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Does Meat Rot In Your Colon? No. What Does? Beans, Grains, and Vegetables!
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July 31, 2011
9:29 pm
C
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Now I don't feel bad about eating almost no plant matter. Meat, fish, eggs, and dairy all the way!

August 1, 2011
1:31 pm
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Per:

Good point about the actual nutrient input of gorillas.  The Jaminets spend a lot of time on that subject in the Perfect Health Diet.

C:

My theory is that once we stop stuffing ourselves with grain-based junk, our bodies will tell us when we need plant matter in our diets.  I actually eat more plants now than I did before I started eating paleo!  But I don't force myself. 

JS

August 15, 2011
10:41 am
michelle
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Thanks for the essay, yes, I enjoyed it very much. One question though.
You write, eat corn and steak and see what comes out, it won't be the steak. So where is the steak? Don't we need to eliminate it at some point? Isn't that what we are trying to figure out? If we have undigested meat stuck in our colon?

I recently got diagnosed with pinworm. It's disgusting. I took medication. Laundered and washed my entire house. Then I went to a strictly clear liquid diet, to adding green veggie smoothies, to adding protein powder to my smoothies, to adding raw green veggies. I've passed all the disgusting worms and am ready to start eating normally again, but the thought of putting meat in my "cleansed" colon alarms me. It sounds like I've been misinformed and that all the plant matter I've been ingesting has just added to the bacteria I was trying to clean out!

Please give me your thought on colon cleansing and let me know what does happen to meat. Do we eliminate it?

Thanks.

August 15, 2011
11:22 am
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Michelle:

My sympathies on the pinworms: yuck!

First, pinworms don't come from meat: they come from another human who has pinworms, or occasionally their pets.  So you're not going to get reinfected by eating meat.

As far as "what happened to the steak", it was completely digested and absorbed by your body, which now has a bunch of protein and fat to build and repair itself, and to use for energy.  This is good: after all, the objective of eating food is to absorb its nutrients into your body, not to poop them back out.  (Note that corn isn't a vegetable: it's a grain.)

I've definitely found that I poop and fart less on a paleo diet, despite eating just as many calories: this is because the foods I am getting most of my calories from (meat, eggs) are completely absorbed by my body.

Remember that even a fasting person will poop!  This is because poop contains water (which is most of the weight), dead intestinal bacteria (which is much of the solid bulk), and dead blood cells (which turn it brown).  The rest of it will be things you ate but couldn't digest: "fiber", inorganic materials, and so on.

Most importantly, as I said in the article, it's not bad to eat vegetables!  The bacteria in your colon that break down some quantity of otherwise indigestible "fiber" are usually the good kind: we have them for a very good reason, which is to squeeze some nutrients out of plant matter that we couldn't otherwise digest at all.  It's ingestion of huge amounts of refined sugars and starches (and, especially, huge amounts of fructose) that can lead to bacterial overgrowth and SIBO, and it's ingestion of the indigestible sugars from legumes (and milk products, if you're lactose-intolerant) that make you fart.  Excessive farting is a good clue that you're eating something you're not digesting properly.

So absolutely keep eating and enjoying your veggies!  But don't be afraid of adding meat and eggs back to your diet, either.

Does that help?

JS

August 26, 2011
3:47 am
Jayne
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Brilliant article. I must say, the stupidest argument vegans can make against meat-eating is the whole "putrefies in your gut" nonsense. Why? Because it's not even scientifically possible. Why on earth should I embrace veganism when vegans can't even get their facts right? We know how human digestion works, and it's not the vegan version, sorry.

August 26, 2011
2:41 pm
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Jayne:

Most of that crew doesn't even understand how herbivore digestion works!  And don't even get me started on "colon cleansing".

JS

August 28, 2011
2:54 pm
clemen
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Well, thank you for the article. I agree with all you said about the meats and fats but I dont know what to say about the vegetables and grains. So where we take the rest of vitamins and minerals our body needs from? And if the human body is not suppose to digest sugars, Grains and vegetables why does it have all those trillions of bacterias in the large intestine and colon for? Why do we have a large intestine so? Please answer when you have a chance.

August 28, 2011
4:41 pm
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clemen:

See the last two paragraphs of my reply four comments up (link).  As I say in the article, "I'm not arguing that we should never eat vegetables: I'm just busting a silly myth."

As I've said before, I find myself eating more vegetables now that I've eliminated grains from my diet.  I don't have to force myself to eat them, either: the desire seems to come naturally.

JS

August 28, 2011
7:38 pm
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JS has a good point.

 

I eat a lot of vegetables with my meals. Think in the realm of ~500g a day; more than that if you include sweet potatoes on some of my harder workout days.

 

Try eating a lot and find out how bloated you feel until you get used to it. Or vice versa, eliminate a lot and find out how you feel without them!

