Digestive System

For ages, senna has been used as a potent cathartic or purgative. Initially, the Arabs are said to have introduced senna into European medicine during the 9th or 10th century.

Hence it is important to bear in mind that if you are suffering from intense constipation and your bowels are awfully blocked and there is nothing that you may find that will work, use senna. Senna is a potent purgative and will clean the bowels soon.

Research conducted on senna during the last five decades have led the scientists to have a clear understanding of the action of the herb. Studies have shown that the sennosides cause irritation in the lining of the large intestine. This leads to a strong contraction of the muscles and subsequent bowel movements approximately 10 hours after taking the medication. The sennosides also prevent the absorption of liquid from the large bowel and hence help the stool to remain soft.

• 1 - 3 capsules as needed

• Senna should never be used at a stretch for more than 10 days as it has a tendency to make the colon dependent on it for proper functioning. In fact, regular use of senna may also lead to loss of liquids, poor potassium intensity as well as diarrhea. These in turn may cause dehydration and negative consequences on the heart as well as the muscles.
• Warning: Not to be used during pregnancy. Not to be used while nursing. Do not use this product if you have abdominal pain or diarrhea. Consult a health care provider prior to use if you are pregnant or nursing. Discontinue use in the event of diarrhea or watery stools.
• If used under the supervision of a physician, use of senna can be safe even during pregnancy and lactation. It may be mentioned here that use of senna is safe for children above the age of six, but should not be administered to children below that age.

The average apparent digestibilities of dietary constituents were: dry matter 54%; total cell-contents 69%; available carbohydrate 92%; crude lipid 43%; total nitrogen 45%; total phenolics 91%; total cell walls 25%; hemicellulose 24%; acid-detergent fibre 25%; cellulose 31%; lignin 19%.

Average digestible and metabolizable energy intakes were 0.50 and 0.43 MJ kg-0.75 d-1 respectively of which only 0.28 MJ kg-0.75 d-1 was expended in oxidative metabolism. The digestible energy intake required for maintenance was estimated to be 0.33 MJ kg-0.75 d-1, which is lower than that of eutherian and of other marsupial herbivores. The principal sources of metabolizable energy were non-structural carbohydrate and lipid.

It is postulated that the ability of koalas to utilizeEucalyptus foliage as a sole source of nutrients is facilitated by their low requirement for energy and their ability to maximize intake of non cell-wall constituents.E. punctatafoliage has a high digestible energy content compared with the foliage of many other trees and this may be a factor in its selection by koalas.