How to Improve Digestion and Gut Health- Blog Series- Part 1
This Month get ready to finally understand how digestion works!
For such an important system in the body, most of us really have no understanding of what is going on in our belly. This is an important conversation because a common complaint I hear in my consultations is BLOATING and CONSTIPATION. You might be experiencing it and not even notice because it has become the norm for you. You might feel tired, heavy, inflamed, and might possibly be experiencing some gas accompanying that bloat.
On the contrary to our society's acceptance of this symptom, it is NOT a normal part of digestion and it doesn't have to continue to be a part of your daily life. Find out more about bloating and other digestive dysfunction (constipation, diarrhea, intestinal discomfort) in the following blogs!
Digestion and Your Brain
The beginning of digestion might seem to start with the mouth, but there is actually one organ that precedes and starts the chain reaction of digestion, absorption, and deification, the Brain. The start of digestion begins with the Brain when you imagine, look at, or smell the food you are about to consume. This essential part of digestion is often overlooked but its importance reigns because digestion can only occur in a relaxed state of mind and body, this is called the parasympathetic state. As you awaken the sensation of smelling, seeing, and imagining the food, the brain has already started sending signals to the rest of the digestive organs and other supporting organs to prepare the body for fuel.
Improve Gut Health By Chewing Slowly
The second step in the digestion process is chewing and grinding the food into reasonably sized mounds called a bolus. During the chewing process, saliva begins the breakdown of carbohydrates with an enzyme called amylase. This chewing process is vital to start the breakdown of food molecules into smaller and smaller pieces for the chemical reactions to perform best. The bolus is swallowed and follows the esophagus to the stomach.
Improve Stomach Acid and Gut Health
The stomach lining produces hydrochloric acid, pepsin (enzymes that breakdown proteins, and mucus to protect the stomach lining). It is designed to perform best at an acidic pH of 1.5- 3.0. This highly acidic environment is critical for the start of protein digestion, killing intruding bacteria and parasites, and further mechanical breakdown of food. The remaining acidic substance called chyme then enters into the first section of the small intestine, called the duodenum.
Improve Enzymes and Gut Health
The acidity of the chyme is necessary and signals the small intestine to release mucus and hormones which are sent to signal supporting digestive organs. These hormones are sent to the gall bladder and the pancreas to release bile, bicarbonate, and then enzymes into the duodenum to aid digestion. The bicarbonate neutralizes the chyme so the enzyme can better function while the bile helps emulsify the lipids.
Healthy Small Intestines and Gut Health
Carbohydrates break down into glucose, proteins break down into polypeptides and amino acids, and fats break down into fatty acids and glycerol molecules. These are pushed along the small intestine tract by small smooth muscle contractions, called peristalsis. Along the small intestine, nutrients are absorbed into the bloodstream by enterocytes and microvilli to be utilized by your cells. This is why it is critical for food to be fully broken down before entering the bloodstream.
Healthy Colon and Gut Health
The leftover chyme and indigestible fibers, bile, water, and sloughed-off cells empty into the large intestine (colon). The large intestine is a critical part of digestion and is greatly influenced by what occurs further north in the digestive process. Its roles are to recycle water, recycle the waste material which nourishes the colon cells, and capture any lost nutrients that are still available. With the help of bowel flora, nutrients are converted to vitamins K/B1/B2/B12 and butyric acid. Peristalsis helps move the remaining waste, called feces, to exit the body through the Sigmoid Colon and anus.
Key concept: Digestion is a North to South Process
As a Functional Nutrition Therapy Practitioner, you will hear me say this many times. The north to south process allows us to look at digestion as a whole. When we support the upper digestive organs the remaining further south organs are supported. Stay tuned for the next blog where I'll get into more detail of how this dysfunction can literally block the plumbing.