Organic & Thrifty

 My fascinating nutritional studies have lead me through a remarkable profound, in-depth study of human digestion.  The journey that food takes  from the mouth to the cells is, quite frankly, incredible.  I often spend time ranting on this blog about proper nutrition, good gut flora, and lack of sugar and refined carbohydrates.  Sometimes I chide myself because I write too much about nutrition and neglect to give good “tips for being organic and thrifty”.  But as I’ve been pondering this, I’m realizing:

To be truly organic and thrifty, your body needs to be able to digest the food that you eat.  You can eat the most nutrient-dense, whole food diet but if your body isn’t digesting, it’s just going into the toilet.But why are these things important, from the perspective of digestion?

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In the ideal digestive situation, every calorie we consume contains something useful to the body, that actually aids the body in some way.  Whether it’s rich in vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients, fiber, fats, amino acids— whatever the food contains, it should contain something that ultimately some cell in your body actually needs. 

It’s helpful, when you’re struggling with the temptation to eat junk food, to ask yourself “Do my cells need any of what’s in here?”.  If it’s a Krispy Kreme, then the answer to that is a resounding “No!”.

Cellular nutrition is at the heart of good health; and in the end it’s what matters most.  But there’s a lot that has to happen between the mouth and the cells.  Here’s a quick rundown, from north to south, of the elements that need to be in place for proper digestion and assimilation to take place:

1. Mouth: Your saliva contains salivary amylase, which is an enzyme that helps with carbohydrate breakdown.  Your teeth are made for chewing; and chewing helps to break down the food (remember, it’s gotta get into your cells!).  Mindful chewing (20 times, or until it becomes liquid) is helpful not only to help digestion, but to signal your stomach to prepare an environment that can peacefully continue the job of breaking down your food. Of course, chewing slows down the eating process, which inevitably prevents overeating. So, in summary: Chew your food!

2. Stomach:A healthy stomach secretes hydrochloric acid and pepsin for the breakdown of proteins.  Hydrochloric acid destroys pathogens that may be in the food, and also further breaks down the food. Pepsin is crucial for protein breakdown because undigested proteins are notorious for causing problems further down in the gut (read: allergies!!! But more on that in a future post).  Additionally, we need proteins to break down into amino acids so that they can be available for the myriad of roles they play in the body. One example is the amino acid tryptophan. The body uses tryptophan to produce serotonin, a mood and sleep regulator.  Without proper protein breakdown, we can suffer sleep and mood disorders.  Without pepsin, the body cannot properly absorb vitamin B12, which is also a crucial vitamin for mental health and mood regulation. 

Contrary to popular belief, it is very rare for the stomach to produce too much stomach acid.  In fact, clinical studies show that the majority of people who suffer from digestive problems are shown to be deficient in stomach acid.  Wholistic doctors, naturopaths, chiropractors, and nutritional therapists are some of the health care pracitioners that can help assess the status of your hydrochloric acid. It’s amazing how many chronic illnesses have been reported to have improved by HCl and enzyme therapy. Some of the conditions that improve with this type of therapy are asthma, rhumatoid arthritis, ulcers, stomach cancer, and food allergies.  For the whole story of how this works, check out Why Stomach Acid is Good for Youby Dr. Jonathan Wright, MD.  This book will knock your socks off; especially with its endless pages of endnotes citing studies that Prosilac and Zantac’s producers hope you’ll never read!!! So, in summary, if you’re having digestive problems, don’t do anything until you find out the status of your HCl!

3. Duodenum:The duodenum is the first part of the small intestine.  When the acidic “chyme” of the stomach enters the duodenum, reactions occur which stimulate the release of bile from the gallbladder (to emulsify fats for absorbption into the lymphatic system) and pancreatic enzymes as well as bicarbonate to neutralize the acidic chyme from the stomach. By now, the stomach should have done the job of breaking carbohydrates into glucose, proteins into amino acids, and the fats should be emulified and ready for absorbtion by the lymphatic system.  Key players here: The gallbladder is crucial because the good fats you eat need to be emulsified, or else they will not be absorbed.  And fat is what your cells can utilize most efficiently.  The pancreas to supply the necessary bicarbonate and enzymes.

4. Small Intestine:Your small intestine is full of tiny, fingerlike projections called “villi”. Their job is to absorb the nutriets and transmit them into the bloodstream where they are carried to your cells.  (Ta da!!!!) To give you a visual picture of the importance of the villi: Imagine you were to open the small intestine and unfold the entire surface area of it. The entire surface area of a functional small intestine is the size of a tennis court.  Without those villi, however (which can be damaged by undigested food particles that come throughdue to lack of sufficient acid and enzymes) the size of the small intestine is reduced to that of a parking space. 

So it stands to reason that the less absorbtion area you have, the less nutrients you get from the food you are eating, hence more food to eat, ergo more food you have to buy.

5. Colon (Large Intestine): The colon’s job is to basically pull out the water and send it to the kidneys where it is filtered, recirculated, and any excess eliminated.  As the water is eliminated, the digested matter becomes more solid.  Some additional absorbtion can occur in the large intestine, and in a healthy large intestine colonies of friendly microflora feast on the undigested matter that comes through. This can either be a very good or bad thing, because due to overuse of antibiotics, birth control pills, stress, and unhealthy dietary habits, there can be very few of these friendly guys inhabiting the large intestine.  Rather, pathogenic yeasts and parasites, as well as fungi and disease-causing organisms can dominate the gut, causing dysbiois.  As you may figure, the “bad guys” love to eat the sugars and starches that are undigested.  The good guys love to eat the fiber (undigested vegetable matter) that comes through. The biproducts of what the good guys eat is more vitamins for your body, as these friendly bacteria produce many of the B vitamins our bodies need for crucial functions like glucose metabolism. So, who’s winning in your colon?

So, as you can see there are several key players along the line of digestion, and a healthy diet not only feeds your cells, but can support proper healing at all aspects.

Literally, scores of “uncurable disorders”, both physical and mental, can result from one of the processes above being compromised.  And unfortunately, eating the wrong kinds of foods (namely trans fatty acids, refined carbohydrates, and denatured proteins from pasteurized dairy products) simply aggrivates an already compromised digestive system.

We are nearing the end of yet another year, about to begin a new decade.  Now’s a great time to begin thinking about little things we can do to support our body’s healing. 

A healthy body is worth investing in, because your body needs strong, healthy cells to fight degenerative diseases and cancers.  It’s pay now, or pay later. 

In a series of future posts, I plan to share some real food suggestions for healing and restoring digestive function from the mouth on down.

This post is part of Real Food Wednesday and Works for Me Wednesday!