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]