“All disease begins in the Gut” – Hippocrates
Hippocrates was spot on when he said that! So much research now proves his theory, today we all know this to be key in the health of our whole body. Today, Sharon shares some general knowledge about your gut, what’s involved, how it works and what’s the optimal function!
So we know that our digestive system comprises the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, which includes the organs of your mouth, oesophagus, stomach, your small intestines, rectum & anus. It also needs other organs like our liver, pancreas, gallbladder all of which support the digestive processes. As the food we eat travels through the GI system, these organs all work together to digest it all. By breaking it down, vital nutrients and water is absorbed, then all the waste is eliminated from the body.
It all starts in our mouths, and ends with our toileting eliminations…(our poop & pee!)…So, as we chew, all the food, saliva and enzymes mix together (more about chewing in a future blog!). Once the food reaches our stomach (and if we are chew correctly, it should be almost dissolved!), it is greeted with more digestive enzymes and stomach acids to further increase the food breakdown. Now, specifically it’s the fats, carbs & proteins…
Proteins, like this roast chicken, break down into Amino Acids (very important and Sharon will share more on this too)
Carbohydrates, like this yummy mix are reduced into simple sugars, such as glucose
Fats, like this Avo, are broken down into fatty acids
After eating a well balanced meal, or any meal, it takes around 2-4 hours for the stomach’s contents to move further down our GI tract, and reach the Small Intestine, more digestive enzymes & acids are created by the liver, gallbladder & our pancreas, this is where nutrients are absorbed. As we know, all the food waste is then pushed into our large intestine (colon, bowel), and in perfect digestion, all that rubbish is then pooped out!
All the nutrients & water that has been absorbed is then shifted throughout our bodies, providing us with energy, supporting growth and repair to all our body’s cells. As you can see, our body relies on a constant stream of nutrients to support our whole body functioning. We have to appreciate how important maintaining a healthy digestive system is for full optimal health!
The Pillars of our Gut Health are not only diet, there is much more that we need to consider! The health of all the layers of the gut barrier needs to be considered to strengthen our digestive, and our whole body’s health. Remember – “No Guts, No Glory” by Frederick Blesse, well we need to consider our Chemical Barrier (the Enzymes), our Microbial Barrier (our Bacteria), the Mucosal Epithelium (Barrier), our Immune System, and our Enteric (Neural Barrier). There really is a lot going on inside us all!! Lets, dive a bit deeper…
DIET: You really are what you eat! Our modern western diets are all factors in digestive disorders, inflammation, cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes, and obesity (to name a few). Whereas loads of studies confirm that a nutritionally balanced Mediterranean-style diet (more info in another blog) is linked to fewer gut complaints & reduced disease states.
ENZYMES: Without these guys food digestion can not occur! Particularly antioxidant enzymes, without them, we can not survive for long. So, enzymes are specifically complex proteins that act as catalysts in digestion. Literally thousands of enzymes work in harmony (most of the time) to create all the physiological activities in our body. Each enzyme though, has only one specific job to do, so they are vital! The liver itself produces over a thousand different enzymes, but the lack of even one can break the chain of chemical reactions can wreak havoc causing many imbalances (like allergies, nutritional deficiencies and even deficiency diseases, like I mentioned above.
BACTERIA: Look, the fact is we are an organic host to literally trillions and trillions of microbes, we call this our gut microbiome, and when it is balanced we have harmony in our body. The good bacteria (and bad guys) all play a role in many important aspects of our health, including our digestive health, immunity, metabolic, hormonal, nervous system & our brain health. It really is a very complex ecology inside us all, and it is all shaped by our diet!
BARRIER: Our definitive barrier between the contents of the GI tract and the rest of the body is composed of our mucus layer and specialised cells known as gut epithelial cells. This lining is another crucial part as it enables the absorption of the nutrients from our food, it also provides us with a physical barrier that separates the gut environment and its microbes from the rest of our body (that is ONLY when its functioning correctly).
IMMUNE: All our systems a linked in some way, and our immune system and digestive system have a dance that is very close to each other. Did you know that most of your immunity is in your gut? Yes, its because our immune cells and our gut microbiome work together to co-ordinate immune responses, such as our defences against say an infection (viruses).
ENTERIC: Now, this is really cool, did you know that our gut has its own nervous system?? It’s known as the enteric nervous system (or ENS), it regulates our digestive activities, including the movement of our food through our body, the production of enzymes and acids required for food breakdown, plus absorption of all nutrients, minerals & vitamins. The ENS also interacts with our body’s central nervous system (CNS), which processes stress, making our ENS sensitive to any changes in our stress levels. Our gut is literally also responsible for our mind health!!
It seems the road to health really is paved with good intestines!! Our bodies are really a cool network of pathways to help us function at our optimum, if we do the best we can….
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