Eggs are often used to hold food together in cooking and
baking. You can use a little egg white to stick a stamp that has
lost it’s glue on an envelope.
Sugar makes syrup and candy.
Flour paste can be used to hang wall-paper, and children use it
to glue their art projects in school.
MOST OF WHAT
PEOPLE EAT IS GLUE, AND IT GUMS UP THE WORKS IN THE DIGESTIVE TRACT.
Further, the
enzyme supply produced by the body becomes depleted over the years from the
demands of eating so much cooked food, and from stress and in many people the
consumption of coffee, alcohol and/or tobacco.
As our body’s enzyme supply
becomes depleted over the years, our digestion worsens.
The digestive
tract toxicity that develops from these problems is called "SELF AUTO-TOXIFICATION"
-- unknowingly making oneself toxic.
This is one of the chief causes of ill
health and disease.
The Digestive
Process
Digestion is a
far more complex process than one might imagine, and if people realized that,
they might be more careful about what and how they eat.
Many people do recognize
that they have digestive problems. Indigestion relief and laxative products are
among the largest selling items in drug stores.
Let’s trace
the process through the complete digestive system and see how marvelous yet
fragile it is. In this description we want to track the pH changes that occur in
the normal processes of digestion.
The term "pH" refers to "potential hydrogen"
and is a measure of acidity or alkalinity. It is calculated on a scale of 1 to
14, with 7 being neutral. Below 7 is acidic, and above 7 is alkaline.
The normal pH
of the mouth apart from eating times is about 7. Digestion begins in the mouth
and depends both on what we eat and how we chew it.
There is a salivary,
starch-digesting enzyme called ptyalin that initiates carbohydrate breakdown if
it is not destroyed by hot food, a hot beverage, or excess stomach acid. It is
highly valuable to chew food thoroughly and mix it well with saliva and this
enzyme.
If you eat a
combination of heavy protein with starches, the protein calls forth more acid in
the stomach for its digestion. This short-circuits the starch digestion, and the
starch also reduces the efficiency of protein digestion.
The more complex the
meal, the more difficult the digestion of it, especially after years of eating
complex cooked combinations, thereby taxing the enzyme production of the body’s
organs.
From the
mouth, the food material moves down the esophagus, basically a tube, into the
upper stomach -- the cardiac stomach -- where the food will stay for about an
hour in a somewhat acid pH that can range from about 4 to 6.
If there are
enzymes present, for example from raw foods or the salivary amylase, or from
supplemental enzymes; these will work on the food and predigest it so that
further digestive effort will be minimized and the nutrients may be available at
the right times.
Note that raw
foods may provide some enzymes if they are raised properly in good soil. However
if food has been cooked, the food enzymes have been destroyed.
Without
sufficient enzymes, the food will just sit in the warm upper stomach and begin
to spoil. There can be some gas and bloating from the spoiling food, and the
resulting acids can irritate the stomach. This is the usual source of "acid
stomach" and "heartburn", not overproduction of acid by the stomach.
The food moves
on to the lower stomach when its secretions are ready. The pH can be as low as 2
-- very acid. If the acid is sufficient, the enzyme pepsin is formed to break
down proteins.
It is VERY
IMPORTANT for the amino acids tyrosine, tryptophan, and phenalalanine to be
liberated from the food AT THIS POINT, because these are essential to the
formation of neuro-transmitters which are used by the nerves to communicate
their messages.
With insufficient neuro-transmitters, the nerves cannot function
properly. One might feel stress more acutely, or one’s autonomic nerves may not
be as sharp in conducting the digestive, circulatory & respiratory functions.
Proteins are also needed for the body to form enzymes, hormones and
new cells, to transport minerals, and for other needs.
Most people do not produce enough stomach acid to foster sufficient
protein digestion due to stomach lining problems, deficiency in
chloride ions, and low water consumption in between meals.
(NOTE: It
is important not to drink too much water or other liquids at a meal,
as this can dilute the digestive juices. Also, coffee and soda pop
interfere with enzyme activity, thus impeding digestion.)
From the lower stomach, the digesting food material, now called "chyme",
moves into the first part of the small intestine, the duodenum. At
this point some major changes take place. Secretions enter here from
the gall bladder and pancreas through the common bile duct. These
include bile from the liver which emulsifies fats.
Bile also contains alkalizing mineral compounds. These are to
radically change the pH of the chyme from the strong acidity of the
lower stomach to a slightly alkaline ph of 7.8 to 8.3.
A variety of
enzymes formed in the pancreas known as pancreatin and lipase also
enter at this time, which require the alkaline pH to function in the
further digestion of proteins, starches, and fats. Digestion is
particularly delicate here and requires very subtle conditions to
work properly.
Along the small intestinal wall are various sites at each of which a
certain nutrient is best absorbed. For example, there is a site
where calcium is most effectively absorbed, and another one for
magnesium. Still another for vitamin A, and so forth.
It
is crucial that a nutrient be available when the chyme reaches the
point of that nutrient’s maximum absorption or we may become
deficient in it. This means that digestion must proceed well enough
to have the nutrient exposed in time.
How amazing and complicated the body is, especially in this fragile
digestive process!
COLON HEALTH
CLICK HERE for details on
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