Getting To Know Our Colon

One part of our body that plays a very important role but is often overlooked is the colon or what we more often refer to as the large intestine. Our colon is part of our excretory system, although some biologists suggest that it is part of the digestive system. The colon is primarily responsible for extracting salt and water from solid waste before they are flushed out of our body. Our large intestine is normally divided into four parts: ascending colon, transverse colon, descending colon, and sigmoid colon. The part of our large intestine from our cecum to the junction between our transverse colon and descending colon is referred to as the right colon. The remaining parts of our colon form our left colon.

It helps to review colon information from time to time. This helps us better understand how our large intestine functions and its significance to our health. Learning more about colonic information will give us a better view about the role played by our large intestine in naturally detoxifying our body. Proper functioning of the colon means efficient detoxification, which results to better health. Recently, this natural process has been given more attention because of more and more people who suffer from colonic diseases. So how exactly does our large intestine function?

Our large intestine immediately follows our small intestine. It is about 1.5 meters long and is primarily responsible for storing and processing undigested food, reclaiming water, and absorbing vitamins, especially vitamin K, still present in undigested food. By the time undigested food has reached our large intestine, they still contain electrolytes and carbohydrates or dietary fiber. Once our large intestine has absorbed the remaining water, the undigested food matter will mix with gut flora and become feces. The good bacteria present in our large intestine are responsible for breaking down dietary fiber which is used by the cell lining of our colon for nourishment.

This detoxification process is very important to our health. It is therefore important that we take care of our large intestine. Lots of diseases can develop from an unhealthy colon. Two of the most common illnesses that we can suffer from due to an unhealthy colon are diarrhea and constipation. Other colonic diseases include angiodysplasia of the colon, colitis, toxic megacolon, chronic functional abdominal pain, colorectal cancer, colorectal polyps, Crohn’s disease, paralytic ileus, Hirschsprung’s disease, and irritable bowel syndrome.

One can learn more about information on the colon through medical books and internet sites. Information on colon diseases can also be obtained from the said sources. It is important that we learn more about information about colon health to help us take steps that can keep our body in good shape.