Good Digestive Health

WHAT IS DIGESTION?

"I feel fine...as long as I don't eat." If this sounds like you (or someone you know), you're not alone. Some experts estimate that over one-third of the American populace suffers with some kind of digestive complaint. Although most complaints center around “acid reflux,” gas, bloating and indigestion, serious stomach and intestinal disorders, such as ulcers and colon diseases, account for 10 percent of all work days lost annually and 15 percent of all admissions to general hospitals.

Digestive disorders have been described in medical books for the last 300 years. Among the most common are those connected with incomplete digestion. They include bad breath, gas after meals, abdominal bloat, skin problems, recurring headaches, muscle wasting, diminished immunity, delayed wound healing, anemia, poor bowel function, depression and allergies. Further, incomplete digestion can lead to irritable bowel, colitis and diverticulitis. These problems can often be traced to an imbalance of digestive secretions, particularly of digestive enzymes, as well as poor eating habits.

Although children can and do have these imbalances too, they are generally adult disorders. Frequently, they are the result of years of insufficient chewing, gulping our food whole, “fast food,” eating when emotionally upset, eating with defective teeth or dentures and/or eating foods which are difficult to digest and not nutritionally sound. Unfortunately, when food is not correctly digested not only does illness ensue, but also nutrition is lost. This subtle form of malnutrition is most commonly felt as a lack of energy and vitality and weight gain or loss.

Digestion is the first step in the conversion of food to energy. Our bodies get everything they need, except air, through the digestive tract. Accord­ing to Time-Life Books, some 90,000 pounds of food and 55,000 quarts of fluids pass through our 25-30 foot digestive system during our lifespan. Except for water and minerals, these foods have to be converted from complex forms into simple sugars, amino acids and free fatty acids to be used by the body. This feat is accomplished by hydrochloric acid and enzymes (chemical substances that cause the breakdown of a specific nutrient) which are released by the body as the food moves along the digestive tract.

Because the nature of digestion is basically chemical, we can think of our digestive tract as a conveyor belt moving food through a chemical processor. Food goes into one end and waste comes out the other, while useful nutrients are separated out and carried off. Our digestive tract (GI tract or alimentary canal), together with its assisting glands and organs, is called the gastrointestinal system. It includes the mouth and salivary glands, the esophagus, stomach, small and large intestines and the liver, pancreas and gall bladder. The esophagus, stomach and small intestine are known as the upper GI, while the large intestine or colon is the lower GI. Together the small and large intestines make up the bowel.

The first step in improving our digestion starts in our mouths.  Teeth are designed to chew our food, breaking down solid food and mixing in saliva.  Saliva contains the enzyme amylase which starts the digestion of starches and carbohydrates.  The person that does not chew their food adequately can expect digestive problems from beginning to end of the process.  Once food has been swallowed, it is moved down through the esophagus to the stomach.

The stomach stores the food for a couple of hours, mixing it with hydrochloric acid and an enzyme called pepsin.   This starts the digestive process for proteins.  The treated food is then released into the small intestine.  Although the food undergoes chemical changes in the stomach, very few substances are delivered from the stomach directly into the bloodstream. (Alcohol is one of them.)   Most of the digestive process and the absorption of nutrients take place in the small intestine.

The coiling tissues of the small intestine make up the lion's share of the digestive tract. The average adult small intestine, if uncoiled, would measure over 3 yards long!  A number of digestive enzymes come into play in the small intestine, breaking down carbohydrates into glucose, protein into amino acids and fats into fatty acids and glycerol.  Enzymes are a special category of proteins which act as catalysts. They exist in all living organisms and cannot be reproduced synthetically. They are generally named by their activity plus the suffix -ase (For example, the category of enzymes which helps in the digestion of protein is called protease.)  Most digestive enzymes are secreted into the small intestine by the pancreas and by the lining of the small intestine.  The pancreas is about six inches long and located just behind the stomach. We are most familiar with the endocrine functions of the pancreas that include the production of insulin and glucagon, hormones that influence blood sugar levels. However, the pancreas is crucial to the digestion of all kinds of food. Amylase, the carbohydrate splitting enzyme found in saliva is also produced by the pancreas as are the proteases needed to complete the breakdown of protein foods and the lipases necessary for the digestion of fats.  Especially as we grow older, our pancreas secretes less and less of these essential enzymes causing many nutrients to not be absorbed.  Supplementation with digestive enzyme formulas usually remedies the problem.

After being broken down into their essential nutrients, the assorted food molecules are absorbed into the blood and lymph system. This job is done by hair-like projections located in the folds of the jejunum and the ileum. These projections are called villi. The villi put forth even tinier projections called microvilli. This combination of folds, villi and microvilli performs one of the body's most amazing and efficient functions. It absorbs nutrients with an absorptive area that is equal to about 300 square yards - the size of a tennis court!

What is left of the original nutrients in your meal is then shunted through another valve into the colon. Here electrolytes (sodium, potassium, chloride, etc.) and large quantities of water are extracted, Colonies of bacteria called probiotics feed on the remainder, keeping any unabsorbed food from causing auto­intoxication and preparing it for elimination from the body.

IMPROVING YOUR DIGESTION

The approach for improving diges­tion is a very simple one. Chew your food thoroughly, enhance and maintain the nutritional quality of your diet, add pancreatic enzymes to your daily supplement intake, restore or improve the numbers of beneficial bacteria in the colon and - relax.

Diet

The enzymes found in foods help us to digest them. However, living enzymes are found only in raw foods. Although we need both raw and cooked foods in our diet, we have a tendency, especially in the colder months, to eat mostly cooked food. You may want to evaluate your diet to be sure you include plenty of raw fruits and vegetables and their unprocessed juices. Some foods that are very high in enzymes are cabbage, carrots (raw juice is best), tomatoes, cucumbers, endive, avocadoes, mangoes, bananas, apples, oranges, grapefruits, lemons, papayas, pineapples, fresh figs, raw honey and raw egg yolk. Sprouting increases the enzyme levels of grains, seeds and nuts by 500-600 percent.  The stomach can be abused by overloading, eating unnatural foods like white sugar and flour, eating foods containing irritating substances, such as additives, colorings and chemicals. Sugar and fried and fatty foods are stress causing which adds to the difficulty in digesting them.

Supplements 

The most important supplement to consider when having digestive problems is a good Digestive Enzyme formula.  We have, in our store, a very good enzyme supplement made especially for us that would be a good choice.  Another important consideration is the health of our large intestine’s essential bacterial population.  The addition of a good probiotic supplement that aids in repopulating these “good” bacteria and maintaining them is very helpful, especially when gas and bloating are a problem.  We have several formulations of multiple strains of these and will be happy to assist you in choosing one.  Multiple strains, as opposed to a single strain such as Lactobacillus acidophilus, is more beneficial.

Health is not everything, but without spiritual and physical health, everything is nothing. Until next time we meet – may God Bless you with good health, with a little help from you!

The information in these columns is for educational purposes only and not to diagnose or treat any medical condition. Please consult your physician for any serious condition.

Len Rossi, ND has been a proponent of Natural Healing for 30 years. After a 25-year career as a pro wrestler, Len earned his Doctor Of Naturopathy degree in 1982 and is a Licensed Massage Therapist.