We’re almost there! Our digestive journey is coming to a close, and we’re reaching the final destination: the colon. Why have we been spending so much time on digestion? Well, it’s because it’s our main gateway to the outside world. It’s where everything we experience enters our bodies. We see the world through vibrations like light, hear it
through air vibrations, and feel it through pressure vibrations. But these don’t actually enter our bodies. We do get a tiny bit of physical connection through taste and smell, but these still don’t reach the inner parts of our bodies. We do get certain gases, like oxygen, through our breath, and these are important. But be careful, because some of these gases, like air pollution or hormone mimickers found in air fresheners and plastics, can be harmful. In reality, 99% of our interaction with
the outside world happens through digestion.
When it comes to our health, the most significant impact we can make is through our diet. Everything we eat becomes part of our bodies, influencing our inner chemistry and shaping our physical makeup. Our food choices matter, but so does our digestive system’s ability to process and absorb these nutrients. While sleep, exercise, and attitude are important, let’s focus on
optimizing our internal mechanics for better health.
Our final stop is the colon. What’s its purpose? As we learned last time, over 90% of the nutrition we absorb has already happened in the small intestine. So, what’s the big deal with the last 10%? Do we even need a colon? Many surgeons don’t think so. They’re happy to remove yours and replace it with a bag to collect your waste. Doesn’t that sound like a good idea? Well, no! The colon is much more than just a
waste collection system. It’s your own personal factory that produces all sorts of vital nutrients, energy sources for the brain, signaling molecules to control your metabolism, chemicals that control your mood, immune modulators, and more. In addition to these functions, it also absorbs water and electrolytes and makes certain vitamins.
What was left by the time we got to the end of the small intestine? Primarily, it was stuff that our enzymes could not break down – fibers. Fibers come in hundreds of types, some we can digest, some our gut microbes can break down, and some that will just provide bulk because they can't be broken down. Obviously, the fibers we can digest
will have already been absorbed in the small intestine. Those fibers get turned into sugar. Generally, fibers that our gut bugs can digest are called soluble fibers because they will mix nicely with water. The last group of fibers is called insoluble because they don't mix well with water. Wheat bran is an example of that type of fiber. It will pass through our entire system without changing at all.
As I mentioned in the last newsletter, the good bacteria in our gut thrive on soluble fibers like inulin, pectin, glucomannan, beta-glucans, mucilage, and others. They also love resistant starches, which resist digestion by our gut enzymes. Other soluble fibers include FOS (fructooligosaccharides) and GOS (glactooligosaccharides). These fibers are like Miracle Grow for our good
gut bacteria. This is important because of what the gut bugs turn these fibers into – short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs). Examples of these are butyrate, acetate, and propionate. Why do we care? Because it is these SCFAs that the cells in our gut use for energy. Not only do they provide energy, but our brain also uses them for energy. Even our heart loves these guys for energy. These fibers not only provide energy, but they have also been found to reduce inflammation in the brain. People who go on
a water fast notice how much clearer their thinking is and how much better their brain feels. This is because of the production of butyrate in the liver to feed our brain. Our liver makes these same SCFAs from burning our own fat while we are fasting. Butyrate has almost miraculous healing powers for the brain, and we can get them from simply feeding our good gut bacteria the right fibers.
What else do these SCFAs do? They’re like superheroes that work wonders in your gut. They affect how your colon moves, how blood flows to it, and even the pH level, which affects how your body absorbs electrolytes. They also play a role in hormones like GLP-1, PYY, GABA, and serotonin, which directly impact your brain. These SCFAs travel through your bloodstream and even up your
Vagus nerve to your brain. They also help regulate your immune system, including your white blood cells and natural killer cells. In simple terms, your good gut bugs are essential for fighting diseases and keeping your body functioning properly. Fiber-rich foods usually have a lot of carbs, which can stop your liver from making these important chemicals. But when you follow a keto diet or fast, your liver takes over and makes these important guys from your body fat. SCFAs are basically the same
as ketones.
