The Four Steps to Good Digestive Health, Ingestion-Digestion-Absorption-Elimination

We don't wake up one day with heartburn or indigestion, we don't inherit constipation and we don't catch a peptic ulcer. The truth is that most digestive problems come from years of eating the wrong foods, not chewing enough, an over use of antacids and long term digestive abuse.

To understand the digestive system is to recall fourth grade science and remember that the job of this very important process is to ingest, digest, absorb and eliminate all the food we eat.

INGESTION

The digestive process begins at the first thought of food. The salivation in your mouth when you think about a delicious morsel prepares the mouth for the first step.

DIGESTION

You eat food and as you chew digestive juices mix with it, you swallow and it passes down the esophagus into the stomach where acids further break down proteins into their simple building blocks called amino acids.

ABSORBTION

Finally the stomach empties its contents into the small intestine where more digestive juices are added to break down the sugars and fats. Once broken down into small molecules the intestine allows the nutrients to pass across the walls into the blood stream where they are utilized by the cells, organs and muscles.

ELIMINATION

All undigested food is then eliminated. Once in the large intestine undigested food is eliminated. If you have any digestive problems you must understand that they are mostly functional and not structural. There are some very simple things that you can do to improve the function of your digestive system.

SIMPLE SOLUTION

Digestion begins in the mouth, it is important to chew your food adequately. Combining the right foods together will make the digestive process more efficient;

• fruits that are high in sugar should be eaten alone so that they can pass directly into the small intestine where they are largely broken down and absorbed
• protein should be eaten alone or with vegetables so that the stomach acids are not diluted
• ingesting probiotics daily will maintain a healthy gut environment so that you will digest and absorb efficiently and maintain a healthy immune system
• ingesting 35 grams of fiber daily will insure regularity that keeps the intestine healthy and efficient
• adding enzymes before a meal will assist in the breaking down of fats into lipids, proteins into animosity acids and carbohydrates into simple sugars for easy absorption

Learn more: What is your Bowel Transit Time?, Is your Leaky Gut making you sick?

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Related products: lighterliving ™ Probiotic Bars, Acidophilus Plus

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