Digestive Enzymes And The Digestive Process
April 5, 2009 by HealthGuru
Filed under Digestive Enzymes
Let us look at the process of digestion from a digestive enzyme perspective. Digestive enzymes help break down the fats, proteins and carbohydrates that are contained in the food we consume. They do most of this work in our digestive tract. Digestive Enzymes also play a role in extracting vitamins and minerals from these same foods. Enzymes break down the food that we ingest into more basic components such as amino acids, sugars and essential fats. If we didn’t have any enzymes none of these processes would work fast enough and our bodies would be unable to get the nutrients they need. If we don’t have enough digestive enzymes, our ability to extract nutrients from food is significantly impaired and we are more likely to get sick.
Dealing With The Carbs
Unlike what you might believe, the digestive process begins in the mouth rather than in the stomach. Here the process of chewing our food not only breaks it down into smaller, more manageable pieces, but also saliva is mixed in with the food. Several different types of amylase is contained within our saliva which when mixed with the food by the process of chewing, immediately begin breaking down the carbohydrates contained in our food. This is one reason why it is very important to chew your food well, to assist your body in properly digesting carbohydrates (there are many other reasons).
When we swallow the food it travels down our esophagus to the stomach. The stomach is divided into two sections, the upper section is called the ‘cardiac’ and this is where our foods ends up first. No enzymes are secreted in this portion of the stomach, but this is where most of the carbohydrate digestion takes place due to the amylase that was mixed with the food while we were chewing. Food remains in the upper portion of the stomach for around 30-40 minutes after which time it enters the lower portion of the stomach - the ‘pyloric’. This is where protein digestion begins to take place.
Infact, some other foods are digested in the upper portion of the stomach, these are the raw and unprocessed food that we eat (such as fruit and vegetables). Raw foods contain their own enzymes that assist the fruit/vegetable as it grows but begin to work as digestive enzymes as soon as the fruit/vegetable is removed from the tree. These enzymes are known as food enzymes. When we eat these unprocessed their own enzymes begin to digest them in the upper portion of the stomach, without requiring help from our body’s enzymes. This is one of the reasons why raw foods are often easier to digest than cooked foods. When we treat raw fruit and vegetables with high heat (i.e. cooking) we denature (deactivate) the enzymes contained in them, and these enzymes can no longer assist in digesting the foods, requiring our body to do all the work.
Lets Blast The Proteins
Pepsin and hydrochloric acid are produced in the lower portion of the stomach and protein digestion begins to take place. Food typically remains in the lower portion of the stomach from about 2 hours. However this depends on how much protein was originally consumed as well as how good a person’s digestive system is when it comes to dealing with protein. The hydrochloric acid, protease (pepsin) and peristalsis (muscular movement) work together to mix the food thoroughly which produces a watery solution that leaves the stomach (via the pyloric sphincter) to enter the small intestine. This is where fat digestion will begin to take place.
‘Burn’ The Fats And Everything Else Around
In the small intestine, additional enzymes are produced to help digest the food. It is here that lipase is secreted by the pancreas and bile by the gallbladder to help with fat digestion. The stomach acid is also neutralized here by bicarbonate which is also produced by the pancreas.
At this point what’s known as “adaptive secretion” takes over. This is a process whereby the body begins to manufacture the enzymes it needs to complete the digestion process (this includes the digestion of carbohydrates, proteins and fats). The pancreas is then responsible for producing all the enzymes needed for this.
The Final Touches - Guess What You’re Full Of Now
Eventually, food enters the large intestine. Here water and electrolytes are absorbed, this is pretty much the body reclaiming some of the compounds that it had expanded on the digestive process. The large intestine is also home to some good bacteria that feed on foods that have reached the large intestine undigested (such as fiber, since as we remember, we can’t digest fiber due to not being able to produce cellulase). These bacteria prevent the spread of bad bacteria in the large intestine and also produce some of the vitamins that our body needs.
At this point the digestive process is pretty much complete, there is only one thing left to do (we can all guess what that is :)). In total this whole process takes approximately 3 days, bet you didn’t think it was that long.
If you ever want to read a reader’s feedback :) , I rate this post for 4/5. Detailed info, but I have to go to that damn yahoo to find the missed bits. Thank you, anyway!