Do you have a healthy colon?

What Is A Healthy Colon?

Your colon (also known as your large intestine) is about 5 feet long and functions like a powerful storage and waste disposal site in your body.

Involuntary muscle contractions push digested material through your colon. It also stores waste until it's time to excrete it and absorbs any leftover nutrients (like water, electrolytes, and vitamins) from digested foods and sends them back into your body's system to be used.

A healthy diet full of fiber and probiotics (good bacteria and yeast), plenty of rest and water, and regular exercise keeps your colon healthy.

But the Standard American Diet that lacks fermented foods, lack of exercise and inadequate amounts of water and fiber mean that most people do not have healthy colons and proper elimination. This causes a buildup of waste material on your intestinal walls that creates an environment where toxic pathogens can thrive, leading to illness and disease.

If you want to improve the overall health of your body, then you must start by improving the health of your colon!

Signs of Colon Health

If you want to confirm that your colon is indeed truly healthy, read through our checklist below.

Some indicators of a healthy colon:

• Clear skin without blemishes
  
• Daily elimination
  
• Mild-smelling breath
  
• No mucous, partially digested food, or blood in your stools
  
• Elimination time between 18 and 24 hours
  
• A big bowel movement in the morning
  
• A smaller bowel movement later in the day
  
• Stools expelled effortlessly
  
• Soft, well formed stools, often in a long tube shape

The Elimination Test

Besides checking for the physical signs of a healthy colon every time you eliminate, you can monitor your elimination time (how long it takes food to be digested and excreted) to evaluate your colon health.

The easiest way to test your elimination time is to prepare beets. Their red pigment is so strong that it colors your stools, and you will know how long your body took to process them.

1. Prepare fresh beets (we prefer fermenting them, since unfermented beets are too sweet and can feed candida) to eat. Make sure you eat the whole vegetable and not just the juice because it travels through your system very quickly.
   
2. When you eat the beets, make note of the time and day.
   
3. Look at your stools until you notice the red pigment from the beets. Ideally this will be 18 to 24 hours after you first ate them.

Dietary Dangers and Guidlines

Dietary Dangers

1. Don't eat commercially processed foods such as cookies, cakes, crackers, TV dinners, soft drinks, packaged sauce mixes, etc.
2. Avoid all refined sweeteners such as sugar, dextrose, glucose and high fructose corn syrup.
3. Avoid white flour, white flour products and white rice.
4. Avoid all hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated fats and oils.
5. Avoid all vegetable oils made from soy, corn, safflower, canola or cottonseed.
6. Do not use polyunsaturated oils for cooking, sauteing or baking.
7. Avoid fried foods.
8. Do not practice veganism; animal products provide vital nutrients not found in plant foods.
9. Avoid products containing protein powders.
10. Avoid pasteurized milk; do not consume lowfat milk, skim milk, powdered milk or imitation milk products.
11. Avoid battery-produced eggs and factory-farmed meats.
12. Avoid highly processed luncheon meats and sausage containing MSG and other additives.
13. Avoid rancid and improperly prepared seeds, nuts and grains found in granolas, quick rise breads and extruded breakfast cereals, as they block mineral absorption and cause intestinal distress.
14. Avoid canned, sprayed, waxed, bioengineered or irradiated fruits and vegetables.
15. Avoid artificial food additives, especially MSG, hydrolyzed vegetable protein and aspartame, which are neurotoxins. Most soups, sauce and broth mixes and commercial condiments contain MSG, even if not so labeled.
16. Avoid caffeine-containing beverages such as coffee, tea and soft drinks. Avoid chocolate.
17. Avoid aluminum-containing foods such as commercial salt, baking powder and antacids. Do not use aluminum cookware or aluminum-containing deodorants.
18. Do not drink fluoridated water.
19. Avoid synthetic vitamins and foods containing them.
20. Do not drink distilled liquors.
21. Do not use a microwave oven.

Dietary Guidelines

1. Eat whole, natural foods.
2. Eat only foods that will spoil, but eat them before they do.
3. Eat naturally-raised meat including fish, seafood, poultry, beef, lamb, game, organ meats and eggs.
4. Eat whole, naturally-produced milk products from pasture-fed cows, preferably raw and/or fermented, such as whole yogurt, cultured butter, whole cheeses and fresh and sour cream.
5. Use only traditional fats and oils including butter and other animal fats, extra virgin olive oil, expeller expressed sesame and flax oil and the tropical oils-coconut and palm.
6. Eat fresh fruits and vegetables, preferably organic, in salads and soups, or lightly steamed.
7. Use whole grains and nuts that have been prepared by soaking, sprouting or sour leavening to neutralize phytic acid and other anti-nutrients.
8. Include enzyme-enhanced lacto-fermented vegetables, fruits, beverages and condiments in your diet on a regular basis.
9. Prepare homemade meat stocks from the bones of chicken, beef, lamb or fish and use liberally in soups and sauces.
10. Use herb teas and coffee substitutes in moderation.
11. Use filtered water for cooking and drinking.
12. Use unrefined Celtic seasalt and a variety of herbs and spices for food interest and appetite stimulation.
13. Make your own salad dressing using raw vinegar, extra virgin olive oil and expeller expressed flax oil.
14. Use natural sweeteners in moderation, such as raw honey, maple syrup, dehydrated cane sugar juice and stevia powder.
15. Use only unpasteurized wine or beer in strict moderation with meals.
16. Cook only in stainless steel, cast iron, glass or good quality enamel.
17. Use only natural supplements.
18. Get plenty of sleep, exercise and natural light.