Why Is There So Much Soluble Fibre In Human Breast Milk?

[4peatssake]

And this from an interview:

Emodin has - every year it seems like there are half a dozen functions that are found for Emodin including improving the flora of the intestine.

Improving the flora.
Improving The Flora!!

So, Law of Transitivity:
Peat likes Emodin.
Emodin improves gut flora.
Therefore,
Peat approves of cultivation/growth of gut flora!!

(I'm sorry HDD...it is a wicked game we play with you here:
twisting your words so as to
pose you in the position of aiding and abetting Peat Infidels! )

HDD and most everyone here see right through that shite, narouz

 

[narouz]

Yes, I see your point, maybe there are studies? It was from an interview so nothing to back it up. Maybe he was baiting the audience? I believe it came before the other statement about bacteria. I need to check on that.

About cascara,I just had a weird digestive bout that was ultimately resolved from cascara and coke. Do you use cascara?

You know, HDD...
back 2 or 3 years ago,
I was able to use 2x500mg of Cascara every day for like 6 months.
No diarrhea, no problem.
Seemed to really help.

Then about a year and a half ago things kinda fell apart a bit.
Couldn't take thyroid supps without getting palpitations.
Couldn't take Cascara without getting diarrhea.

I don't mean to get all tragic on ya...things are looking up here recently!

But Cascara...I do think it is a good supplement.
I'd never heard that it might improve the gut flora.
I wonder what that meant?
More?
Better?...

Thanks though HDD...I do appreciate you chiming in in defense of Peat.
He's probably right.

 

[Stuart]

More food for thought:

Many doctors advise constipated patients to drink more water and exercise. While there is some physiological basis for recommending exercise, the advice to drink more water is simply unphysiological. A study in Latin America found no evidence of benefit from either of those recommendations, and recommended the use of fiber in the diet. The right kind of fiber can benefit a variety of bowel problems. However, some types of fiber can exacerbate the problem, and some types (such as oat bran) have been found to increase bowel cancer in animal studies.
Despite the greater prevalence of constipation in women and older people, even specialists in gastroenterology are very unlikely to consider the role of hypothyroidism or other endocrine problems in chronic constipation.

Because of the cultural clichés about constipation--that it’s caused by not eating enough fiber or drinking enough water, for example--and the belief that it’s not very important, there is seldom an effort made to understand the actual condition of the intestine, and the causes of the problem.

http://raypeat.com/articles/articles/ca ... buse.shtml

Any idea what the animal studies linking oat bran to colon cancer Dr. Peat refers to are?

 

[HDD]

I have had the same problem with cascara. I assumed that it was the quality of what I was taking. I used a capsule to make a tea this time and was surprised that I tolerated it. I had self diagnosed a hiatal hernia. So to say I was relieved is an understatement. I am sold on it now.

I suppose I will always trust what Ray Peat says. I didn't even know I was hypo or had a hormonal imbalance before reading his articles on MS. I would most likely still be juicing carrots, fermenting cabbage, doing wheat grass shots, and aging. I don't worry about my health now....just the health of those I've imprinted.

 

[Suikerbuik]

don't know if I have candida.

I know you have. I have it too and so does everyone else.

I doubt you will want to read her 33 pages.
But, she took a lot of antibiotics.
Has recurring gut problems marked by bloating and cramping in the ascending colon area.
Takes Nystatin.
Bloating and cramps go away.
All is well for a while, maybe days I think, then the bloating and cramping return.
Takes Nystatin.
Bloating and cramps go away.
Like, immediately.

Nystatin, to my knowledge, has no antibiotic properties. Just a yeast and fungus killer.

I’ll not go through, perhaps I’ve seen some of her posts coming by.

Anyway discouraging is the fact ‘the Candida’ (always) seems to come back, even though bacteria are not killed and the yeast are expected to be outnumbered by her ‘commensal’ friends.
It has to involve something else. Compromised immunity for example as the body isn’t expected to have much difficulties with it. Another thing is body temperature, hyphae formation is affected by temperature – no consensus as each strain behaves different. My personal observation is that yeast preferably likes to grow on fruits and vegetables that are damaged or overripe/ decaying.

Bloating can be a symptom of candida, but all other 100s of symptoms listed, can they also be attributed to candida or just a weakness in general??

