I'd like to take you on a trip with me. It could take several days. We'll travel stormy seas and cross dry deserts. It will be an arduous journey and you'll never be the same. Where are we going? California? Arizona? Nope! We're going to follow a piece of pizza as it travels through your digestive system.
You open that box with your favorite kind of pizza. The smell rises from the cardboard like a phoenix. You separate that nice big slice and take a bite. Your saliva glands are working like crazy. Your teeth begin to cut into and grind that crust, cheese, pepperoni, onions, olives ... (you get the idea) into a big wet ball of pizza pulp.
Three more chews and your tongue pushes the mass to the back of your throat and down it goes. Muscles in your neck begin to squeeze until it goes doooooown the esophagus tube. Automatically a valve opens and viola! The mush lands in your belly. And our journey is just beginning. We're going to take a close look at the digestive system and its importance to our overall health. Stay tuned.
You open that box with your favorite kind of pizza. The smell rises from the cardboard like a phoenix. You separate that nice big slice and take a bite. Your saliva glands are working like crazy. Your teeth begin to cut into and grind that crust, cheese, pepperoni, onions, olives ... (you get the idea) into a big wet ball of pizza pulp.
Three more chews and your tongue pushes the mass to the back of your throat and down it goes. Muscles in your neck begin to squeeze until it goes doooooown the esophagus tube. Automatically a valve opens and viola! The mush lands in your belly. And our journey is just beginning. We're going to take a close look at the digestive system and its importance to our overall health. Stay tuned.
Sounds interesting. A little yucky, but interesting. I look forward to hearing more. I know a lot of people with digestive problems. Are you going to go into what causes some of them?
ReplyDeleteWhat is Digestion?
ReplyDeleteDigestion is the process by which the body breaks down the food we eat into usable components. Our bodies use food similarly as a car engine uses gas– and this gives us the energy needed to live. When we put food into our mouths digestion has already started – because digestion means breaking food down into smaller molecules!
As we chew with our teeth, food is already broken into smaller amounts. Saliva helps to moisten the food and the tongue positions the food to move down the throat when we swallow. A tube called the esophagus then carries the food to the stomach.
This tube is lined with muscles that squeeze and push the food into the stomach. Your stomach is a sack like structure located just below the heart that makes digestive juices (acids and enzymes) that work to break down our food into a thick liquid or paste called chyme.
Although we might not think of it as such, the stomach is a muscular organ that contracts and expands in order to mix the food with digestive juices. Food usually remains in the stomach for about two hours after which it enters the small intestine.
The most important part of digestion takes place in the small intestine, because as the liquid food paste travels through the small intestine, nutrients (vitamins, minerals, proteins, carbohydrates and fats) are absorbed and whisked off through your bloodstream and travel to all your body cells and body systems to keep you healthy and growing and to replenish the immune system!
Digestive Enzymes: As you age, reduced digestion can become a greater issue, causing discomforts such as bloating, gas and indigestion.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, eating well doesn't always solve the problem. Just because you are eating well doesn't mean that your body is getting the nutrients it needs to thrive.
In order to benefit from eating well, your body has to properly digest and absorb the nutrients from your food.
The human body produces digestive enzymes that break down the food you eat into nutrients. Nutrients are then absorbed into your body through the small intestine.
When you are lacking enzymes, your body doesn't digest properly, and as a result, your body does not absorb the nutrients it needs.
A lack of enzymes, along with poor digestion can lead to an overgrowth of parasites, food allergies, unbalanced gut bacteria, constipation, indigestion, gas, bloating and other health issues. Many nutritionists recommend that everyone over the age of thirty five take a daily digestive enzyme supplement.