In today's world, where everyone is becoming more and more health conscious, the main focus is on consuming healthy, wholesome foods. This is a great start! However, we often forget the most important factor! Our Gastrointestinal (GI) tract. This tube (approximately 9meters long) is responsible for digestion of the food we eat, and absorption of the nutrients extracted from these foods. If GI function is not optimal, consuming healthy, wholesome foods will be counterproductive as we won't be able to absorb the nutrients from it. Digestion describes the process of breaking down food, and absorption deals with the uptake of nutrients from digested food, by our cells, to use for energy. The GI tract consists of the esophagus, stomach, small intestine and large intestine. Other organs that play a role in digestion (known as ancillary organs) include the liver, pancreas and gall bladder.
Let's talk about the process. When we take a bite of our food and chew it, the saliva in our mouth begins breakdown of the carbohydrate portion
of that bite of food by secreting enzymes such as amylase. Once thoroughly chewed, the food is passed to the esophagus and
travels down to the stomach where the food is further broken down by stomach acid
(hydrochloric acid- HCL). Protein digestion begins here. After the stomach has completed its job the food is sent to the small intestine for further digestion. Majority of digestion takes place in the small intestine. Fats, carbohydrates and proteins along with other nutrients are further broken down here with the help of bile secretion from the gall bladder and pancreatic enzyme secretion from the pancreas. The small intestine absorbs nutrients from the food digested, into the bloodstream. Undigested food (such as insoluble fiber) is then moved to the large intestine and stored until time of elimination. It is important to note that certain helpful bacteria in our large intestine also help to breakdown food and use fiber as fuel.
When our digestive system is not functioning optimally, we are faced with several risks: malnutrition, due to lack of absorption of nutrients, which leads to perpetual eating without feeling satisfied, gas and bloating.
There are a number of factors that hinder healthy digestion. Some of these include: what we are doing when we are eating, levels of stress when we are eating, our diet and lifestyle.
Many of us eat while doing something else. We may eat while driving, while watching TV, while studying, while scrolling through social media etc. When we do this, we typically don't chew our food properly. As a result, we send partially chewed food to our stomach which cannot be properly digested because it is not broken down enough for the stomach to do its job. When this happens, we can't absorb as much nutrients and so we end up being hungry sooner, even if we had a meal that was supposed to be sufficient. In this case, we often find ourselves eating constantly, because our body is trying to compensate for the nutrients it didn't get to absorb in the previous meal. When we eat like this, we often miss the signal
our body provides, that tells us when we are full. This can cause us to unconsciously overeat. Additionally, when we eat while preoccupied with something else, or while we are in a stressed state, our digestive system is inhibited. This can cause insufficient release of saliva and in turn insufficient secretion of salivary enzymes that are needed to start the digestion process, insufficient release of stomach acids needed to breakdown protein and unlock vitamin B12(necessary for neurological function), inhibition of the gall bladder preventing release of bile needed for fat breakdown, and inhibition of pancreatic enzyme release (needed for further digestion of protein, fat and carbohydrates). When one or all of these important processes are suppressed, digestion is incomplete and the quantity of the nutrients we are able to absorb is decreased significantly. Wouldn't it be better if our digestive system is primed and ready every time we have to eat a meal?
Here are some tips to ensure that you get everything you need from your food:
1. Practice Mindful Eating: Remove all distractions and make it a point to be in a calm state before and while you eat. This helps to allow your body to be in a rest and digest state instead of a fight or flight state that will inhibit digestion and nutrient absorption. Before you start, say a prayer of thanksgiving, not only is it good to thank God, but this allows you to be still and focus on what you're about to do. While eating, chew your food thoroughly (don't just cut and swallow as my mom would say- lol). Some say, chew your food 32 times before swallowing and some say about 20-40 times. It depends on the food. the more thoroughly we chew our food, the easier it is to digest. If we don't chew our food thoroughly this can lead to a very uncomfortable feeling of fullness in the stomach. Chewing our food thoroughly makes it possible to savor every bit of flavor in our food and really enjoy the moment!
2. Try to reduce stress: Take a few deep breaths before eating and don't forget that prayer!
3. Fiber: You can find this in fruits and vegetables, whole grains etc. Fiber keeps your intestines strong. This is due to the bulky composition of fiber which cause the intestines to contract more in order to pass it along. Additionally, fiber serves as food for our friendly bacteria living in our intestine that help us with metabolism, hormone balance and production of nutrients like vitamin K. Fiber also adds bulk to stool and therefore helps it move along quicker, preventing constipation.
Stay tuned for part 2 where we will explore how diet and lifestyle affect GI health and take a deeper look at the colon.
Happy Digesting!
References:
Harvard Health Publishing. (n.d.). 8 steps to mindful eating. Retrieved from https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/8-steps-to-mindful-eating
Image of Digestive System:
File:Digestive system simplified.svg. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Digestive_system_simplified.svg
Talks, T. (2017, January 27). Healthy Digestion - Not What, But How? | Courtney Jackson | TEDxMontrealWomen. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6_36Axaebs
The 19 Best Foods to Improve Digestion. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/best-foods-for-digestion#section14
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