Or what about our friend here, Stuart.
He writes very acutely about his parents' affliction with different exterior fungal growths.
He also speculatates that they suffered for a long time with yeast/fungal gut overgrowth,
from a very sensitive monitoring of smells they exude.
He describes how he has had many exterior fungal infections over the years.
He speculates--I use that word because there is no way he could do otherwise since there is no accepted test--
that he had yeast/fungus problems in his gut over many years.

Then he discovered the wonders of FOS and inulin and other fibers,
and things changed dramatically, inside and outside.

I tend to believe Stuart's description of his life.

Hard to tell. We don’t know any of his background, nor the severity of his issues. I have little doubt what our friend Stuart is saying is wrong. All I know is that people who read about fiber also read other things about diet..
And it is hard to prove that it is the fiber and not another general unconscious change in the diet or lifestyle..

 

[Such_Saturation]

Maybe it's because Candida survives up to four months on hard surfaces, and you live with other carriers as well.

 

[narouz]

don't know if I have candida.

I know you have. I have it too and so does everyone else.

I doubt you will want to read her 33 pages.
But, she took a lot of antibiotics.
Has recurring gut problems marked by bloating and cramping in the ascending colon area.
Takes Nystatin.
Bloating and cramps go away.
All is well for a while, maybe days I think, then the bloating and cramping return.
Takes Nystatin.
Bloating and cramps go away.
Like, immediately.

Nystatin, to my knowledge, has no antibiotic properties. Just a yeast and fungus killer.

I’ll not go through, perhaps I’ve seen some of her posts coming by.

Anyway discouraging is the fact ‘the Candida’ (always) seems to come back, even though bacteria are not killed and the yeast are expected to be outnumbered by her ‘commensal’ friends.
It has to involve something else. Compromised immunity for example as the body isn’t expected to have much difficulties with it. Another thing is body temperature, hyphae formation is affected by temperature – no consensus as each strain behaves different. My personal observation is that yeast preferably likes to grow on fruits and vegetables that are damaged or overripe/ decaying.

Bloating can be a symptom of candida, but all other 100s of symptoms listed, can they also be attributed to candida or just a weakness in general??

Or what about our friend here, Stuart.
He writes very acutely about his parents' affliction with different exterior fungal growths.
He also speculatates that they suffered for a long time with yeast/fungal gut overgrowth,
from a very sensitive monitoring of smells they exude.
He describes how he has had many exterior fungal infections over the years.
He speculates--I use that word because there is no way he could do otherwise since there is no accepted test--
that he had yeast/fungus problems in his gut over many years.

Then he discovered the wonders of FOS and inulin and other fibers,
and things changed dramatically, inside and outside.

I tend to believe Stuart's description of his life.

Hard to tell. We don’t know any of his background, nor the severity of his issues. I have little doubt what our friend Stuart is saying is wrong. All I know is that people who read about fiber also read other things about diet..
And it is hard to prove that it is the fiber and not another general unconscious change in the diet or lifestyle..

Thanks, Suik.
All very reasonable.

One factor I failed to include but have noted before:
Me, Stuart, and thebigpeatowski all have had our appendixes removed....

 

[narouz]

I have had the same problem with cascara. I assumed that it was the quality of what I was taking. I used a capsule to make a tea this time and was surprised that I tolerated it. I had self diagnosed a hiatal hernia. So to say I was relieved is an understatement. I am sold on it now.

I suppose I will always trust what Ray Peat says. I didn't even know I was hypo or had a hormonal imbalance before reading his articles on MS. I would most likely still be juicing carrots, fermenting cabbage, doing wheat grass shots, and aging. I don't worry about my health now....just the health of those I've imprinted.

I've always used the Nature's Way aged (6 months) Cascara, HDD.
It's the only aged Cascara I've seen.
Since I seem to be on the upswing,
I'll try adding back in a little of it soon.

I trust Peat too.
But, relative to the kinds of conversations we've been having here about him--
Infidels v Believers! --
it is not really a matter of trust.
I trust a lot of my friends,
but sheesh! they can sure get a few details wrong here or there
and maybe a major bonehead mistake once in a while too!
Personally, I try to keep my fervor for Peat
from verging into The Religious.
I'm sure you're similar in that regard.
So...for me,
I don't have a problem saying he is a great blessing (not of the religious sort, in my case)
but also a fallible human being
who might possibly get something wrong.

