Digestive Enzymes and Pre-Digestion, Why Are They the Key to Good Health?
03/09/2010
Digestive Enzymes and Pre-Digestion, Why Are They the Key to
Good Health?
By Paul Blake
This is the second article in a five part series devoted to
digestion where we have been following a nutritionally poor
meal, typical of America, from the mouth to the esophagus to the
stomach. We have seen that the food enters the mouth where
enzymes are added via sublingual glands. The meal then moves
through the esophagus where it is warmed, and then to the
stomach where pre-digestion takes place. We will follow this
nutritionally poor meal into the stomach.
Food is chewed in the mouth and saliva is mixed with this food.
Saliva is made up of an alkaline electrolyte solution that
moistens the food, mucus that serves as a lubricant, amylase, an
enzyme that initiates the digestion of starch, lipase, an enzyme
that begins the digestion of fat, and protease, which digests
protein. Most carbohydrates are broken down by the process of
chewing the food and mixing it with enzymes. Hopefully that
food had viable enzymes to mix with the enzymes supplied by the
mouth.
Pre-digestion in the Stomach
Here is where the food that Americans typically eat leads us
directly to disease. By eating mostly refined cooked foods with
meat we let our body down. It is like a very good friend of
yours is lying in front of you dying of thirst and you hand him
a glass of salt water. It is water but it will gradually kill
him.
Below I am going to trace the food's path as it moves into the
stomach, and see what happens to it and how it is treated by the
stomach and the rest of the digestive system. This is
information that few Americans know about. When I received this
information my mind was shocked and I immediately changed my
style of eating completely and for life. So please read and I
pray that this powerful truth changes your life as it did mine.
After swallowing the food, it moves down the esophagus, which is
18 to 24 inches long. The esophagus moves through the warm core
of the body and is responsible for warming the food to close to
body temperature, which is ideally 98.6. This is very important
as enzymes digest food best at between 94 and 104 degrees. So,
if the ideal situation exists in the esophagus (ice water is not
added to the food) the food is warmed to somewhere between 96
and 98 degrees before it enters the stomach.
This food enters the stomach through the cardiac sphincter,
which is where the esophagus and the stomach meet. An empty
stomach is like a flattened balloon until food enters it. As
the food enters the upper part of the stomach, it stretches and
enlarges to accommodate the food. In fact, the stomach will
enlarge beyond the size of the meal until it is fully inflated.
While the stomach is inflating to its full size which takes
somewhere between 40 to 60 minutes, pre-digestion takes place.
Pre-digestion, is the food sitting in the stomach being digested
by the enzymes that came with it. The ideal ph here is about
seven, very alkaline. This pre-digestion is considered by many
nutritionists to be the most important stage of digestion. This
is where the enzymes from our food and mouth digest and prepare
the food for absorption.
What are Enzymes?
Before we go any further I would like you to understand why
enzymes are so important. The answer to this question is
crucial to you understanding your health. Understand this and
you understand why the type of food you eat and the way it is
handled is so important. Your energy, strength, immune system
and all the systems of your body right down to each individual
cell depend completely on enzymes. Without enzymes nothing
happens in your body, or if it does it could take years to take
place; essentially you are dead.
The enzymes we use are both produced by cells in our body and
also brought in with food made by other living cells. These
enzymes are proteins produced in living cells that affect
chemical reactions. An example of this is a banana sitting in a
bowl. After a few days, you notice the skin turning brown. That
is the enzymes in the banana acting as a catalyst and causing a
chemical reaction which releases energy.
Without these reactions caused by the enzymes the food you eat
will not be turned into energy or supplies for the body. Here
are just some of the other functions of enzymes in the body.
All our vitamins, trace elements and minerals are dissolved down
to molecular level by enzymes. Only at that level can they and
our food be absorbed by our body. They also control digestion,
cell growth, and wound healing plus the phagocytes of the immune
system use enzymes to cope with pathogens.
Once the stomach completes the pre-digestive process, the food
then undergoes chemical and mechanical digestion. Here in the
lower part of the stomach, peristaltic contractions (mechanical
digestion) churn the bolus, which mixes with strong digestive
juices. These juices include powerful hydrochloric acid, which
helps break down the bolus into a liquid called chyme. In
addition, enzymes called pepsin and cathepsin are added to the
juice in the stomach to break down most of the protein in the
food. This process can take several hours depending on the meal
eaten. The ideal ph here is about three, very acidic.
The hydrochloric acid has three purposes. The first is to
break down mineral bonds from our diet. Now when they pass
through our intestines they are small enough to pass through the
wall to be used by the body. Second, to clean the food of
pathogens by creating an acidic environment that destroys the
pathogens. Third, change pepsinogen into pepsin, which breaks
down the long protein strings that are the essential and
non-essential amino acids in the food. These are broken down by
pepsin into polypeptides, peptides and tri-peptides so they can
be utilized by our body.
Once the food is broken down, it has the consistency of cake
batter. This is called chyme and is released into the duodenum
by the pyloric sphincter. If this chyme is properly prepared at
the stomach your health is good and you never get sick. If the
chyme is not properly prepared disease will soon follow and the
person will find all their genetic weaknesses. This is why
digestive enzymes and pre-digestion are such important keys to
good health.
About the Author: Paul Blake is a doctor of herbal medicine and
a master herbalist. He used naturopathic medicine to treat his
own case of cancer eighteen years ago. Visit The Natural Path
(http://www.theherbprof.com) or
(http://www.theherbprof.com/Digestive_Enzymes.htm) for more
information on digestive enzymes.
