The Stomach
The stomach continues the digestion that originated in the mouth, acting as a holding tank to break down food and then pumping the soupy mix
into the intestines. The stomach’s goal is to turn your solid lunch into a soupy liquid called chyme. Stomach contractions are important for grinding and mixing ingested food with the gastric secretions. Special cells (parietal cells), located in the glands of the inner lining of the stomach, secrete powerful hydrochloric acid and protein-digesting enzymes that help break down food in the stomach. Once
the food is turned into chyme, it is moved along the digestive tube from the stomach to the small intestines for further processing and absorption.
The Intestines
On anatomy charts the intestinal tract appears to be a big tangled mess, but it is simply a long tube divided into two sections: the small bowel or small intestines, and the large bowel, also called the colon or large intestines. It appears to be a big tangles mess because in order to fit inside a person’s body, the small intestines are folded up many times in order to fit as much tubing as possible into a small area of the body.
The surface area of the entire intestinal tract, if you spread it out on the floor, would be about the size of two tennis court. This huge absorptive area gives your body a greater ability to take in nutrition. If you were to unfold the small intestines and measure its full length, it would be about 15 to 20 feet long! The small intestines are not small at all, making up about 75% of the entire digestive system.
The ability to absorb huge amounts of nutrients in the small intestine is made possible by small finger-like folds called villi. These villi provide more surface area for absorption. The small intestines are the portion of the digestive tract that connects the stomach and the large intestines. About 70-80% of the absorption of nutrients takes place in the small intestines, as they pass through the thin intestinal membranes into the circulatory system and then are transported to hungry tissues throughout the body. The small intestines are the largest hormone-producing organ in the body and are also responsible for controlling thousands of bacteria, viruses, and parasites every day.
The small intestine has three distinct parts with different functions: 1) the duodenum, 2) the jejunum and 3) the ileum.
It is in the duodenum, where the enzymes and secretions from the pancreas, liver, gallbladder0 and the small intestine itself combine to break down nutrients so that they can be absorbed. The pancreas supplies enzymes to digest proteins, fats and carbohydrates. Intestinal cells also supply some enzymes. The liver produces the bile required for the breakdown of fat, and the gallbladder stores the bile until it is needed for digestion. The duodenum is also a major site for absorbing iron.
The second part of the small intestines called the jejunum is the primary area of absorption for the majority of the nutrients used by the entire body.
The end of the small intestines called the ileum is the most important site for absorption of the vitamin B12, and bile salts from the liver.
After the soupy chyme passes through the small intestines, it goes to the large intestines, also called the colon. The large intestine connects to the small intestines by the cecum. The large intestine is larger in diameter than the small intestine. It begins at the ileocecal junction, where the ileum of the small intestine meets the cecum of the large intestine, and ends at the anus. The large intestine consists of the colon, rectum and anus.
The wall of the large intestine has the same types of tissue that are found in other parts of the digestive tract, but it does not have any villi (fingers). Unlike the small intestine, the large intestine produces no digestive enzymes. Chemical digestion is completed in the small intestine before the chyme reaches the large intestine. The function of the large intestine includes the absorption of water and minerals from the chyme and then pushing the remaining waste out of the body as feces.
The large intestines or colon is anywhere from 5 to 7 feet long and wraps around the small intestines. The first part of the colon is called the ascending colon and is attached to the small intestines. There are two bends or flexures in the colon. It climbs up the right side of the abdomen and then bends at the liver.
At this point it is called the transverse colon, as it makes its way across our mid section to the other side of the abdomen. When it reaches the left side of the abdomen, it makes another sharp bend downward to the rectum and the anus. This downward heading part of the colon is called the descending colon. The waste proceeds down to the rectum area to be collected for elimination through the exit hole called among other names, the anus.
Our journey through the tube is an exercise in self-awareness. The digestive system is tubular, but is much more than a simple food receptacle. It is the way we receive the world and all of its nutrients. It is the doorway to our inner halls and sacred spaces. It must be kept clear and open for absorbing the gifts of nature.
Are we ready to welcome the power of nature into our homes?
A 5-to-15 Pound Block in the Flow
The tube works best when food is able to flow from the mouth to and out the anus without any problems. However, most of us have as much as 5 to 15 lbs. of backed-up fecal matter in our bowels at any given time. That is approximately the weight of a bowling ball.
There are even exceptional cases of a condition called toxic mega colon where one can carry as much as 60 lbs. of trapped fecal matter in the intestines.
Waste accumulates in the body because of constipation. It turns out constipation can be caused by a number of different factors such as: improper diet, dehydration, lack of exercise, stress and even pregnancy. Some prescription medications or narcotics will also cause constipation.
When waste is not regularly moved out of our bowels, it accumulates and forms blockages. These accumulations of waste will eventually rot in a process that is called putrification: a putrid, rotting mass of old food. Like the rest of the body, the temperature of the intestinal tract is around 98.6ºF. Any trapped or slow-moving waste is left to percolate in the dark, steamy environment of the bowels.
Imagine, if you are willing, taking a mixture of fruits, vegetables, meats and grains and placing them together in a kitchen blender and blending them until they turn into to a soup. Then take that soup mixture and seal it in a plasticbag and leave it in the dark at 98.6ºF for a week. When you open that bag you will probably be overcome by the smell, and when or if you recover from the odor, you take that soup mixture to a lab, you would find that it is full of mold, bacteria, fungus, yeast and parasites.
When a living being moves toward deterioration, nature works to compost it and return it to the soil. Nature is nature. Nature will do the same thing in our bowels, turning fecal matter into compost. Nature uses bacteria, mold, fungus and parasites to do the job. Let’s suffice to say that composting is best left done outside the body.
Constipation or slow-moving bowels allow waste to putrefy. This is a contributor to a self-poisoning or auto-intoxification that happens to millions of people every day. This mass of putrefying waste with unhealthy bacteria, parasites, viruses and fungi is often re-absorbed into the tissues of the body and causes inflammation of the intestinal tract. The body, in an effort to prevent inflammation from damaging the tissues, will secrete mucous. This thin, clear mucous will coat and help protect the lining of the intestinal tract.
Mucoid Plaque
When the bowel is chronically inflamed, the body will continue to secrete mucous for protection. Over time, in a constipated state this mucous will begin to harden inside the bowel. It will mix with the accumulated feces and form a hard rubbery layer called mucoid plaque, which will adhere to the lining of the intestinal tract. When this mucoid plaque becomes attached to the lining of the intestines, it prevents the colon from functioning properly.
The mucoid plaque can form a barrier between the food and your body and can inhibit the absorption of nutrients. The nutrients that do get absorbed will be contaminated as they must pass through a layer of hardened, rotting feces and mucous before being absorbed. This is not healthy. Mucoid plaque can also impair colon function, making the colon less able to perform its natural muscular contraction called peristalsis.
Peristalsis is the contraction and relaxation of the intestinal tract. This squeezing peristaltic action is what moves food along the digestive tract. If this action is weak or inhibited, then food will pass through the bowels much more slowly, which will allow more putrefaction of the waste to occur.
A slow-moving bowel will mean all the food you eat will stay in your intestinal tract longer. As feces accumulates in the colon, it will also cause the colon to stretch. An enlarged colon is not a thing of beauty. Outwardly you may notice a pooch in your abdomen. Many people think it is just fat, but this protrusion will not go away even if you lose weight. Most of us are not that fat, we are just full of _ _it!.
Is it possible that the key to healing may lay in something as simple as keeping my colon clean and making sure that I have regular bowel movements?
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