(But just one thing:
fermentable fiber!
Oh yeah...make that two things:
cooking bone broth 1or 2 hours! )

 

[narouz]

From the Peat end
so much of what we're talking about--the microbiome and its vagaries--
rely on key studies cited by Peat.
This is a casual jumping off point:

-the rat study where "sterile rats" had great gut health
and in fact lived longer and more healthily than germy rats.
until they met germs, of course.
a pretty compelling study, if accurate.

-Peat has several times mentioned in radio interviews
the story about women who can't get pregnant.
the doctors think maybe they have an infection,
so they give antibiotics.
women get pregnant.

-stress. Peat often sees things through the prism of stress.
My feel for it is
that Peat thinks endotoxin imposed stress is often The major stressor.

-quinones: the tetracyclines are quinones.
I personally have wondered if all antibiotics are good
or if some people may really have experienced the quinone effect
more so than the antibiotic effect.

That first thing, the sterile rat experiment.
I'd like to know more about it.
Personally, that is a very compelling result, if believable.
But I've never questioned it.
I'd like to review the experiment.

 

[tara]

Improving the flora.
Improving The Flora!!

So, Law of Transitivity:
Peat likes Emodin.
Emodin improves gut flora.
Therefore,
Peat approves of cultivation/growth of gut flora!!

Since when did 'improves' = 'increase' or 'grow'? :)

 

[HDD]

More food for thought:

Many doctors advise constipated patients to drink more water and exercise. While there is some physiological basis for recommending exercise, the advice to drink more water is simply unphysiological. A study in Latin America found no evidence of benefit from either of those recommendations, and recommended the use of fiber in the diet. The right kind of fiber can benefit a variety of bowel problems. However, some types of fiber can exacerbate the problem, and some types (such as oat bran) have been found to increase bowel cancer in animal studies.
Despite the greater prevalence of constipation in women and older people, even specialists in gastroenterology are very unlikely to consider the role of hypothyroidism or other endocrine problems in chronic constipation.

Because of the cultural clichés about constipation--that it’s caused by not eating enough fiber or drinking enough water, for example--and the belief that it’s not very important, there is seldom an effort made to understand the actual condition of the intestine, and the causes of the problem.

http://raypeat.com/articles/articles/ca ... buse.shtml

Any idea what the animal studies linking oat bran to colon cancer Dr. Peat refers to are?

No, I did not see a reference cited in this article.

I did find this about oat bran and other fiber, but its was not referenced from Dr. Peat:
https://books.google.com/books?id=tgcAA ... es&f=false

 

[Stuart]

No, I did not see a reference cited in this article.

I did find this about oat bran and other fiber, but its was not referenced from Dr. Peat:
https://books.google.com/books?id=tgcAA ... es&f=false

Thanks, that was interesting. I avoid oat bran because it's so high in phytic acid. But maybe it would be good for Narouz's iron chelation purposes.
There's a book by Konstantin Monastyrsky called ' Fiber Menace: the Truth About the Leading Role of Fiber in Diet Failure, Constipation, Hemorrhoids, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Ulcerative Colitis, Crohn's Disease and Colon Cancer' He's got a website 'Fiber Menace'. There's a Wikipedia page on him too. Have you heard of him?

 

[Amazoniac]

The dietary public recommendations for limiting fat consumption, especially animal fats from an endotoxin perspective make a lot of sense.
Most people eating a typical american diet will probably have at least to some degree poor gut health and integrity - and even though we all have gram- bacteria inside, it's our gut integrity that matters most - , and if you consider meals rich in starches and fats, you are creating a lot of problems if you're one of those people. The concentrated amount of sugar in starch will feed a lot of bacteria, and it's worth mentioning that unlike other fermentable carbs, starches are cooked and most of their toxins are destroyed, those toxins help to control the availability of sugars to bacteria. Eating some leeks is completely different than eating cooled sweet potato. They both will ferment but the difference is that the leeks are protected by its toxins and the amount of carbohydrate available is insignificant compared to a cooled sweet potato.
Most people who eat freely will have a moderate proportions of macronutrients, and that means that they will provide more than enough substrate for bacteria, without the plant toxins and at the same time will eat more than enough fat to facilitate the absorption and transport of endotoxins.
There's also the fact that SaFA in most people's diet comes from animal products that will have some cholesterol to it, unlike most PUFA-rich foods. I know that dietary cholesterol won't reflect as much the cholesterol in the body but I think that it also plays a role in endotoxin. More PUFA, probably less endotoxins and less inflammation (please, from the perspective of endotoxins).
When LPS enter the circulation they are recognized as a threat and it involves respiratory bursts and damage to the arteries. The same problems involved in atherosclerosis, when cholesterol is oxidized then macrophages foam up creating a plaque.