Source: http://www.isnare.com
Permanent Link:
http://www.isnare.com/?aid=313400&ca=Wellness%2C+Fitness+and+Diet
Good Health?
By Paul Blake
This is the second article in a five part series devoted to
digestion where we have been following a nutritionally poor
meal, typical of America, from the mouth to the esophagus to the
stomach. We have seen that the food enters the mouth where
enzymes are added via sublingual glands. The meal then moves
through the esophagus where it is warmed, and then to the
stomach where pre-digestion takes place. We will follow this
nutritionally poor meal into the stomach.
Food is chewed in the mouth and saliva is mixed with this food.
Saliva is made up of an alkaline electrolyte solution that
moistens the food, mucus that serves as a lubricant, amylase, an
enzyme that initiates the digestion of starch, lipase, an enzyme
that begins the digestion of fat, and protease, which digests
protein. Most carbohydrates are broken down by the process of
chewing the food and mixing it with enzymes. Hopefully that
food had viable enzymes to mix with the enzymes supplied by the
mouth.
Pre-digestion in the Stomach
Here is where the food that Americans typically eat leads us
directly to disease. By eating mostly refined cooked foods with
meat we let our body down. It is like a very good friend of
yours is lying in front of you dying of thirst and you hand him
a glass of salt water. It is water but it will gradually kill
him.
Below I am going to trace the food's path as it moves into the
stomach, and see what happens to it and how it is treated by the
stomach and the rest of the digestive system. This is
information that few Americans know about. When I received this
information my mind was shocked and I immediately changed my
style of eating completely and for life. So please read and I
pray that this powerful truth changes your life as it did mine.
After swallowing the food, it moves down the esophagus, which is
18 to 24 inches long. The esophagus moves through the warm core
of the body and is responsible for warming the food to close to
body temperature, which is ideally 98.6. This is very important
as enzymes digest food best at between 94 and 104 degrees. So,
if the ideal situation exists in the esophagus (ice water is not
added to the food) the food is warmed to somewhere between 96
and 98 degrees before it enters the stomach.
This food enters the stomach through the cardiac sphincter,
which is where the esophagus and the stomach meet. An empty
stomach is like a flattened balloon until food enters it. As
the food enters the upper part of the stomach, it stretches and
enlarges to accommodate the food. In fact, the stomach will
enlarge beyond the size of the meal until it is fully inflated.
While the stomach is inflating to its full size which takes
somewhere between 40 to 60 minutes, pre-digestion takes place.
Pre-digestion, is the food sitting in the stomach being digested
by the enzymes that came with it. The ideal ph here is about
seven, very alkaline. This pre-digestion is considered by many
nutritionists to be the most important stage of digestion. This
is where the enzymes from our food and mouth digest and prepare
the food for absorption.
What are Enzymes?
Before we go any further I would like you to understand why
enzymes are so important. The answer to this question is
crucial to you understanding your health. Understand this and
you understand why the type of food you eat and the way it is
handled is so important. Your energy, strength, immune system
and all the systems of your body right down to each individual
cell depend completely on enzymes. Without enzymes nothing
happens in your body, or if it does it could take years to take
place; essentially you are dead.
The enzymes we use are both produced by cells in our body and
also brought in with food made by other living cells. These
enzymes are proteins produced in living cells that affect
chemical reactions. An example of this is a banana sitting in a
bowl. After a few days, you notice the skin turning brown. That
is the enzymes in the banana acting as a catalyst and causing a
chemical reaction which releases energy.
Without these reactions caused by the enzymes the food you eat
will not be turned into energy or supplies for the body. Here
are just some of the other functions of enzymes in the body.
All our vitamins, trace elements and minerals are dissolved down
to molecular level by enzymes. Only at that level can they and
our food be absorbed by our body. They also control digestion,
cell growth, and wound healing plus the phagocytes of the immune
system use enzymes to cope with pathogens.
Once the stomach completes the pre-digestive process, the food
then undergoes chemical and mechanical digestion. Here in the
lower part of the stomach, peristaltic contractions (mechanical
digestion) churn the bolus, which mixes with strong digestive
juices. These juices include powerful hydrochloric acid, which
helps break down the bolus into a liquid called chyme. In
addition, enzymes called pepsin and cathepsin are added to the
juice in the stomach to break down most of the protein in the
food. This process can take several hours depending on the meal
eaten. The ideal ph here is about three, very acidic.
The hydrochloric acid has three purposes. The first is to
break down mineral bonds from our diet. Now when they pass
through our intestines they are small enough to pass through the
wall to be used by the body. Second, to clean the food of
pathogens by creating an acidic environment that destroys the
pathogens. Third, change pepsinogen into pepsin, which breaks
down the long protein strings that are the essential and
non-essential amino acids in the food. These are broken down by
pepsin into polypeptides, peptides and tri-peptides so they can
be utilized by our body.
Once the food is broken down, it has the consistency of cake
batter. This is called chyme and is released into the duodenum
by the pyloric sphincter. If this chyme is properly prepared at
the stomach your health is good and you never get sick. If the
chyme is not properly prepared disease will soon follow and the
person will find all their genetic weaknesses. This is why
digestive enzymes and pre-digestion are such important keys to
good health.
About the Author: Paul Blake is a doctor of herbal medicine and
a master herbalist. He used naturopathic medicine to treat his
own case of cancer eighteen years ago. Visit The Natural Path
(http://www.theherbprof.com) or
(http://www.theherbprof.com/Digestive_Enzymes.htm) for more
information on digestive enzymes.
Source: http://www.isnare.com
Permanent Link:
http://www.isnare.com/?aid=313400&ca=Wellness%2C+Fitness+and+Diet
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