The doctor who was with Elvis for the last 12 years of his life and tried to revive him the day he died claims in his book, The King and Dr. Nick, that Elvis died from severe constipation, not cardiac arrhythmia as popularly believed.

An autopsy after Elvis’ death revealed a colon that was 5-6 inches in diameter and 8-9 feet long. A normal colon is only 2-3 inches in diameter and 4-5 feet long. The autopsy also revealed stool that had been in the colon for 4-5 months and would have certainly presented a tremendous toxic load on the singer’s physiology.

Dr. Nick also claims that The King’s bloated appearance and obesity was due to his constipation and not from overeating the wrong foods.

In addition, the doctor asserts that he was in talks with a surgeon to have part of Elvis’ colon removed to relieve the constipation which was causing embarrassing accidents on stage. Elvis, however, would have none of it.

The story reminds me of the rumored autopsy performed after John Wayne’s death some years ago that purportedly revealed that the actor’s colon weighed 82 pounds at the time of his death. 77 pounds of this was dried fecal matter and only 5 pounds was living tissue.   While there are many skeptics of this story and have been a number of attempts to discredit the report over the years, it does seem highly plausible that if someone suffered from severe constipation for many years and yet continued to eat regular meals day in and day out that the colon would elongate, stretch, and become much larger and many times heavier than a normal, healthy colon. This story by Elvis’ personal physician seems to add credence to the John Wayne story, in my opinion.

Constipation is not an issue that should be ignored as an inconvenience and dismissively treated with a morning bowl of All Bran. It should be addressed as a warning sign from the body that gut imbalances exist and that an overhaul of the diet needs to be considered along with use of the best therapeutic strength probiotic to re-establish dominance with those beneficial organisms that are the ultimate gatekeepers of gut health.

Sarah, The Healthy Home Economist

 

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