Meat, colon length, colon cancer, that old chestnut page

[CaptSaltyJack]

I was just searching around for stuff on Mark's site, and saw this comment from a reader:

I can’t resist, although I have commented on being vegatarian previously. I am 71 and have been a vegetarian for 15 years. I did it originally because of marrying a vegan lady, but then I (sumultaneously) got colon cancer and eventually learned that colon causing polyps were no longer forming inside. Previous to veget. diet my colon could have as many as 8 polyps a year; after becoming vegetarian, I have never had another polyp (in ~15 years). Also, I had an oncologist tell me at an annual exam that meat is the main cause of colon cancer. Lastly, I learned that the human colon is some 16+ ft. long, yet a carnivorous cat (all cats?) like a lion might have only a 6 – 8 ft colon. Our problem is the meat, slow to digest, stays inside too long. A cat dumps it much faster and doesn’t suffer as many consequences (that we know of).
But I did enjoy your column, and I plan to check out and watch the problems with too many grains and sugars. My weight? 155 – 160 at 5′10″ and always has been since high school. Health? Great! with no problems and especially no medication, no pain pills and no soft drinks! Ah – life is easy.

So, I'm wondering why this guy saw his polyps had stopped showing up after he ditched meat. I'm assuming he still ate grains and sugars because he doesn't mention ditching those. Also, I've heard the bit about meat decaying in our intestines/colon and causing problems, but I've also heard the contrary, that meat is completely dissolved & absorbed fairly quickly..but that can't be, if it were ALL completely absorbed, doesn't that mean there would be no waste product?

Someone clue me in on this stuff, from a scientific standpoint. Thanks!

[alexa85]

there was a post similar to this one some where else on here. most people dismissed the notion saying it was similar to your mom telling you that if you swallowed a watermelon seed it would grow watermelons in your tummy...i'm not so sure, but am definitely curious. i have been reading "the tao of sex, health, and longevity" - a book sisson cites in his book and lists for recommended reading. it's very interesting, and it explains the eating practices of those who follow the taoist lifestyle. they believe that meat ingested with other things namely starches, sugars, milk etc will leave the meat undigested to putrify in your tummy....yikes. now, the tao is ancient ancient stuff. i have no idea whether it's true or not, but would like to find out too. they talk about the ancient tao sages who were writing this stuff lived to be 111 years old, i guess they were on to something

[Asturian]

I think it has more to do with the bacteria in the gut (both lower and upper GI). The bug population demographics of your gut is determined by the food you eat. Both the type of food you eat and the gut bug population determine the health of not just your gut, but your whole body.

[Primal Toad]

I asked a similar question about meat and the colon. I was told that meat never enters the colon. Anyways... I feel a billion times better ever since I went primal 3 months ago.

[lmyers04]

yes our guts are longer than a big cat's (who is purely carnivorous), but they are on the short side for animals as a whole, much shorter than the purely vegetarian animals in nature. we are omnivores, and most of our waste is the fiber from veggies, water, bacteria, and probably some yams and potatoes or whatever your carb source is, and (maybe?) some fat. meat does not clog your colon or cause polyps. my mother has to have them removed fairly often, and she eats very little meat, as she thinks thats where they come from too. They are extremely hereditary, so hopefully i will not have to deal with it. I plan on being uber strong and healthy for the rest of my life so polyps can kiss my ass, pun intended!

[tarek]

Here's an article that compares the digestive tract of a human to that of a sheep and that of a dog. I'm not sure how reliable some of his information is, but it's an interesting read:

http://www.second-opinions.co.uk/car...omparison.html

[CaptSaltyJack]

Interesting.. thanks for the info, guys. I'll have to do some more reading up on this. Mostly so I know what I'm talking about when vegans try to tell me eating meat is so horrible for me.

[lmyers04]

Interesting.. thanks for the info, guys. I'll have to do some more reading up on this. Mostly so I know what I'm talking about when vegans try to tell me eating meat is so horrible for me.

you talk to vegans?!?! that must be fun!

[Suse]

Also, I had an oncologist tell me at an annual exam that meat is the main cause of colon cancer. Lastly, I learned that the human colon is some 16+ ft. long, yet a carnivorous cat (all cats?) like a lion might have only a 6 – 8 ft colon. Our problem is the meat, slow to digest, stays inside too long. A cat dumps it much faster and doesn’t suffer as many consequences (that we know of).

Honestly I never know what to make of anything nowadays as there is so much conflicting information out there. I cant believe that meat doesnt enter our colon, that just doesnt seem to make sense to me for some reason, surely everything passes through our colon that isnt being used by our body?. Surely our stomach acids cant break everything down (or can they). It does make some sense to me though that given the colon is so long, if it isnt getting enough fibre (from veges of course!) and fat and water then it will slow things down perhaps and maybe that causes problems. I dont really know, I'm just thinking out loud here.

[CaptSaltyJack]

Yeah, I don't buy the whole "meat doesn't even enter the colon" bit. That means 100% of the meat product is getting absorbed by the intestine.. ALL of it. Theoretically, you would never go poo if you ate 100% meat. That just doesn't seem to make any sense.