I can see that you're convinced of this. I'm still not. While I will concede that it's possible that pieces of food may stick occasionally, I still don't think that this is something that is happening with a frequency and tenacity such that it requires unnatural means to remove. When you say that food becomes ashen as time progresses, is this something you've seen evidence of, or is it something you "know"? I'm not meaning to be facetious here, I'm trying to get a grip on this idea. I'm also not clear on why the occasional high-fiber meal isn't sufficient to remove any such mess. Not that I'm defending dairy or anything, but how does this mucous get removed from the intestinal walls of a baby who is breast-feeding? I'm no expert on babies, but don't babies on soy formula have a lot more digestive problems than breast-feeding babies? This idea that meat creates mucous in the intestines, again, is this something you've seen proof of, or something you "know"? It sounds very much like what militant vegetarians say. (I mean, honestly, can you really look in the bowl and visually date what's floating? I can't. Not that I've ever really tried, but my point is that if you are looking and you want to see something old that supports your idea, then you're going to see it.) Let me put it this way: if it's not something that shouldn't be consumed according to paleodiet, then all bets are off, of course (i.e., bread, pasta, etc.). But if it's something that would normally have been consumed by our ancient forebears, then I'm not convinced that it does create mucous, but if it does, then I believe the natural processes of the body should be able to handle it. Now I'm just speculating too. But before I'm going to believe that the only thing it's safe for a human consume is psyllium husk, I'm going to have to see an example of one of these intestines with 5 pounds of meat stuck in it, specifically one from someone who's been eating paleo for awhile. (Any volunteers? <g>) No offense to any Malaysians or Malaysian-sympathetic individuals on this list, but aren't they somewhat an exception to the rule? I mean, I don't know thing one abaout Malaysia. What are their living conditions? What is their food supply like? Sanitation? Crowding? Is there not some reason why they have this problem? If it was truly a universal problem, then this country would be in a panic (meaning the US). Of course parasites and candida can find constant nourishment in our insides; we eat every day! Are you saying that they feed primarily on the junk that's stuck? Is there anything to back this up? I mean, people who stop eating foods that support candida seem to stop having symptoms fairly quickly after stopping. (Someone correct me if I'm wrong on this.) If they've got years of stuff stuck in their insides, shouldn't the symptoms continue for years as well? As for the 300/15 people and constipation, what were these people eating? How old were they when they died? When it comes to things like this, my viewpoint is that all data is suspect until proven. My reasoning is that these studies have several problems with them. First, they are almost always funded by the groups or corporations which stand most to profit from them or whose beliefs will be supported by the outcome. Second, these studies are done exclusively on people who are eating a "normal" diet, as far as I know. How can I possibly think the data applies to me when I do not eat what they do? I hope you don't think this is a personal attack, as it is not. The point I'm trying to make is that in my view much of this topic has become a belief system to many people, much in the same way that they believe in angels (ever seen one?). People are so convinced that we need all kinds of fiber from plants that aren't even edible in order for our bowels to work correctly that it frankly has me baffled. It makes me think it the FDA Food Pyramid. The Food Pyramid is a bunch of hogwash, supported by studies finded by the groups who would profit (recently the FDA recommended adding another serving of grains to the daily intake based on the outcome of a study performed by... the Denver Wheat Growers' Council!). Metamucil makes profit. People who do colonics make profit. People who sell drugs and herbs used for "colon-cleansing" make profit. Of course they're going to tell you you need all this stuff. I'm fairly convinced that the "mucous" you see is the actual Metamucil or whichever seed husk product you're taking. But I'll tell you what. I'm so bent on proving this one way or the other that I'm going to try it on myself. Somebody tell me which brand of this stuff I can get with nothing added (no sugar, no nutraweet). I will report my "findings" to the list. (Sorry, I don't have a scanner, though! <g>) John Pavao ---------- 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. I don't yet know how the low-carb high-meat diet fairs. From the limited (one or two months) that I was able to go non-dairy, things didn't go really well. From what I've read, all things mucus-creating will stick to the colon. This includes meat (and quite frankly nearly everything else). I think this topic is an extremely important issue for our health. It was recently reported that 60% of malaysians have worms (as found post mortum; source unknown). I bring this up to point out that worms and candida and etc. are only able to survive in the intestine because they are finding constant nurishment there. Another statistic that I have seen in more than one source is that the average male in the U.S. is found to have five pounds of meat caked on the intestinal wall (Sorry, I tried but couldn't find my source on this. I'm sure it's not news to you.) So, if a paleo diet will keep us from further build-up, will it remove what's already there? Lastly, autopsies were performed on 300 people only fifteen had claimed that they weren't constipated. As it turns out only fifteen were *not* constipated (Tissue Cleansing Through bowel Management by Bernard Jensen, 1981: 43) My point here is that people really don't know that they are constipated (which equals food is stuck to their intestine). Micke