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Gastroenterology and Health

Constipation, Bran

Take A Lesson From The Battleship King George V

By Dr. W. Gifford Jones

Last week I discussed why we needed to start "Constipation Anonymous". Why millions of bowels become crippled by the needless use of laxatives. And how a change in lifestyle habits can protect people from chronic constipation. This week what you should know about the British battleship King George V. And what eventually happened to Captain L. Cleave.

Most people remember the King George V for chasing Germany's mighty Bismark. But along with lasting memories of the smoke of battle, Ship Surgeon Captain Cleave holds another recollection. At the same time all 1500 sailors aboard the battleship were constipated. Hardly a fact to deserve mention in the history books.

Captain Cleave also suffered from constipation. He abhorred taking laxatives and giving them out to the crew. But treating constipation during wartime is not an easy task. Fruits and vegetables are a rare commodity.

Faced with this situation Captain Cleave decided to experiment on himself. For several days he consumed raw unprocessed bran. He was elated that this worked for himself and later for others.

Cleave made another discovery. The unprocessed bran also cured many of the sailors hemorrhoids.

Several years later in 1946 Captain Cleave made another interesting finding. His surgeon-commander was suffering from diverticulitis. It's a disease in which small herniated outpockets develop in the large bowel. Food may become trapped in these areas causing inflammation and pain. Cleave eased his commander's suffering by the use of bran.

If Captain Cleave had been a student of history he would have made his discovery years earlier. Hippocrates, the father of medicine preached similar sage advice. In 400 B.C. he recommended to the people of Athens that they should pass large bulky movements. In order to do this he suggested they consume whole bread, vegetables and fruits.

History provides other hints. During the war with France in the 18th century food was scarce. The British parliament passed a law to stretch the supply of grain. This meant that 80,000 English soldiers had to eat bread made from unbolted flour. Army physicians noted that the health of the troops improved.

Baron von Steuben was a German officer who trained American soldiers during the Revolutionary War. He may have been a bit biased but it was his opinion Prussian soldiers were much healthier. The difference, he said, was the Prussian habit of eating unbolted bread.

Others had strong views on the medicinal value of unbolted flour. Slyvester Graham of Graham Cracker fame didn't focus solely on humans. Rather, he repeatedly stressed that cattle were healthier when fed on whole grain.

History proves time and time again it's hard to improve on nature. Over 100 years ago man believed he was improving on nature when he discarded the hard outer crust of the wheat kernel to make white bread. And eating white bread became a status symbol for the rich.

It was easy to see how this error was made. After all the crust contains no nutritional value. The body doesn't even digest it. But in this case, poor people got the best deal.

I tell patients there's a simple reason why fiber fights constipation. It's easier for the intestines to push soft toothpaste through the bowel than small hard rocks. Fiber holds onto water. In the intestines it combines with wastes to form large soft, bulky stools. The effect is to transform the intestines into a fast assembly line.

Without sufficient fiber the stools become hard and small. The peristaltic movements of the intestine have to exert more strength to push the contents along. And like a rusty drain pipe it develops other complications.

This extra force required sets the stage for constipation, hemorrhoids and diverticulitis. There's also reason to suspect it may also help to trigger cancer of the large bowel.

The large bowel is the human disposal dump. We all know that the careless disposal of garbage can cause infection and disease.

Scientists believe that some leftovers in foods contain cancer containing compounds. The longer they're left in contact with the colon the greater the risk of causing malignancy. Good sense dictates that the sooner you get rid of waste products the better.

What happened to Captain Cleave? One would think he would have been made a member of the Royal College of Physicians. Maybe a life member of the Naval Academy. And I'm sure many sailors would have awarded him the Noble Prize for curing their hemorrhoidal pain.

Instead Cleave became known as "The Bran Man". And the subject of ridicule.


W. Gifford-Jones M.D is the pen name of Dr. Ken Walker graduate of Harvard. Dr. Walker's website is: Docgiff.com

My book, �90 + How I Got There� can be obtained by sending $19.95 to:

Giff Holdings, 525 Balliol St, Unit # 6,Toronto, Ontario, M4S 1E1

Pre-2008 articles by Gifford Jones
Canada Free Press, CFP Editor Judi McLeod