GOINDIS NATUROPATHY TRUST(INDIA)
Charity Registration No.845/4 dated 03.09.2003
THE DIGESTIVE SYSTEM
SANTOKH SINGH PARMAR
FOUNDER TRUSTEES:
Satyendra Singh Goindi, MSc, LLB, ND
Gurkirpal Kaur Goindi, BA, BEd, DPE, ND
Santokh Singh Parmar, B Arch, Dip TP, Dip LA, MRTPI, AITP, AIIA
Devinder Singh Saroya, PCS
Gurmukh Singh Girn, MSc, MCRP, AITP
7 the Digestive System
What is Digestive System?
7.1 The digestive system allows your body to take in and process food to nourish its cells. It is a process from “mouth” to stomach, to intestines where the food is broken down into nutrients, which are absorbed in the blood and then supplied to all parts of the body and wastes which are excreted through bowels, urine, sweat and breath. Other digestive organs, such as the pancreas, liver and gallbladder also contribute to the process of digestion. Basically this means carbohydrates (starch), proteins and fats/oils being broken down into sugar (glucose), amino acids and so called fatty acids respectively. Ayurveda lays stress on digestion rather than nutrition. It is more important how you digest the food rather than how nutritive the food was. Of course nutrition matters but mere nutrition without proper digestion in meaningless!
The Digestive Tract (Alimentary Canal)
7.2 The digestive tract is a long tube running from the mouth down to the neck and trunk of the body, finally ending at the anus opening. If the human digestive tract were stretched out in a straight line, it would be about 95 cm. long. This long tube is also called the alimentary canal. It consists of the mouth (pharynx), food pipe (oesophagus), the stomach, the small intestine and the large intestine. During an average lifetime about 65 tonnes of food and drink passes through the alimentary canal.
The Mouth (Pharynx) and Saliva
7.3 Saliva is produced chiefly by three pairs of salivary glands in the body. One pair is in front of the ears, one under the tongue, and one under the lower jaw. The largest glands, in front of the ears, secrete large quantities of watery saliva to moisten and to soften the food for easy chewing. The glands near the lower jaw secrete saliva to make the food slippery for easy swallowing. Which of the glands will produce the most saliva depends on the food we take in. If we bite a juicy apple, our lower glands will function to make the food slippery, as it need not be moistened. If we eat dry crackers, the glands in front of the ears will work to produce large quantities of watery saliva. The nerves in our lips, tongue, teeth and jaw muscles help us to know what we are eating. They send messages to the brain about how cold or hot our food is and whether it is rough or smooth, hard or soft.
7.4 The digestion of food begins in the mouth with the three pairs of salivary glands and continues in the stomach and the small intestines. The smell, and even the thought of food causes these glands to increase their production of saliva and our mouths start watering. Saliva contains enzymes that breakdown starches and other complex carbohydrates in food. As a person chews, food is broken into small pieces and mixed with the saliva, which moistens it and/or makes it slippery for easier swallowing. Proper chewing is essential for optimal digestion. In addition to stimulating the digestive juices in the saliva, proper chewing breaks down food, massively increasing the surface area available for contact with digestive juices. This increases the efficiency of digestion by giving stomach acid and digestive enzymes the opportunity to penetrate the food and do the digestive work. Each mouthful should ideally be chewed to a cream before swallowing.
The Stomach
7.5 After food is properly chewed and swallowed, it passes through a muscular 25 cm. long food pipe (oesophagus or gullet) and enters the J-shaped muscular stomach. The stomach wall has three muscle layers and a mucus membrane that line it. An average adult holds about one litre of mixed food. The glands in the stomach lining secrete a variety of enzymes including pepsin, hydrochloric acid and other chemical compounds. These secretions aid in digesting the food and are collectively called gastric juices. Most of the protein and carbohydrates in the food are broken down in the stomach. The churning action of the stomach muscles furthers the digestion process by mixing the food and gastric juices. After about 3-5 hours, depending on the type, the food becomes a liquid called chyme. The chyme then passes into the small intestines.
