DIGESTION

Did You Know There Are More Nerves In The Digestive Tract Than There Are Nerves In The Spinal Cord? There are more than 100 million nerves surrounding the digestive tract. These nerves carry out their functions without guidance from the brain. It has been said this is the second brain. How very badly we treat it. We think we can put anything in our mouth and the digestive track can take it and feed our cells and maintain health. This is far from the truth.

First of all we must eat wholesome food and chew it well. Our saliva has enzymes which need to mix with the chewed food. Breaking up the fibers in the food releases the food enzymes to help the digestive system do it's job. Cooking foods kills these enzyme helpers.

Next the food sits in the upper part of the stomach where the enzymes from the food and saliva do their work to start the digestive process (they can do 80% of the digestion right here). When you miss this first step of digestion, you are always behind and you will stress out the pancreas and intestinal track as well as the colon.

When the food drops to the lower part of the stomach, the hydrochloric acid acidifies the food to a low pH (from 3.0 to 1.5) and allows the pepsin to complete the digestion of proteins. The plant enzymes in the food are temporarily deactivated with this stomach acid. Food can stay in the stomach from two to four hours, less time with a low-fat meal, more time with a high-fat meal.

Next the food passes to the duodenum (upper small intestine) in small amounts to ensure that the gastric acids can be neutralized to allow pancreatic enzymes to work at their optimal pH. Here the digestion continues with the aid of bile, pancreatic enzymes, and bicarbonate (an alkalizing agent) to reactivate the food enzymes. In the Ileum the last section of the small intestine, with the aid of friendly bacteria, more B vitamins, vitamin K, hormones are absorbed. Short-chain fatty acids and volatile fatty acids are also generated from fiber digestion in the large intestine.

Without the first step in the digestion in the upper portion of the stomach, the protein molecules will not get completely digested and this sets the stage for all diseases. This encourages bad bacteria in the colon, long transit time, constipation or diarrhea, undigested molecules seeping through the intestinal track causing toxins in the blood. This causes immune reaction, inflammation and undigested protein molecules to settle around cells drawing fluid with them, creating a toxic environment around the cells, which leads to all diseases.

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