Brain DUMP

brain dump: pot brownies make poop

by KRISTEN ACESTA

Digestion is such a wildly interesting process of the body. Did you know that there are more neurotransmitters in your gut than in your brain? It puts the term “gut instinct” into a bigger picture. Like maybe our psyche isn’t housed in that cranial mass we have all come to love so much. And what is our psyche anyways?

Our intestinal cells have a turn over every three days or so. Think about that. In the timeframe of a week, one practically has a brand new set of human sausage casings floating around in our inside spaces.

Speaking of sausage, if you are on the same page as me, while eating salami you probably wonder if pigs get “leaky gut.” You know, that term in alternative medicine that describes what your digestion normally does, which is absorb things we eat. Nevertheless, back to that pig, its intestinal casing, and its permeability. If a pig DID have leaky gut, do you think it would change the cooking temperature of its perfectly cured sausage? Do other animals get human afflictions, especially conditions coined up in the last decade?

Digestion is also interesting because it houses more obvious symptomology for its human host to observe. Take my patient the other day, who came in quite enlightened. “How long does it take to fully digest something?” She asks.

Good question. Each person is different, of course, but on average it takes 30 minutes to 4 hours for food to pass through the stomach, and upwards of 5 hours to pass through the small intestine. It then moves on to the colon which compacts the material and allows for water reabsorption (along with some other things) and can take 24-72 hours to pass through.

“That makes sense doc” she proclaims. “You see last week I ate too many pot brownies. The only other food in my house was a bunch of red beets. So those got eaten too. It took about an hour and a half before I started feeling, well, high.”

Interesting isn’t it? So this patient has stomach motility of 90 minutes. We know this because the stomach is responsible for initial cleavage of large proteins, and only really absorbs some glucose and other simple sugars, as well as some aminos. So basically the small stuff that is already in its basic/simple form (i.e. not complex carbohydrates, and not proteins). If she had optimal acid production in her stomach (most people don’t) creating a pH of roughly 1.5-3, then perhaps she would start to be high before gastric emptying, otherwise her first intoxicated moment would be once it hits the small intestine.

“Yeah, I was more stoned than I wanted to be, but it seemed to dissipate after 6 hours.” That also makes sense, because that’s about the duration of having pot brownies in the small intestines, at least as far as healthy intestines goes.

“I still felt a bit foggy the next day, until I started noticing all the beets coming out.”

Beets are also a helpful digestive tracking marker. Well, beets and apparently pot brownies. Having complete bowel evacuation within a 1-2 day period is optimal. Otherwise we start reabsorbing everything our poop is holding onto. In worst case scenarios this can create what’s termed a “megacolon”, which means you are literally full of shit, but pathologically so.

That foggy brain that so many complain of could be you reabsorbing your Friday whiskey binge fest, pot charcuterie, or other toxic substances that get to hang out in our colon for potentially too long. Curious if you are reintoxicating yourself because your digestion is poor? Next time you are doing yourself some damage, eat a cup of red beets alongside and watch the ride.

Dr. Kristen Acesta, ND, RH Naturopathic physician and registered herbalist at Mission Health & Wellness, co-owner of Salt Creek Apothecary becomeyourmission.org saltcreekapothecary.com