Simple Guidelines
to Avoid Gallstones
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them straight to the liver. Constant exposure of the liver cells to these toxins impairs their performance and reduces bile secretion. This leads to a further disruption of digestive functions. When you eat highly processed foods that have been stripped of most nutrients and natural fiber, the colon has difficulty moving the food mass, or "chyme," along. Processed foods tend to make for a dry, hard, or sticky chyme that passes only with difficulty through the intestinal tract. Normally, the muscles wrapped around the colon can easily squeeze and push fibrous, bulky chyme along, but they struggle gready dealing with gooey, sticky chyme that is devoid of fiber. When chyme sits too long in the colon, it becomes harder and drier. If that were the only thing that happened—chyme turning into hard, dry feces—we would only need to worry about constipation (from which millions of Americans suffer) and taking laxatives. But there is more to it. After the chyme is plastered onto the walls of the colon, it will undergo biochemical changes and do the following things. It will: • Ferment or putrefy, thereby becoming a breeding ground for parasites and pathogens as well as a storehouse for toxic chemicals. These can pollute the blood and lymph and, thereby, gradually poison the body. • Form a barrier that prevents the colon from interacting with the chyme and absorbing nutrients from it. • Restrict peristaltic movement by the colon walls, making it difficult for the colon to rhythmically contract in order to force the chyme along its way. How well could you do your job if you were covered with thick sludge? The following are some of the symptoms that may occur as a result of colon dysfunction: Lower back pain Neck and shoulder pain Pain in the lower and upper arms