So maybe when people are doing fat-free experiments, they are probably seeing benefits from less inflammation due to less endotoxins.

So back to the GAPS diet and alikes, there's a lot of value in them. Their introduction phase is crucial for relief from inflammation and rebuild gut wall integrity. The only concern is not being too low on carbs and not avoid fermentable carbs for a long time.
At the same time provide a lot of extracellular matrix/builind blocks and supplements to replenish the damage to the gut wall. Add to pboybeethovenstenthsymphonytheme that the fact that avoiding starches in the first phases are very reliefing due to the reasons mentioned at the beginning of this post.

 

[Stuart]

@Amazoniac
What do you mean by 'fermentable carbs' ? Fermentable fiber is carbohydrate that can''t be metabolized in the upper digestive tract (before the colon, by enzymes not bacteria).Bacterial fermentation only happens in the coion (unless you suffer from SIBO when it also happens in the lower end of the S.I.).
It will really help if you talk about 'digestible carbs' or 'fermentable fiber'. Combining the two is just confusing, don't you think. because you're conflating two completely different metabolic processes.
Normally digestible carbohydrate (sugar or starch) doesn't even reach the colon. Eating more carbohydrate calories than you need to replenish glycogen or for immediate energy expenditure will just get digested in the normal way by enzymes (not bacteria!) in the S.I. and stored as fat, But bacteria won't even get to see 'digestible' carbohydrate. That's why the non digestible carbohydrate that colonic bacteria can eat is called 'fiber' - fermentable fiber.
There aren''t enough bacteria in a healthy S.I. to ferment anything. Otherwise a high carb diet (like a Peatarian approach) would cause constant bloating.
Also some of the energy extracted from dietary carbohydrate in the upper digestive tract is used by the wall of the coion to produce mucus/mucins which colonic microbiota also eat. But the carbohydrate that does this isn't actually in the colon. It's already been metabolized in the S.I.

 

[HDD]

I have had the same problem with cascara. I assumed that it was the quality of what I was taking. I used a capsule to make a tea this time and was surprised that I tolerated it. I had self diagnosed a hiatal hernia. So to say I was relieved is an understatement. I am sold on it now.

I suppose I will always trust what Ray Peat says. I didn't even know I was hypo or had a hormonal imbalance before reading his articles on MS. I would most likely still be juicing carrots, fermenting cabbage, doing wheat grass shots, and aging. I don't worry about my health now....just the health of those I've imprinted.

I've always used the Nature's Way aged (6 months) Cascara, HDD.
It's the only aged Cascara I've seen.
Since I seem to be on the upswing,
I'll try adding back in a little of it soon.

I trust Peat too.
But, relative to the kinds of conversations we've been having here about him--
Infidels v Believers! --
it is not really a matter of trust.
I trust a lot of my friends,
but sheesh! they can sure get a few details wrong here or there
and maybe a major bonehead mistake once in a while too!
Personally, I try to keep my fervor for Peat
from verging into The Religious.
I'm sure you're similar in that regard.
So...for me,
I don't have a problem saying he is a great blessing (not of the religious sort, in my case)
but also a fallible human being
who might possibly get something wrong.

(But just one thing:
fermentable fiber!
Oh yeah...make that two things:
cooking bone broth 1or 2 hours! )

Maybe trust in the sense you describe with your friends isn't the right word. However, how many times has it been said "Ray Peat wrong again"?

I was wondering if Aloe Vera might be something to consider? My mother had a nurse that swore by it. I don't recall her digestive problems, only that aloe Vera fixed them. Since you and others are appendixless, and we have not read or heard Peat speak of this, maybe a quick question to him would be warranted?

I just made a pho broth in three hours that has gelatin. Not as much gelatin that you would yield using stinky feet, but enough.

