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- The large intestine salvages about a liter of isotonic saline daily. Some microorganisms, among the many trillion in the colon, can ferment carbohydrate to gases, and short-chain fatty acids which enhance Na+ absorption, and which provide metabolic fuel to colonocytes.
- The normal colon can retrieve 3 to 4 L of extra saline daily so that significant diarrhea may be averted even if small bowel absorption is impaired.
- Colonic bacteria also metabolize dietary oligopeptides to retrieve nitrogen as ammonia. Certain compounds such as mercaptans, ammonia, and higher alcohols may depress the CNS unless cleared by the liver.
- There is compelling evidence that colonic adenocarcinoma, the second leading cause of cancer-deaths, is preventable, but the most efficient way of detecting early lesions still eludes us.
- The efficiency of absorption, (intake – outake) ÷ intake, for may food stuffs in our diets is better than 95%. See the below Simplified Overviews of the absorption of major nutrients.
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