The large intestine, or colon, is at the end of the digestive tract where the waste ends up. A poor functioning colon can cause you serious disorders and even cancer so the job that prebiotics do in the large intestine is extremely important indeed.
Most of our body bacteria, good and bad, end up settling in the large intestine. Along with all residues of undigested food, residues of any medicines you might be taking along with artificial additives and toxins discarded by the liver, even parasites. All this mess swimming around in a bunch of mushy fibrous liquid.
Prebiotics keep things moving
Depending on your nutrient intake and quality, it can either help the colon waste get organized properly or it can promote disease. More friendly bacteria and dietary fibers will work together to give waste the best chance in getting out of there at the appropriate time and speed.
Prebiotics promote good bacteria (probiotics)
One of the most important jobs prebiotics do is to feed your good bacteria, also known as probiotics, so it can grow and dominate it's population over the bad bacteria. A lack of nourishment to the good guys means more growth for the bad, who also thrive on a junk food diet that's high in refined sugars.
We humans can get pretty sickly, not to mention smelly, when our intestines get over populated by bad bacteria. Just think of a baby's diaper as opposed to a grown up that is having digestive problems; on the other hand, someone who has a very healthy digestive system won't produce such a rancid odor because they are carrying less bad bacteria.
But the most important job is done when the prebiotic fibers arrive in the large intestine. Here they begin a fermentation process which produces special molecules known as short-chained fatty acids. These acids prevent the dangerous bacteria from sticking to the intestinal wall and forming cells, which they will do when you don't have enough fiber.
Expert advice
The forming of these pathogen tissue cells can be deadly down the road because it's from these cells that cancerous polyps are formed. This is one of the main reasons why medical scientists tell us that as common and deadly as colon cancer is, it can be easily prevented.
They also tell us that there is a strong link between our poor, modern highly processed diet, and many digestive disorders and disease. Most food products we buy have many of the important nutrients we need for good health processed right out of them, so if we don't alter our diet we should at least supplement it with quality nutrition for our health's sake... life itself may depend on it.
Learn more about how prebiotics work in the large intestine to get your digestive system working for optimum health - visit http://natural-digestion.com/ and take advantage of our independent research for the highest quality prebiotic supplements
