The importance of regular bowel function to overall health has been greatly overestimated throughout history. Starting with the Egyptians and Greeks early physicians promoted the idea that putrefaction or stagnation of the bowels was associated with disease and named this process “autointoxication”. During the early 19th century, studies supported the idea that ptomaine poisoning, the degradation of proteins in the colon by anaerobic bacteria, generated toxic amines, which led to autointoxication. Among the leading proponents of autointoxication was Metchnikoff, a Jewish zoologist, who hypothesized that intestinal toxins can accumulate and led to systemic diseases. Because of his work as well as others, the early treatment of disease thought to be caused by autointoxication centered on altering intestinal flora to prevent the breakdown of proteins. This theory gained momentum and in the early 20th century some surgeons even advocated colectomy to cure intestinal autointoxication. By the 1920s, this medical doctrine fell into disrepute as scientific advances failed to give support to this theory. Recently many warnings have been made about “bowel irregularity” and its role in autointoxication.
Autointoxication believers suggest that stagnation of feces in the large intestine cause toxins to be collected and subsequently be absorbed into the bloodstream and poison the body. Variations on this theory exist in many forms including the idea that the large intestine can become a “sewage system” if not cleaned regularly (with colon cleansing products) and cause systemic disease. Additional theories suggest that feces can collect for years in the large intestine and alter the function of the colon whereby allowing toxins from the undigested food to accumulate and poison the body.
Advances in medical science have allowed physicians to be able to disprove the idea of autointoxication. We know that the digestive process takes place in the small intestine and the main function of the large intestine is water absorption. With the advent of colonoscopy we were able to see that the idea of waste “collecting” within the colon simply did not happen. Many diseases that early believers in autointoxication attributed to toxic buildup had their true causes identified as modern medicine developed. We now no that there is no “normal” when it comes to bowel function; some people have a movement daily while others may go weekly.
