offer the least resistance to nature's effort to expel the toxic matter from the system.

I do not suggest that we should use laxatives as a crutch, nor should we view laxatives as a means that will enable us to continue with our wrong habits of eating, for our goal must always be to regulate our diet so that laxatives will not be necessary. Nevertheless we, as a family, are typically human, and sometimes we are tempted to eat the wrong things. When, as a result, we start to cough or to sneeze, we take a mild herbal laxative, prune juice, or an enema. Further to this, we make sure that we get plenty of water, sunshine, exercise, and fresh air, and the coughing and/or sneezing soon abates. When any of us develop that characteristic itch in the ear or in the back of the throat, the type that typically gives warning of worse to come, we flush the bowels and very soon the irritation disappears. Whether we have a cold, flu, skin problem, or whatever, we always focus on cleansing the bowels and always with the same gratifying results.

The all-important message, therefore, is this: Never discount the possibility that constipation could be a causative factor in any ailment. The uninformed will usually be sorely tempted to treat what can be seen or felt of an ailment, but so often we need to look beyond what is seen or felt in order to find and to remove the true cause of our malady.

Proceed to Chapter 3: Read how refined foods lead to social problems, learning problems, hyperactivity disorder, and how they seriously affect the behavior of children (and even that of rats).