Supporting the Digestive System with Nutrition

EVERYTHING that goes into your mouth goes through a process of being broken down or digested.  The good is separated from the bad through the miracle of the digestive system.  Nutrients that we need and are, hopefully, in the foods that we eat, are absorbed. 

Organs involved include your mouth, stomach, pancreas, and liver.  The intestinal system which includes the small intestine and colon, is an important part of the process.

Here is an experiment you can do yourself, with a classroom or as part of a home schooling biology lesson: 

Experiment: Proving that the saliva in your mouth contains enzymes that begin digesting food. 

• Take 2 new containers of yogurt, apple sauce, or jello.
• Take a scoop full from one container with a CLEAN spoon, and eat the spoonful if you like.
• Put the same USED spoon, which will now have some of your saliva on it, into the other container and eat the same amount. 
• Put the lids back on the containers, and put in the refrigerator.  
• Mark the container in which the spoon that was used was placed on the bottom.
• The next day open the containers without looking to see which is which, and you should know which container has been touched by the USED spoon with saliva on it as it will be beginning to break down, or liquify...to be digested...by the enzymes that are in your saliva.

Our food then goes to the stomach where it is "churned" by the muscles in the stomach and receives more enzymes from the pancreas & liver, depending upon the foods you are eating.  Then the liquefied "food" makes it's way into the small intestine where all the nutrients are absorbed to be used by the body.  From here, what remains, which is called "chyme" passed through the ilia-cecal valve into the colon, where all liquids are absorbed, leaving waste to be passed from the body.

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As we age, the production of enzymes slows down, or we simply can't digest certain foods that we used to be able to.  We eat the same as we always have and are surprised because the digestive system just doesn't seem to work the same.  When it comes to digestive enzymes, supplementation is often helpful.  It is important to break down the food so that as much nutritional benefit as possible can be drawn from the food as it passes through the small intestine.

Some herbal foods that aid digestion and benefit the digestive system are as follows and can be searched for and found at this link:  

• Food Enzymes
• Proactazyme Plus
• Probiotic Eleven
• Stomach Comfort 

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Updated 10/31/18