 

[Amazoniac]

@Amazoniac
What do you mean by 'fermentable carbs' ? Fermentable fiber is carbohydrate that can''t be metabolized in the upper digestive tract (before the colon, by enzymes not bacteria).Bacterial fermentation only happens in the coion (unless you suffer from SIBO when it also happens in the lower end of the S.I.).
It will really help if you talk about 'digestible carbs' or 'fermentable fiber'. Combining the two is just confusing, don't you think. because you're conflating two completely different metabolic processes.
Normally digestible carbohydrate (sugar or starch) doesn't even reach the colon. Eating more carbohydrate calories than you need to replenish glycogen or for immediate energy expenditure will just get digested in the normal way by enzymes (not bacteria!) in the S.I. and stored as fat, But bacteria won't even get to see 'digestible' carbohydrate. That's why the non digestible carbohydrate that colonic bacteria can eat is called 'fiber' - fermentable fiber.
There aren''t enough bacteria in a healthy S.I. to ferment anything. Otherwise a high carb diet (like a Peatarian approach) would cause constant bloating.
Also some of the energy extracted from dietary carbohydrate in the upper digestive tract is used by the wall of the coion to produce mucus/mucins which colonic microbiota also eat. But the carbohydrate that does this isn't actually in the colon. It's already been metabolized in the S.I.

Let's not overcomplicate things and try to simplify them to move towards more important subjects. There's nothing confusing about the term fermentable carbs and to discuss it shifts the point of that whole post, in my opinion of course..
I don't understand what's your problem with starch and fiber being referred to as fermentable carbs. And I wrote cooled potato in my previous post antecipating the misinterpretation..

 

[EnoreeG]

@Amazoniac
What do you mean by 'fermentable carbs' ? Fermentable fiber is carbohydrate that can''t be metabolized in the upper digestive tract (before the colon, by enzymes not bacteria).Bacterial fermentation only happens in the coion (unless you suffer from SIBO when it also happens in the lower end of the S.I.).
It will really help if you talk about 'digestible carbs' or 'fermentable fiber'. Combining the two is just confusing, don't you think. because you're conflating two completely different metabolic processes.
Normally digestible carbohydrate (sugar or starch) doesn't even reach the colon. Eating more carbohydrate calories than you need to replenish glycogen or for immediate energy expenditure will just get digested in the normal way by enzymes (not bacteria!) in the S.I. and stored as fat, But bacteria won't even get to see 'digestible' carbohydrate. That's why the non digestible carbohydrate that colonic bacteria can eat is called 'fiber' - fermentable fiber.
There aren''t enough bacteria in a healthy S.I. to ferment anything. Otherwise a high carb diet (like a Peatarian approach) would cause constant bloating.
Also some of the energy extracted from dietary carbohydrate in the upper digestive tract is used by the wall of the coion to produce mucus/mucins which colonic microbiota also eat. But the carbohydrate that does this isn't actually in the colon. It's already been metabolized in the S.I.

I think there are problems with starches outside of the fact that they may sometimes reach the large intestine in unhealthy individuals. But for now, I want to say something about starches proceeding further than the small intestine.

I believe (but might be wrong) that many people following Ray's guidelines on eating are influenced by the following, or similar quotes

2. Starches can feed bacteria in the lower portion of the intestines if not digested quickly, increasing intestinal toxin burden and fermentation of carbohydrates which can stress the liver and produce changes in the metabolic rate, mood, and mediators of inflammation (like serotonin, estrogen, endotoxin). Excessive endotoxin exposure affects the liver’s production of cholesterol (not favorable).

“The upper part of the small intestine is sterile in healthy people. In the last 40 years, there has been increasing interest in the “contaminated small-bowel syndrome,” or the “small intestine bacterial overgrowth syndrome.” When peristalsis is reduced, for example by hypothyroidism, along with reduced secretion of digestive fluids, bacteria are able to thrive in the upper part of the intestine. Sugars are very quickly absorbed in the upper intestine, so starches and fibers normally provide most of the nourishment for bowel bacteria…Thyroid hormone increases digestive activity, including stomach acid and peristalsis, and both thyroid and progesterone increase the ability of the intestine to absorb sugars quickly; their deficiency can permit bacteria to live on sugars as well as starches.”

taken from Concerns with Starches

When I read this and realize that, as you say Stuart, in a healthy individual, the sugars and starches (and proteins and fats) are all digested in the small intestine (SI), I think that we have Ray making comments about a problem he might have encountered on someone with quite low thyroid production, or other serious condition that hurts motility. I would think, with the very qualifications that Ray puts on this, that people would apply his suggestions only if they knew for a fact that they have slow moving bowels. However, we seem to see people applying Ray's guidelines and avoiding starch purely because it might proceed on to the large intestine and feed microbes, or that it might also feed the microbes in the SI because too much time is spent there, and somehow, microbes are present.