Hey, did you know that when you go on a keto diet to lose fat, the main weight loss happens not from burning ketones? Diet books say otherwise, but that’s not true. Sure, when you burn a lot of fat, your blood ketone levels go up, and your brain uses them for energy like your colon cells do. But most of the energy you get from burning fat comes from beta oxidation. This is the
same process we use to burn sugar in our mitochondria, except that the first few steps involve making acetyl coA from fatty acids instead of sugar. That’s why you can still burn fat on a low-calorie diet that doesn’t put you into ketosis. Ketones aren’t needed for burning fat.
Our gut bacteria make hundreds of chemicals, some good for us like B vitamins, and others not so great like NOCs (N-nitroso compounds) and rancid fats (lipid peroxidation). That’s why diet is so crucial. We want to eat foods that our gut bacteria can turn into good stuff, not bad stuff. That’s why we should be worried about highly
processed foods. In the past 50 years, the food industry has created over 10,000 new chemicals that they’re putting into our food. Most of these have never been tested for safety. Even the ones that have been tested, new studies are showing that when they’re mixed together, they can turn into dangerous chemicals that damage our DNA and cause all sorts of diseases.
I’m repeating myself, but listen closely: for a healthy colon, you need to eat real foods. Real foods are fresh, plant-based, and animal-based. If a food item has a label with ingredients, it’s been processed. If you can’t find those ingredients in a garden or hunt them in the wild, it’s not good for you. Your body has evolved over millions of years to handle real foods. It
doesn’t know how to process new food chemicals into something safe for us to eat and still be healthy. It’s not about the number of ingredients; it’s about the quality of those ingredients. When you make your grandma’s famous minestrone soup, it has many ingredients, but they’re all real food, not things that require food chemists and big industrial plants to make.
Lets be real,
David
Ellen
Ellen escapes from home to party with staff
Contrary to popular belief, Ellen does make it out of the house occasionally for social occasions. Here we are enjoying a birthday party for Sherry. Every week we at least get out to go to Costco. Ellen pushes a cart with her good hand and foot while I push her in her
wheelchair. We get around just fine.
How air pollution damages lungs
Researchers have finally discovered how air pollution damages the lungs. The pollution particles oxidize the fatty acids in the lung cell membranes forming toxic chemicals called aldehydes which in turn shut down the tiny cilia arms on the cells that push the mucus that traps the pollution up and out of the lungs.
"Diversity is essential to building strength. Diversity provides flexibility. Strength without flexibility is brittle and therefore fragile.
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~David DeLapp
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Brain damage from too much work
We know that overworking leads to burnout, but new research has shown that overworking actually causes shrinkage of 17 different parts of the brain. This includes areas for emotional regulation, working memory, and problem solving.
"Openness is essential for growth. Without openness to what is we learn nothing. Growth is a constant incorporation of non-self into self."
~David DeLapp
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PTSD resolved with Vagus Nerve Stimulation
In some amazing new work, therapists are finding a complete remission of PTSD in patients using a combination of the electrical stimulation of the vagus nerve in the neck with the gradual re-exposure to the traumatic memories.
"Principle of intention. If you don't have a direction or goal for your life, spirit has no way to support you in that direction. You won't have any reason to engage in new skill development and your growth will stop."
Our address is 9725 Fair Oaks Blvd. suite A Our hours are M, Tu, Th, F 10 to 3:30
Finding our location is very easy. Coming from highway 50 up Sunrise Blvd, you turn left and go up a block. We are on the right hand side - the building just past the Subway Sandwich shop. If you are coming down Sunrise from the Mall area then just turn right on Fair Oaks Blvd and up a block on the right.
If
you are coming from the Roseville area you could come down Sunrise Blvd, but that is a long trek. It is probably shorter time wise to come down Auburn Blvd - San Juan Ave like you have been for the Sunset office, but instead of turning left at Sunset, keep going straight 3 more lights to Fair Oaks Blvd and turn left. Go down 2 lights to New York Ave, go through the intersection, and immediately turn into the turn lane once the center divider ends. We are on the left.
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Referral doctor for when we are
out of town: Jennifer Webb DC
6216 Main St. suite C1 Orangevale 988-3441
Or Dr. Lily
Dr. Hongtruc Lily Nguyen, DC Carmichael Disc Center
5150 Fair Oaks Blvd, Suite 104
Carmichael, CA 95608 Phone: (916) 680-9989 Fax: (916) 680-9977
