Tuesday, January 22, 2008

CRAP!

So, poop. Well I guess first of all, what really IS poop. I mean, everybody knows they get this nasty brown stuff (most of the time brown. if its black you've got even more problems...) that comes out of their butt everyday. For some, it doesn't come out everyday. And I have to say that though that may be more normal as of late, it is NOT healthy. You may think that you are okay just because you friends poop every other day just like you, but sometimes what is common is not right. So that is the case here. But poop is really remnants of our food that our body could not make use of from that meal.
As gross as it may sound to some, from your mouth to your anus, it is one continuous tube. It changes shape, direction and pH along the way, has some valves that block off certain sections, but it is one continuous tube. A great way to think of this tract (called the gastrointestinal tract or GI tract) is as a conveyor belt. You put the food in the top, it moves through the esophagus, stomach, small intestines and colon and then comes out the anus. Now, if you are eating the real natural nutrients your body needs, you won't have too much to come out. But let's face it, in this world there is no way that anyone of you (or me) is eating 100% natural and organic foods every meal of everyday of every week of every month.......you get the picture. We are all taking in fake nutrients and preservatives and some stuff that our body can do absolutely nothing with.
----SIDE NOTE: Did you know that morticians are having to use less and less chemicals to preserve bodies when people die? Do you know why? Because we are beginning the process of body preserving by eating preservatives - we are helping the future morticians that will have to embalm our bodies. Preservatives are in anything (for the most part) that sits on the shelves at the grocery store. Those things are preserved so they will have a long shelf life. It does the same thing to our body that it does to the food.
Anyways, our body absorbs and takes all the nutrients that it wants and can make use of and then what happens to the rest? It goes into the large intestine, moves up, over and down - gets some of the water sucked out of it and comes out our butt. That's if all is working well. If you are not drinking enough water everyday you will have problems pooping. Well, what is enough water? Here's a little equation to help. Take your weight and divide it in half. Now take that number, you should drink that many ounces per day. Here is a visual, lets say someone weighs 200 pounds:
200/2=100, so that person should drink 100 oz. of water per day. Make sense?
So that is one thing that will help.
Another thing that could help you get your poop regular is enough calcium and magnesium. Calcium causes the contraction to move the poop along, and Magnesium causes the relaxation. But in order to make use of calcium, you have to have Vitamin D. Honestly, eat a variety of vegetables and you will get that thing moving.
Another problem could be parasites. Parasites like to live in the valves and feed on the stuff that comes through. They can leave the valves open which will cause the stench of the poop to come up the GI tract which would result in a person's breath smelling like poop.
Why does our poop smell? Because the fecal matter is literally rotting and fermenting inside the warm environment of your intestines. But, if you get that poop out constantly and don't let it sit there, you won't have smelly poop. Not only that, but you won't have smelly armpits! That's right, the rotting fermenting fecal matter in our bowels omits its smell from not only our butts,but our armpits as well. If you allow your GI tract to really work like a conveyor belt - 1 meal in and 1 meal out - you will not have smelly armpits or smelly sweat. What a deal!
So what if you eat and are still hungry? Well, it is your body saying that it needs more nutrients because it didn't get it in the meal you just provided. An obvious way that this can happen is if you ate something that had no nutritional value in it whatsoever. But what if you just consumed some really healthy, natural foods? Here is an explanation: Our small intestines has several folds and hairs in them that help create a larger surface area of nutrient absorption. But if you eat a lot of foods that are sticky and hard to break down (not like a fruit roll up, but that their components are sticky and hard to break down in the GI tract), they will fill in the folds and create a smaller surface area of nutrient absorption. Things that do that are white flour, white sugar, pop, french fries, cheese, processed foods, etc. Just take it from me - in all cases those foods are not your friend. Wheat is also a huge NOT FRIEND! But that is another story for another day.
Now, if you have been eating that way your whole life, which most of us have, doing a cleanse is a good thing - it gets all that crap (no pun intended) out of you. You really should be doing regular body maintenance every spring and fall. You do regular maintenance on your car, why not on your body which is much more important? But don't cleanse in the winter, you won't get rid of nearly as much as you cold in the Spring or Fall.
Tomorrow - the nervous system and STRESS! =] Well, maybe not tomorrow, but the next time I post, how about that?

Also, a little disclaimer I forgot to share: This information is intended for educational purposes only - not to diagnose or prescribe anything. If you feel you have a serious medical condition, consult a professional in that field.

9 comments:

Julie said...

Well, I can't say I know the whole deal on preservatives. But, they are chemicals. Anything chemical put in our body has adverse effects. Those are the pollutants that tend to just sit in our bodies and can jam up our intestines resulting in less poop coming out which means more rotting in our colon.

As for the length of this, thats why I have split it up into different topics. There's just so much. I'm not really worried about doing things to "make" people read it. If they are interested they will. But trust me, I have tried to make em short, its just not so easy.

Jennifer D. said...

I liked this...what if you poop 2-5 times a day? What does that say about you?

Julie said...

It says you are doing fantastic. Just stick by the principle - 1 meal in, 1 meal out. Oh dang, I forgot to mention about sinking and floating poop too. That is very important. If your poop sinks, that means you have undigested protein in there. If it floats, you are great. So if you are pooping that much with floaty poop, sounds great to me!

Jennifer D. said...

Probably not all floaty...LOL...what a weird conversation! Love it!

Julie said...

Well, as I said if it is not always floating then the proteins are undigested. Try this - don't drink while you are eating. When you drink while eating, you dilute the juices and things don't get digested as well. Trust me, its a hard habit to get into. But try drinking before and after eating. And if I feel like something is getting caught in my throat, I take a sip too. It takes small steps to make things work. =]

Unknown said...

Hi Julie,
I am so excited for you!! I just wanted to pipe in here to say I have actually done a Colonix cleanse. If anyone were to do one I can guarantee they will be a believer in the cleansning process and that they have A LOT of stuff inside that would surprise them.

I love the information. Some I already knew, but it helps to remember why I need to get into better eating habits. You are making me want to go back to school!
Thanks.

Julie said...

Kim - I have to say that as I was sitting in class I desired for absolutely everyone I know to be there and hear the information. It is amazing and I have never loved going to school more! You can take any of their classes as single courses and not go for the diploma program. The website is www.nite-mtp.com
I would love to do a Colonix cleanse sometime. I have seen pictures of the nasty stuff and although I don't want to see it, I sure as heck don't want it in me! Thanks! =]

Gwyn said...

what is colonix? how do you do it?

Julie said...

Look it up online. Just go to google and type it in - you can see pictures too. Yuck! It's just a cleanse and you buy all the stuff to take to clean you out. Kind of expensive (like $80) but cheaper if you buy more than one. Feel free to look it up and check it out. Looks very cool, just not always so sure about the money.