INTESTINAL SYSTEM (COLON)

INTESTINAL SYSTEM (COLON)

The large intestines, or what is called the colon, are composed of six sections. They are the cecum, ascending, transverse, descending, sigmoid and finally the rectum. The average colon is from five to six feet long. The colon is shaped in somewhat of an upside-down U-shape, extending around the perimeters of your abdomen. It is also made up of circular folds. The colon mainly absorbs water, trace and micro-trace minerals, and vitamins.
No digestive enzymes are secreted by the colon. However, some digestion takes place from bacteria. Your food particles and by-products from digestion in the stomach and small intestines are mixed together in the colon, and most of the water is reabsorbed so that a solid mass is formed for elimination from the body. Mucus from the lymphatic system is also dumped into the colon for elimination. The colon has mucus-secreting glands in the sub-mucosa to assist in proper elimination, as well.
The colon has an electrical relationship to all of the major organs and tissues of the body. The contemporary scientific community has not yet discovered this part of the physiology of the colon (or for that matter, the entire intestinal gut tissue and its relationship to all the other tissues of the body).