Eating Well - Beaming with Health

16 The Commonsense Guide to Eating WeZZ
lymphatic system. The chylomicrons eventually enter
the bloodstream, go to the liver and are then transformed
into lipoproteins. The arteriole, a small artery,
feeds the cells of the villus with nutrients and oxygen.
The end of the tunnel
The large bowel is much shorter than the small intestine,
around 1.5 metres long, but it is much wider, 6.5 centimetres
in diameter. At the end of our digestive journey, over 90 per
cent of digestion has occurred by now. A few micronutrients
and some water can be absorbed from here but the large
bowel is not set up for absorption.
The large bowel hangs in an upside down 'U', starting from
the right-hand side where it joins the small intestine at the
ileo-caecal valve, up the ascending colon, across the transverse
colon and down the descending colon on the left-hand
side. The rectum is where faeces are stored before they exit
Abdominal massage can be very helpful for people who
are constipated, suffer pain from the likes of diverticulitis,
or just hold stress in their bowel. Lie down on your
back, with your head on a pillow and a pillow under
your bent knees - this will take any muscular tension
away from the tummy. With the pads of the fingers of
one hand, slowly and deeply, massage in small circles
from the right-hand side above your hip, following the
direction of the bowel. If there is any pain, ease up and
then go back with a gentler motion. This massage can
be done with warm oil or talcum powder.