Poor Digestion – The Beginning of Disease
When I first started studying nutrition and natural healing, the saying was, Death begins in the colon. Now, with more research it is more correctly said that death begins with bad digestion. In fact the cure of disease really begins with better nutrition and more efficient ways to combine those nutrients. Why?
First of all why is it that proper foods and the right combinations make all the difference, especially when a person shows symptoms of disease?
We can say digestion begins in the mouth; and actually, that process starts with what the nose smells. Think of what happens when you smell turkey cooking. Your mouth begins to salivate, right? Salivary amylase in the mouth begins the breakdown of carbohydrates. That process, with carbohydrates should be completed in the small intestine.
The glands in the mouth that produce enzymes are the parotid, the submaxillary and the sublingual. Even if enzymes were not produced, the saliva in the mouth makes it possible to swallow food because of the lubrication.
So then, carbohydrates begin digesting in the mouth. The chewing process of proteins alerts the stomach to begin creating hydrochloric acid, imperative in the digestion of proteins. When HCL is at a low, something that happens to most people as they age, then the other component in digesting proteins, pepsinogen wont work properly.
So then, we can say digestion begins in the mouth; and actually, that process starts with what the nose smells. Think of what happens when you smell turkey cooking. Your mouth begins to salivate, right? Salivary amylase in the mouth begins the breakdown of carbohydrates. That process, with carbohydrates is completed in the small intestine.
Small bits of food at a time are digested in the duodenum, the first segment of the small intestine. The pyloric sphincter, the gatekeeper between the stomach and the small intestine only allows small amounts in at a time so that the digestive juices, enzymes produced by the pancreas and the liver have time to be produced, meet in the hepatopancreatic duct and travel to the duodenum through the hepatopancreatic ampulla.
The small intestine is the major digestive organ in the body. It begins at the pyloric sphincter, a valve-like gate way leading from the stomach to the duodenum, the first section of the small intestine, and ends at the ileocecal valve. If foods have been combined correctly there is less stress in the duodenum and better health.
Even if medicine suppresses the body response, let’s say acid reflux which is really an alert that something is wrong and needs the owners attention, the underlying cause is still there. The underlying cause is bad digestion.
Even if medicine is able to suppress the body’s reaction to any pain or discomfort, the symptom which is really an alert that there is a problem, the underlying cause is still there. The underlying cause is bad digestion. The result is a polluted system, then ensuing illness.
Medicine may suppress the body response, which is really an alarm that something is wrong and needs the owners attention but the underlying cause is still there. The underlying cause is bad digestion.
The assimilating factor in the small intestine, which spans the many feet of the small intestine is aided by the finger-like projections called villi and micro-villi, and is slowed immeasurably when the body gets bogged down with days old undigested waste. Aging occurs at a more rapid pace after years of this abuse because the body is starving for nutrition and tired.
Once this pattern is established, once illness sets in, what should you do? What are the next steps back to health? Eat mostly fruits and vegetables, use a juicer and eat food in combinations that ease the work load of the digestive system.
To Your Best Health, Ellen Valentine, NC
Ellen Valentine is a Wholistic Wellness Coach who combines nutritional counseling with transformational techniques. Eat well, eat smart, and live long. How you combine food makes all the difference. Eat well, eat smart, and live long.
Article source:Slim Index