Credit: Google Images/Mashed

It’s that time of year again… That time of year when many of us gain those ‘holiday pounds’ from all the overindulgences, from too many of the wonderful holiday sweets, treats and edibles affronting us at every turn, in every store, café and market, even our own tables. This overeating leads to digestive problems, feelings of sleepiness and lethargy. 

Conquering the battle with indigestion can begin with a simple understanding of how the digestive system works. The following is from an old article I excerpted for my now-defunct health newsletter ( written by Judy Goarta in Energy Times Nov/Dec 1997). The information is still relevant. Here’s to a happier, healthier (and possibly leaner) holiday season!

Chew, Chew, Chew!

Digestion starts as soon as food slips from your spoon or fork into your mouth.  Your teeth break up food physically as you chew and enzymes in your saliva with fancy names like lingual lipase and salivary amylase chemically alter the food’s starch, fat, and sugars.   Just what exactly are enzymes?  They are biochemical “helpers” that catylize chemical reactions in the body, making these processes run faster and more efficiently.  Digestion depends on the presence of enzymes. 

Even before you swallow you can improve digestion: chew thoroughly.  By consistently chewing food into a liquid paste, you create more surface area for enymes to interact with your food.  You also allow greater secretion of oral enzymes that begin the process of digestion.

Down Peristalsis

After being propelled down your throat by a series of muscular contractions known as peristalsis, food goes on an acid trip, into your stomach.  The stomach is a caustic place since it produces up to two liters of hydrochloric-rich gastric juice daily. 

Hydrochloric acid is vital for the production of pepsin, which in turn breaks down proteins in the stomach; the use of products like Zantac or Pepcid AC, which reduce the level of HCL in the stomach, also end up preventing the production of pepsin for protein breakdown.  The person is then left with food rotting in the stomach and taking much longer to digest.

Intestine Digestion

If the mouth and stomach are the warmup acts for digestion, the small intestine is the main attraction, the body’s inner spectacle within which most digestion takes place.  According to Enzymes, the Fountain of Life by D.A. Lopez, M.D., R.M. Williams, M.D. Ph.D. and K. Miehlke, M.D. (Neville Press), “The most thorough activities are performed in the duodenum.”  As the food passes through the stomach, it signals other parts of the body such as the pancreas to release the secretions that will perform the major portion of digestive activity.

The pancreas then releases bicarbonate to neutralize the acidity of the stomach juices as the food flows through the duodenum. Here enzymes chemically begin to break off proteins, fats, and carbohydrates into smaller chemical pieces. Bile assists by emulsifying fat into small blobs that are more easily subdued by the intestinal enzymes.

Food keeps getting broken down by the enzymes into tinier units consisting of but a few molecules each and are absorbed through the walls of the small intestine. Supplemental enzymes may also aid digestion: lactase, an enzyme necessary for the digestion of milk protein; and protease, may alleviate food allergies by helping in the breakdown of protein. 

Big Doings: The Large Intestine

Anything not absorbed in the 25-foot slide through the small intestine rides into the large intestine.  By this time, what’s left of the dinner you ate hours ago is referred to as “fecal” matter since much of it consists of waste products that will eventually be eliminated.  A close look at the large intestine (AKA colon) shows that it’s home to around 400 types of bacteria beneficial to digestion. 

Lactobacillus acidophilus and bifidobacteria are two types of bacteria necessary for promoting colon health.  These bacteria produce the nutrients folic acid (a must when pregnant), para-aminobenzoic acid and vitamin K to keep the colon healthy; these bacteria also crowd out harmful microorganisms such as yeast (Candida albicans), salmonella and E. coli.

Enhancing Digestion

Possibly just as important as the food you eat and the supplements you take for good digestion, is a calm setting for meals (oh yeah, at Christmastime?). Roused emotions and the intrusive bleating of the television, can disturb the healthy function of the digestive tract. (So much for the football game…)

#holidays #christmas #thanksgiving #football #turkey #bakedham #sweetpotatoes #gingerbread #cranberrysauce #cinnamon #pumpkin #coffee #irishcream #applepie #pecanpie #acidophilus

Credit: Google Images/Mental Floss