August 31, 2011
9:37 am
C.V.
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Great article!
I'm starting the Paleo way of eating (A month ago)
Best wishes

September 1, 2011
3:28 am
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CV:

Wonderful!  Keep us posted on your progress.

JS

September 8, 2011
3:22 pm
Alice
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I learned a lot from reading your article. I recently had a Whipple procedure (surgery) for pancreatic cancer. They removed half my pancreas, part of the bile duct, gallbladder and did some other detaching and reattaching. My digestion is a concern as my body adjusts to it's new state. I'm wondering if you have any knowledge about digestion after this type of surgery. From what I've learned from the doctors, my pancreas isn't yet producing the enzymes needed to properly digest my food. What I read in your article seems to support this in that I have a lot of gas which means food is being processed in my large intestine. I've been told to eat a lot of protein and not much fiber at this point, so it seems similar to the diet you encourage. Thanks for any input!

September 9, 2011
12:49 am
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Alice:

Ouch!  Whipple is major surgery with significant mortality: that's not just your pancreas, that's a big chunk of your stomach and duodenum.  Congratulations on still being alive!

If your poop is whitish or greasy, you've got decreased ability to break down fats and need to eat less of them.  But if all you have is gas, it's most likely a consequence of dysbiosis: the antibiotics have cleared out your intestinal tract, and it's taking some time to bring them back into balance.  In that case, you might try the following (note: I am not a doctor, please read my disclaimer on the left sidebar) and see if any of them help you:

-Probiotics, to recolonize with good bacteria and help crowd out the bad ones

-Eliminate known gas-producers like beans.

-Eliminate milk.

-Eliminate difficult-to-digest plant proteins like gluten (yes, going gluten-free is a pain, but I bet it helps).  Oatmeal and other grain proteins may also be a problem: I recommend getting your starch from things like potatoes and rice.

-Eliminate white sugar.  If you must use sugar, use dextrose.

-Increase your intake of foods that require little enzymatic digestion: whey protein, simple starches like potatoes and white rice that can be digested purely with amylase, coconut oil.

-Increase intake of foods primarily digested in the stomach, i.e. meats.  Fish is a good bet because it's soft and easy to chew vs. beef, pork, or chicken (Note: no battered/fried fish.  Bake, broil, or pan-fry it.)  Ground beef is pre-chewed so it's OK too.

-Chew everything really, really well -- especially meats.

Hope this helps!  Let me know.

JS

September 9, 2011
11:58 am
Alice
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Thanks for your response! I will try some of your suggestions & let you know what happens.

I had a REALLY skilled surgeon who probably does 50+ Whipples a year with only a 1% mortality rate. So I was in good hands and am very thankful! But with a cancerous tumor attached to the portal vein, I didn't have much option.

My poop doesn't seem greasy. It is sort of mustard brown and isn't normal in consistency yet. Not to be gross but it ranges from firm that sinks to "foamy" or "airy" that floats and occasionally just watery diarrhea. I just assumed it varies based on what I've eaten and how it was broken down by my system but I can't tell what foods do which or I'd adjust my eating to have the more normal movements. (I have started chemo so that might complicate things too.) I see my surgeon for a two month follow up next week and hope to get more info from him and/or the nutritionist as well.

Thanks again for helping me understand my digestive system so I can make informed decisions about my health!

September 9, 2011
11:59 am
Alice
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Oh, meant to ask: What about honey as a sweetener?

September 9, 2011
4:23 pm
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Honey is better than sugar, since a lot of the glucose and fructose is already free and it's not a zero-nutrition food.  But I would go easy on it.

Mustard brown means lighter in color and more yellowish than normal, right?  That probably means you're having a bit of fat malabsorption going on, though not terribly bad or it would be greasy.  Again, I'd gravitate towards coconut oil and MCTs rather than vegetable oils or animal fats.

A clarification to my earlier post: gas means that your enzymes aren't able to break down your food, and your intestinal bacteria are doing it instead. So recolonizing will help: but mainly you want to eat things that require little enzymatic digestion, are digested with stomach and saliva enzymes, or increase enzyme secretion.

In my opinion, the main thing is to stay away from complex plant proteins (found in grains), FODMAPs (found in a lot of beans and some vegetables), and other difficult-to-digest foods.  Fish and other soft/ground meats should help: meats increase stomach acidity, which will help break down whatever you eat with them.  Simple starches like rice and boiled/mashed potatoes are easy on the gut…and you might look into blending/juicing your vegetables, which will take a load off your digestive system and enzymes.

Again, please keep us posted on what you find out.

