What is the colon and what does it do?
The gastrointestinal (GI) tract has several structures starting with the mouth, followed by the esophagus, stomach, intestines, and ending with the rectum. The intestines have two parts: the small intestine and large intestine (the colon). The colon is the end section of the intestine, and is six to twelve feet in length. It begins on the right lower area of the abdomen, goes up along the right side, across the top of the abdomen, down the left side and ends at the anus. The last six inches of the colon is the rectum. The primary function of the colon is water absorption. Very little nutrition absorption takes place in the colon. As a result, we can remove a portion or the entire colon and your body can continue to have good nutrition.
If you want to be healthy and stay that way, your body must effectively eliminate food and bodily waste! Your colon . . . together with your lungs, skin and kidneys . . . are designed to accomplish this essential task by elimination of toxins in the intestines, blood and lymph systems. The colon (large intestine, rectum, and anus) is the end portion of the human gastrointestinal (GI) tract which extends from the mouth to the anus. It is a muscular tube approximately 5 to 5 * feet in length and has an average diameter of approximately 2 * inches. The colon starts on the lower right side of the abdomen, where the small intestine empty the contents of digestion (chyme) into the first portion of the colon (cecum). The ascending colon goes up from the cecum to the level of the liver; it then bends sharply to the left and crosses the abdomen as the transverse colon. At the level of the spleen the descending colon goes down the left side of the abdomen to the pelvis, where it becomes the sigm
The colon and rectum are part of the digestive system and together form the large intestine or large bowel. Food is digested in the stomach and small intestine. The colon then removes water from the digested food that comes from the small intestine. Feces or stool is then formed. The rectum is at the end of the colon and is where stool is stored. When you have a bowel movement the stool leaves the rectum through the anus.