I feel that people apply advice meant for someone definitely diagnosed with poor peristalsis or low motility to themselves, even though their SI is perfectly capable of digesting starch in a timely fashion. Not everyone reading Ray Peat has a hypothyroid condition. Not everyone has low motility. As I see it (and experience it personally) there is no reason to apply a hypothyroid diet, or any "low motility" diet unless you suffer from SIBO or other gut problem involving excess gas, Crohn's disease, etc.

Just one further idea on this. Ray mentions "in the last 40 years" an expanded interest in SIBO. He mentions hypothyroidism, but doesn't give a reason for either SIBO or hypo-T to be of "more interest" in the last 40 years. I think he may have put the chicken before the egg.

There are hundreds of endocrinologists out there now who treat Hashimoto's Thyroiditis as an autoimmune condition caused by a leaky gut. The progression is, FIRST, people eat improperly, going high on refined foods and low on fiber, then SECOND, the gut loses it's tight junctures between endothelial cells, then THIRD, the body has chronic inflammation, one symptom of which is hypo-T. 80% of the hypothyroid situation these days is just a symptom of autoimmunity caused by improper diet which ruins the gut endothelium and the person's immune system. The solution is via diet.

Unfortunately, only the old-school endocrinologists still treat hypothyroid as a disease. The modern practitioners treat it as a symptom (if it's Hashimoto's) and they fix the patient's gut via the patient's diet and the symptoms subside.

One of hundreds of view on this

One View

There are so many more. If one is interested, one searches. Searching and questioning is so superior to accepting and coping.

 

[narouz]

Improving the flora.
Improving The Flora!!

So, Law of Transitivity:
Peat likes Emodin.
Emodin improves gut flora.
Therefore,
Peat approves of cultivation/growth of gut flora!!

Since when did 'improves' = 'increase' or 'grow'? :)

I was just kiddin' around with HDD.
But I think "cultivation" is at least in the ballpark with "improve."
I mean,
when you improve your garden,
aren't you cultivating it...?

 

[tara]

Improving the flora.
Improving The Flora!!

So, Law of Transitivity:
Peat likes Emodin.
Emodin improves gut flora.
Therefore,
Peat approves of cultivation/growth of gut flora!!

Since when did 'improves' = 'increase' or 'grow'? :)

I was just kiddin' around with HDD.
But I think "cultivation" is at least in the ballpark with "improve."
I mean,
when you improve your garden,
aren't you cultivating it...?

I know you were kidding. :) But this thread seems to contain many leaps of logic like this, so I'm drawing attention to the gap in logic anyway, in case anyone isn't seeing it.
Selective cultivation - may sometimes involve removing a lot of undesired plants to allow conditions for a smaller amount of desired plants. Not necessarily an increase in overall growth.

 

[narouz]

I was wondering if Aloe Vera might be something to consider? My mother had a nurse that swore by it. I don't recall her digestive problems, only that aloe Vera fixed them. Since you and others are appendixless, and we have not read or heard Peat speak of this, maybe a quick question to him would be warranted?

I just made a pho broth in three hours that has gelatin. Not as much gelatin that you would yield using stinky feet, but enough.

Ah...pho.
Yummy.
The chicken feet I used were not stinky.
But they did kinda freak visitors out.
And they made hands down the best gelatinous broth.

I made many batches with chicken feet.
With beef feet.
With chicken carcass.
With marrow bones.
With oxtails.
Different cooking times,
from 2 hours to 24 hours.

Peat said, I believe, that cooking over an hour or two
degrades the protein.
Damn I tried it!
If we're talking gelatinous broth,
one to two hours yielded me very very little gelatin content.
Yeah, sure...what they call I think a "meat broth"...tasty sure enough...
but not gelatinous.

Yes, HDD, I've long been curious about Aloe Vera for the gut too.
I think it has emodin too--like Cascara...?
Let me know what you find out! :)