Amazoniac
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Cellulose is found in larger or smaller quantities in practically all vegetable foods. In some instances it is found in larger quantities than in others. The cellulose content of our foods varies greatly. In fruits and fresh vegetables cellulose is found in a newly formed state in which it is very easily broken up, and it is on this account less valuable as bulk-producing material. It is easily acted upon by bacteria and broken up into gases resembling illuminating gas. The bran of cereals represents an older form of cellulose in which it has been transformed into wood and which is resistant to bacteria.
For normal persons living on a biologic diet, bran would not be necessary, but persons who have been for years constipated have crippled colons, the colon is dilated and elongated, its muscular walls are weakened by long continued owa-distention, and the mechanical stimulus furnished by a very bulky dietary addition is essential.
The bran stimulates the bowel not by irritation, but by a sort of titillation, hastening peristalsis in both the small intestine and the colon, and by hurrying on the unused residues of each meal, leaving no opportunity for the development of putrefactive changes. Bran also excites the intestine to action by distending it, and by the same means stimulates the activity of the glands which furnish the digestive fluids.
Starches and indigestible fibers have been tested on various animals, from horses to rats and practically all of the fibers that are used as food additives carrageenan and guar gum, various other gums, oat bran and even some of the semi-synthetic things, Metamucil, agar and psyllium, all have been identified as carcinogens for the intestine and possibly other organs and getting those out quickly before they support bacterial growth.