The Digestive System

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Did you know that your intestines are organs just like your heart is an organ? Your intestines are not just a bunch of tubes in your body that carry food from one end to another. They are actually living things that actively absorb, secrete, send signals and metabolize.

As humans, we can eat whatever our heart desires and our intestines do all the work for us. But, as all of us have experienced at one time or another, certain foods come with a price. Because there are so many different types of foods available to us and because each individual’s body responds differently to them, it would be wise for us all to better understand how the intestines work in our digestive system.

As we all know, food passes through the esophagus into the stomach, through twenty-six feet of small intestines, then rests in the colon until your body is ready to pass it out. Just like the pipes in our house, our “pipes” in our bodies can clog, break and leak.

Once your food drops down your esophagus, it hangs out in your stomach for a while. The longer it stays in there, the fuller you will feel and the less you will eat. After the stomach, the food moves into the small intestines and mixes with green bile. Bile is a liquid made from the liver to help surround and emulsify the fat in your stomach. This process helps the food digest more efficiently. The intestines are 26 feet of tubing. The small intestines are where most of food nutrients are absorbed. The large intestine, or colon, is shorter and wider and absorbs water to form feces.

Chemically speaking, your intestines and your brain are the organ most similar to each other. The neurotransmitters and hormones are very much alike. The neurons in your intestines help keep the muscles that line your intestinal pipe working to move food down. Foods have such and effect on how you feel. You may feel the effects of depression, bloating, lethargy, queasiness and even your waistline. Your small intestines are always letting you know what is going on inside of you. The delicate lining is made up of unique immune cells that recognize the foods that you cannot tolerate. This sensitive and brain of an organ sends a signal out to let you know, “uh-oh”, something is going on. The signal could be in the form of gas, squeezing or spasms.

Throughout the digestive system you have vascular systems which purpose is to deliver nutrients from the food to parts of the body’s major organs. After the small intestine decides what to hold on to, it transports the waste to a place called the cecum. The cecum is a reservoir at the beginning of the large intestine that holds fluid from the small bowel.

The water that remains from the previous meals goes from the cecum to the colon. The colon’s job is to suck fluid back into the body. From this process, a solid mass of waste is formed. As this mass gets harder, it makes its’ way down to the muscular rectum which is a t the bottom of your digestive system. What ends up in the toilet is a good glimpse into your intestinal health.

Your feces should ideally be an S-shape as opposed to marble sized pellets. If it is not the proper shape, it is a sign that your intestines are not working as well as they could be and they need a little help correcting the issue.

To ensure that everything goes through the digestive system smoothly and most importantly to avoid certain diseases, it is important to incorporate three main things into your lifestyle – fiber, exercise and adequate amounts of water. The fiber helps add bulk to your stool, the exercise helps speed up the digestive process and the water intake helps make it easier for the bowel to suck out fluid.

Fiber helps keep digestive food bulky and soft. With this proper consistency it passes through the colon easily. If there is a lack of fiber in the system, pressure is place on the intestinal tubing which can lead to diseases like diverticulosis and hemorrhoids.

Fiber is found soley in plant foods. It is a wonderful thing in that it contains zero calories yet it makes you feel full and satisfied, hence no overeating. There are two kinds of fiber; soluble and insoluble – both are great for you. Insoluble fiber is found in foods like grapefruit, raisins, grapes, oranges, dried fruit, sweet potatoes, peas, zucchini, whole wheat or whole grain bread (make sure that the label says whole grain, not just 5 grain or 7 grain. It has to be whole grain to be effective). Soluble fiber dissolves in water and regulates metabolism and digestion and stabilizes blood glucose levels. It is mostly found in grains such as oats, barley, rye, and in legumes such as beans , peas, lentils and certain cereals.

The average intake of fiber in adults is 12 grams a day. If adults ate 25 grams a day they would be three years younger in real age. If you were to increase your fiber by just 10 grams a day, the risk of heart attack would be decreased by 29%. Below is a list of eight quick and smart fiber foods you can start eating:

Cheerios 1 cup = 3 grams

Oatmeal 1 cup = 4 grams

Peanuts 30 = 5 grams

Almonds 24 = 5 grams

Soybeans ½ cup = 10 grams

Artichoke 1 large = 10 grams

Buckwheat cereal 1 cup = 10 grams

Lima beans 3 Tbs = 13 grams

Water is a natural lubricant that helps everything flow through your system smoothly. To ensure proper hydration and function of the body, it is important to drink eight glasses of water a day (64 oz).

Physical activity through exercise is always a good thing in general, but especially when it comes to helping your digestive system work most efficiently. The movement allows the food to pass through more speedily and efficiently. Simply doing physical exercise for twenty minutes, three times a week can make a huge difference. You will need to do twenty minutes of sustained physical activity that leads you to being slightly out of breath or enough to break a sweat.

In conclusion, the digestive system is a fascinating and important role in our overall health function. What we do for it makes a huge difference in how we feel and the outcome of the prevention of disease.

Rich is an expert in the field of Herbalife Diet and Internet Marketing. Rich manages the weight loss diet site beststarttoday.com which is a health nutrition and weight loss website. Rich continues to help people throughout the world achieve their weight loss goals using Herbalife products. In addition, Rich has extensive knowledge in internet marketing including search engine optimization, article marketing and person to person sales. 1-480-282-2268

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