Tuesday, March 6, 2012

The Mouth - Why Chewing Is Important

The “physical” aspects of digestion begin in the mouth.  Please consider what goes in our mouth is generally a volunteer action!  For the most part we choose what we eat, how many times we chew our food, and the pace (fast/slow) of the eating experience.  Some may argue that digestion begins before we eat as the smells, sounds, and overall environment affect us.  To some extent I’d agree with this.  It is a biological fact that if we are stressed our digestion is adversely impacted.  No reason to digest if you’re running away from a lion or tiger, right? And, if we are in a pleasant environment, calm and relaxed, this will aid our digestion.  Nothing like the smell of grandma’s cooking to get the digestive juices flowing.  But, at the end of the day if we gulp down crappy food we’re going to have digestive issues. And, if we eat crappy food this will ultimately lead to erectile dysfunction.

In our mouth we have our teeth and the salivary glands (of which the parotid is the largest).  Our teeth are very important as they are the first stage in breaking up our food so we can process it.  The more we chew and break up the food, the more surface area there is to be acted upon.  Saliva contains mucus, lysozymes, and amylase.  Believe it or not, we make 1-2 quarts of saliva per day!  Saliva should be alkaline with a pH of 7.4, although it can vary throughout the day.  If you would like to test your saliva you can purchase pH paper.  The most accurate reading is in the morning after waking up. If saliva is acidic (pH < 7) it will interrupt digestion of carbohydrates in mouth. The saliva pH is indicative of general health of the liver.

Mucus is important because it lubricates the food to help it pass through the esophagus.  Lysozymes poke holes in the walls of bacteria which weaken them so they can be taken care of (eliminated) by the stomach. Amylase is an enzyme and it begins the digestion of carbohydrates.  Ever notice how if you have a piece of bread in your mouth for awhile it starts to taste sweet?  This is the carbohydrate breaking down into sugars. It appears the body was designed to handle carbohydrates first.    

So what we do in the mouth is very important.  If we do not chew our food sufficiently more work has to be done in the stomach to break the food down.   Remember – this is a “north to south” process.  How many times to chew?  I’ve heard anywhere from 20-40 chews per mouthful.  The 40 seems a bit stretching it, but 20 seem reasonable. And, the more we chew the more saliva is produced and mixed with the food providing the mucus, lysozymes, and amylase required.  Not enough mucus and the food has a harder time getting to the stomach.  Too few lysozymes and it is more likely for harmful bacteria to survive.  Short on amylase and carbohydrates do not get broken down and begin to ferment in the stomach since their next chance for activity is in the small intestine (but I’m getting ahead of myself). I’m sure you can see how each step has an impact on what takes place next.  If the initial job is not done correctly the next step needs to catch up or make an adjustment.

Digestion - Introduction - The Body Positive

Digestion - Introduction

Our tour of the body begins with the digestive system.  After all, we are what we eat!  What we put into our body provides the fuel our body has to work with in performing all the functions that give us life. And of course one of those functions is getting and maintaining an erection! Without food there is no life.  And without an erection there is no sex! Without strong digestion there is no useable fuel.  What we eat and drink needs to be processed and utilized by the body.  Therefore, when I speak of “digestion” remember it is inclusive of breaking down our food, absorbing our food, utilizing our food, and removing the waste products of the food from the body.  All of these are critical steps in what we term “digestion.”    

Many people suffer from poor digestion (dysbiosis). Do you?  How would you know?  Well, common signs of poor or compromised digestion include heartburn, belching, burping, gas, bloating, cramping, constipation, diarrhea, nausea, and vomiting.  But did you know bad breath, rashes, skin eruptions, acne, allergies, and autoimmune diseases stem from poor digestion as well?  When your digestive issues get serious enough for you to see your doctor you may receive an official medical diagnoses such as: Acid reflux, GERD, Crohn’s, irritable bowel syndrome, colitis, diverticulitis, inflammatory bowel, Celiac, and others.  

When we have “symptoms” this is our body sending us a message.  Something is wrong.  Something is not working as designed.  Our body has over 120 trillion cells, all of which need to be nourished.  Everything we put into our mouth will ultimately have a consequence – either it is nourishing or it is stressful.  One definition of nutrition is an act or process of being nourished.  It is through digestion that we receive our nourishment.

The next big question is: What creates symptoms?  Obviously it is not how our body was originally designed!   As my friends at the IFNH (International Foundation for Nutrition and Health) like to say, “Digestion is a north to south process.” It has several stages and what happens at each phase is greatly influenced by the preceding phase.  The digestive system includes: mouth, pharynx (throat), esophagus, stomach, small intestine, liver, gall bladder, pancreas, large intestine, rectum, and anal canal.  Now we’ll learn what each part does.