The Intestines
7.6 The intestines are among the most amazing organs in our body, beautifully organised to do hundreds of things to the food we eat to keep alive. Intestines, about 3 metres long, stretch from the lower end of the stomach to the anus, which is the lower opening of the digestive tract. Most of the wall of the intestines consists of muscle fibres, so that the intestines can work on the food that goes through them. The intestines mix the food with certain chemicals while passing them along. Intestines are divided into two sections called the small intestine and large intestine. The small intestine consists of numerous loops, Each loop holds a bit of food and works on it, that is, churning and digesting it for about 30 minutes. Then the food is passed on to the next loop. The walls of the intestines contain nearly 20,000,000 glands that secrete many juices, which help the food to be digested and absorbed in the small intestine. The large intestine eliminates undigested wastes from the body. Billions of bacteria in the intestines breakdown the coarser parts of the food we eat, such as the skins of fruit, and extract valuable substances that the body needs. The bloodstream takes away absorbed food from the small intestine and supplies the nutrients, thus absorbed, to different tissues of the body.
The Small Intestine
7.7 The digestion of proteins and carbohydrates continues and the digestion of fats occurs in the portion of the small intestine close to the stomach on the partly digested food by the pancreatic juice, the intestinal juice and bile. The pancreatic juice pours into the small intestine through a tube or duct. The intestinal juice is produced by the walls of the small intestine. And bile is produced in the liver, stored in the gall bladder, and flows into the small intestine through a duct. Bile helps in breaking down fats.
7.8 The remainder of the small intestine performs the critical function of absorbing the digested food. The walls of the small intestine are covered with tiny projections called villi. Each villus contains tiny (capillaries) blood and lymph vessels and is covered by hair-like projections called microville. The presence of the villi and microville increase the total area to larger than a tennis court for nutrient absorption. Nutrients from the completely digested food move from the small intestine into the blood stream through the capillaries, where they are transported to the cells of the body for nourishment.
The Large Intestine (Colon)
7.9 Undigested food moves into the large intestine, where importantly water is absorbed from the waste and returned to the bloodstream. Almost no digestion or food absorption takes place in the large intestine. Peristalsis (wave like alternate contraction and relaxation) moves the solid digestive waste as well as other body wastes such as used hormones, toxins and cholesterol called faeces, through the large intestine to the rectum. Here it is stored briefly and then eliminated through the anus opening.
The Pancreas, Liver and Gall Bladder
7.10 The small intestine produces only a few digestive enzymes. Other digestive enzymes are supplied by the pancreas and the liver. These organs communicate with each other through hormonal messages that coordinate their enzyme secretions. The pancreas secretes enzymes that are active in the digestion of proteins, carbohydrates and fats. The liver secretes a greenish fluid, called bile. Bile enables large molecules of fat to be broken down. The gall bladder, a small, muscular, green sac attached to the liver, stores excess bile until it is needed. The pancreas and the liver has other functions as well. The liver is vital in regulating metabolism. Toxins, such as drugs and alcohol, are broken down by the liver. Liver also filters damaged red blood cells, debris and pathogens from the bloodstream. Pancreas produces insulin, which is vital in regulating blood-sugar levels.
The Oesophagus ( Foodpipe)
7.11 The oesophagus also called gullet is about 25 cm long muscular tube, which carries food from the mouth to the stomach. The muscles of oesophagus produce wave-like contractions to push the food down to the stomach. The surface of the oesophagus is moist and slippery due to the mucus produced by the glands in the walls of the oesophagus. Sometimes we choke while eating food. This happens when food enters the windpipe instead of the foodpipe. The openings of the windpipe as well as the foodpipe in the mouth lie close to each other, and so there are chances of food going the wrong way. This could happen when we talk while eating or if we jump around while eating. But if by chance food enters the windpipe, it can be brought back to the throat by coughing and then swallowing properly. However, in normal circumstances, when a person swallows, the epiglottis (special protective flap) closes the opening to the windpipe preventing foods or liquids from entering the lungs.
Indigestion (Dyspepsia) and its Complications
7.12 Indigestion is a common disorder producing nausea, belching, gas bloating, heartburn and abdominal cramps brought on by eating food. Indigestion is mostly dueto faulty drinking and eating habits; eating too quickly, overeating, or eating junk foodslike refined/starchy, fried, fat-rich and spicy foods, smoking and drinking too much alcohol and caffeine. If food is not completely digested it has the capacity to leak into the intestines (gut) wall and then further into the bloodstream. Once this happens, the body may recognise these incompletely digested foods as foreign. As a result, the body may react to these foods by mobilising the immune or some other defence system. These reactions may be designed to neutralise a foreign food, but may also provoke one or more of a wide range of the following complications and symptoms of “food intolerance”.
