Wade:
thank you so much for your swift comments.  They have me worried.

Are you saying that man does not have cellulolytic micro-organisms in hirs
gut?  If so, then I've got a lot of re-reading and re-thinking to do.

-----Original Message-----
From: Wade H. Reeser Date: Tuesday, October 27, 1998 10:27 AM
Subject: Re: [P-F] cellulose digestion by man


>At 09:26 PM 10/26/98 -0600, you wrote:
>>Someone wrote here that man cannot digest cellulose.  This was widely
taught
>>in medical schools in the 1930's, but every veterinary student knew even
>>then that was false.
>>
>>Here's  the griff:
>
><snip!>
>
>>Geoff
>
>
>I think you better go back and read the material and try to understand what
>it is saying.  A human cannot digest cellulose; they do not posses the
>necessary enzymes to break cellulose down.  They have the ezymatic
>machinery to break down starches and other complex sugars into simple
>sugars that can be absorbed from the intestinal lumen but NOT cellulose.
>The "stuff" you printed out describes ruminant (e.g. cows, sheep and deer)
>digestion and NOT human.  What little cellulose that may be broken down is
>accomplished in the
>large intestine but various microbes and such.  In any event, these
>products are not used by the body because the large intestine has NO
>machinery to transport the sugars.
>
>The medical school was right.
>
>Ya ought to look at the material on cats and dogs also.
>
>   Wade Reeser   [log in to unmask]
>