There has been much comment about what lines the insides of our our colon.  Thirty
years ago I read a book by Dr. Herbert Shelton called Fasting Can Save Your Life.
I found the book difficult to accept, having graduated from a US university and
had been taught that you could only be healthy by eating three good balanced meals
each day.  I decided to test this idea of fasting.  I first started eating all of
the things I liked since I wouldn't be eating for a while.  This included Chinese
food, pizza, steak etc.  Then I began a water fast that lasted 48 days.  I went
from 142 pounds to 98 pounds.  I am 66 inches tall.  During this fast I had no
bowel activity for 37 days.  Dr. Shelton specifically said no colonics or enemas.
The idea being that the body had its own wisdom and not to interfere.  On the 37th
day I was standing up and suddenly realized that I had better get to the bathroom
quickly.  What came out was black tar like pieces that were curved like they had
been lining my colon.  Also there was a lot of white mucus that came out.  I had
no more bowel activity until I broke the fast 11 days later. I had been eating the
standard american diet for 29 years at that point in my life.  I did not have
diarrhea and basically considered myself in good health.  Today I weigh about 175
pounds and have more muscle and less fat than when I started the fast thirty years
ago.  Part of my problem was lack of sufficient activity.  After many variations
in diet (vegetarian, meat eating, vegan, raw food, fruitarian), I am now eating
mainly raw meat, raw cheese and fruit. Occasionally some vegetable juice or a
salad, definitely NO sproats. Nothing processed.  I have no idea what the inside
of my colon looks like now but I doubt that it still has a hard black coating
lining the inside.  Maybe one of these days I will decide to do another long water
fast and see what comes out but somehow I don't see this as eminent.  Fasting can
be healing but not really fun, eating is much more enjoyable. Bodies seem to be
very resilient, but DO NOT discount the effects that our diet of civilization can
do to it.

> If the walls of your colon are *completely* covered with food remnants
> then I believe you would have diarrhea. But things get stuck in clumps
> for the most part. Food that is left remaining in the colon does indeed
> get the water removed from it. And as time progresses it becomes ashen
> like it would outside of the body. Perhaps one day when you eat a
> high-fiber meal some of this material is removed additionally, so that
> it may not remain there forever. When you embark on a successful
> cleansing campaign you become aware of these processes. It's really
> quite scary when you know how much isn't coming out.

> For my own info and for others I will try to find the sources on the
> build-up issue. What you'd be looking for in the intestine is hard fecal
> matter, a coating along the intestinal wall, worms, diverticula,
> structural damage, etc. I can see in the scope of things how these
> things could seem pretty unexciting. But they are health issues.