7.13 Complications – (i) Abdominal Bloating; (ii) Lethargy, particularly within an hour or two of eating; (iii) Mental fogginess and low mood; (iv) Mucus or catarrh in the throat, nose or sinuses; (v) Childhood problems such as colic, glue ear, ear infections and recurrent tonsillitis; (vi) Fluid retention; (vii) Eczema; (viii) Headaches and migraines (ix) Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS); (x) Inflammatory bowel diseases such as Crohn’s Disease; (xi) Gastro esophageal reflux disease (GERD).
7.14 Message – Good health begins on the inside. Diseases enter through the mouth. So look after your digestive system – eat healthy nutritious diet, do regular exercise and most importantly do not ignore indigestion symptoms.
Some Common Disorders of the Digestive System
7.15 The two most common disorders of the digestive system are constipation and diarrhea. Other common problems are: –
7.16 Gastric Ulcers – During digestion, the stomach produces hydrochloric acid and enzyme pepsin (a digestive protein), which are powerful digestive juices. Normally, mucus secretions protect the body from harmful effects of these juices. But when a wrong or spicy food is eaten, or tobacco is used, or an overdose of aspirin etc is taken, then there is an overproduction of digestive juices, which break down stomach tissues resulting in an open sore, a gastric ulcer. If the sore creates damage to the blood vessels in the stomach wall, a bleeding ulcer can develop.
7.17 Stomachache – When a person complains of a stomachache, the pain is actually in the intestines. Consuming contaminated food and/or water can cause painful cramps in the intestines.
7.18 Growling and Heartburn – Our stomach starts growling at mealtimes. This sound is from the churning action of the stomach. If food is not eaten for a long time, the churning action becomes so intense that the acidic contents released from the stomach wall push upwards to damage the lining of the foodpipe and produce a painful burning sensation, called heartburn, behind your breastbone and into the neck and throat. It has nothing to do with the heart! Normally, a circular valve-like muscle, called sphincter, separates the stomach and oesophagus (food pipe), keeping the acidic content where it belongs. But if this valve becomes weak due to age or obesity, it loses its ability to stay closed. If your heartburn is bad enough, it can develop into Barrett’s oesophagus. This is a condition in which the body, in an effort to protect the oesophagus from too much stomach acid, replaces the cells, which line the oesophagus with new cells like those lining the intestines. However, this change increases your risk of cancer of the oesophagus by as much as 40 times. It starts near the heart and rises towards the throat. Sometimes, due to heartburn, the mouth gets filled with watery saliva. Heartburn may occur after drinking a hot or cold liquid. Or it may occur after eating, when a person is tense and tired, due to habitual overeating, overuse of spices, frequent use of painkillers, prolonged tension, excessive intake of tea, coffee or alcohol.
7.19 Gall Bladder Stones – The gall bladder removes water from the bile and stores it in a concentrated form. Sometimes bile becomes too concentrated, and hard concentration of minerals and salts, called gallstones, form. If the gallstones are large enough to block the flow of bile out of the gallbladder, they cause a great deal of pain.
7.20 Belching – Burps or belches are simply the sound of gas leaving your body. When we eat or drink, we also swallow air. There may be other causes like carbonated drinks and whipped products like ice cream, smoke and chewing gum. Those bubbles in the body need to escape. Gas is also produced from the stomach, travels up the food pipe and comes out of the mouth. Usually, a belch is a body’s way of saying that the meal was good!
7.21 Flatulence – The average individual normally has 150-300 ml of gas in the stomach and intestines at any one time. On average, people pass 500-2,000 ml of gas in 10-12 episodes daily. Gas is eliminated by belching or passing it through the rectum. Men produce more gas than women do, but the flatus of women contains more of the most offensive gas, hydrogen sulphide. Gas originates from swallowed atmospheric air, bicarbonate neutralization of stomach acids, diffusion of gases into the intestine from the blood and bacterial fermentation in the intestines. The main gases produced are hydrogen and carbon dioxide and minute quantities of other gases like methane and, of course, sulphur containing compounds especially hydrogen sulphide that raises the stink. Typical culprits are non-absorbable complex carbohydrates (like soya and red kidney beans); fructose; artificial sweetners such as sorbitol; medications; abnormal bacterial colonisation of the small intestine; abdominal distension, gaseousness and bloating; inadequate digestive enzymes; high fibre-rich diets; carbonated beverages; lactose intolerance; irritable bowel syndrome.
Santokh Singh Parmar
Naturo-Food Therapist & Lifestyle Consultant
Mobile: +91(0) 9815922330
Websites: www.naturofoodtherapy.org & www.foodtherapy.org
Note: The above information and advice and indicative remedies are not a substitute for the advice, your doctor or naturo-food therapist may give you based on his/her knowledge of yourself.