FOOD RESOURCE COLLEGE OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SCIENCES, OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY
LAXATIVE
Excerpts from Bender, Arnold E. 1990. Dictionary of Nutrition and Food Technology. Butterworths, Boston.
Substance that accelerates the passage of food through the intestine. If it alters peristaltic activity, it is termed a purgative; other types stimulate or depress the muscular activity of the gut.Cellulose acts as a purgative by retaining water and increasing the volume of intestinal contents; Epsom salts function similarly through osmotic pressure. Castor oil is hydrolyzed by lipase to liberate ricinoleic acid which irritates the intestinal mucoasa. Drugs such as aloes, senna, cascara, rhubarb and phenolphthalein irritate the intestine.
Kavasch, Barrie. 1979. Native Harvests. Recipes and Botanicals of the American Indian. Vintage Books, A Division of Random House, New York.