JS

September 12, 2011
4:01 pm
Tony
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Thank you for the great article and contribution to the comments section which i find very informative. I would very much like to hear your opion on my condition.
I am in my mid 20s and until about a year ago my diet revolved heavily around the somewhat typical eastern European cuisine of excess meat and bread(smoked meat, sausages, heavy carbs, bacon, pork chops, beans etc). I used to eat bread with every meal. I rarely ate vegetables or salad. Desert was a big thing too.
I have a history of ulcers(runs in the family) and had treated those for years. I used to get heart burn – the doctor prescribed anti-acid medication many times which would relieve the symptoms almost to be caused again as soon as I was off the treatment! About a year ago my stomach started to make lowd rumbling noises – especially at night time but really could happen throughout the day. This has caused me a lot of discomfort in my personal life. This is when I started to explore different diet options available.
I have read about the “food combining guidelines” online and have practiced ( although not religiously ) those ideas of separating carbs and proteins (not eating them during the same meal). I also barely drink anymore and am using less oils and not eating junk food anymore. I’ve reduced my meat intake and have a mainly carb/vegetable diet at the moment. I don’t get heartburn much anymore, but I have lost weight, I continue to have diarrhea or close to it(2x a week about), and I often feel some discomfort(although not very painful) and what bothers me the most is the loud rumbling at night time (possibly during the day as well ).
I’ve tried several things. I ate only white rice for three days, the rumbling was much better and I felt ok – although not great. Anyway I will try reducing FODMAPs from my diet and moving to a meat diet. What vegetables do you eat? Can you give me some advice on what foods I should start with(an example of what you think I should be eating) – I’m not even sure where I can buy grass-fed meat products as I’ve never paid any attention to that at the supermarket but I will try to buy lean.
Also, I like to have a glass of kefir in the mornings(7 am), and I have a homemade fruit smoothie (bananas and an apple about two hours later) – I have taken this out for a while and it didn’t seem to make a difference. What do you think about kefir, bananas / apples?
Thanks in advance and sorry for the length of this

September 12, 2011
5:52 pm
LZ
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Hi JS - I just found your blog today and am loving all the scientific explanations -- thank you so very much.

I just wanted to offer that the repeated comments about population growth in Ethiopia are being interpreted by me perhaps in a way that you did not intend. First the several times you have mentioned it, it always references " Women in Ethiopia are having 9 kids..." which is probably biologically true given the extensive amount of research you obviously put into each blog post. However, as most of us DO already know from Biology, it take "two to tango",... so by default let's not heap the blame solely on the females of that country.

Second, the reason she is having 9 kids is cultural as you point out, and also perhaps a biological imperative "evolution-wise" so that she is not putting all of her eggs in one basket -with one or two kids vs 9 - because she knows the likelihood of survival, especially of a future male breadwinner during her old age, is low.

Thirdly, I find it hard to deposit any "blame" or causation for a humanitarian effort to save people's lives, when we in the "First" world take up SO many 1000X more resources in food, energy, disposable lifestyles.... even food production. I understand the frustration with the population growth, but the answer is not to let them all starve to death until their culture changes to allow the mothers AND FATHERS to put more resources into fewer children.

September 12, 2011
11:11 pm
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Tony:

My dietary guidelines are found in Eat Like A Predator.  Very few people have special medical needs that require them to redefine "healthy eating" (e.g. PKU).  Start with Step 1 and 2, and move forward from there.  People often overthink their problems, many of which are fixed by simply eating a healthy human diet.

As far as "what vegetables should I eat?"  Answer: whatever you like!  Here's a great starter dish to cook...and you can always put together what Mark Sisson calls the Big Ass Salad, which is always yummy since you're no longer afraid of delicious fatty things like hard-boiled eggs, bacon (not "bacon bits"), strips of meat, etc.

I wouldn't worry about the FODMAPs just yet...start eating paleo and see what happens.  If you're still having trouble after a few weeks we can look at it again.

Probably the reason white rice helps is that it's much lower in antinutrients than the other grains you've been eating...though it's basically just glucose, and too much of it will cause all sorts of other problems.  Lots of people find their GI distress eases or goes away entirely once they're gluten-free and lowish-carb.

JS

September 12, 2011
11:18 pm
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LZ:

I can't say it any better than I've already said it above:

"And since population growth correlates directly with women's rights, the first thing we need to be doing is supporting women's basic right to self-determination around the world.  In South Africa, widely considered the most 'civilized' sub-Saharan country, approximately 1 in 3 men cheerfully admit to having raped a woman.  In many Islamic countries, women are not allowed to leave the house without the protection of a male relative – let alone drive a car, hold a job, or even learn to read and write.  This has nothing to do with 'feminism' or any other 'ism', just basic human rights."

As far as the Western disposable lifestyle, it's all relative to population growth.  If it weren't for immigration and the children of immigrants, US population would be decreasing right now…so in the long run, our consumption isn't the problem.  Recycling and driving a Prius is rounding error compared to the ecological impact of bringing another child into the world.  

JS

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