The Importance of Digestion
starts with a health digestive system. The body cannot function
optimally - building new cells, providing energy and resisting sickness
if it does not have the fuel it needs to function. You can eat the
healthiest food available but it is of little use if you can't digest
it.
Digestion
is the process by which complex chemicals in food are broken down into
simpler chemicals that can be asbsorbed and used by the body. Digestion
begins in the mouth, through the oesphagus, stomach, small and large
intestines and ends with waste being expelled by the anus. The liver,
gallbladder and pancreas each play a role in facilaitating digestion.
Digestive enzymes are the substances that break down the proteins, sugars and fats we eat so our bodies can use them.
Digestive enzymes come from three main sources.
- Raw vegetables and fruit. These must be eaten raw as their enzymes are destroyed by heat.
- The liver and pancreas
manufacture digestive enzymes, but according to Sandra Cabot, author of
the best-selling ‘The Liver Cleansing Diet’, a fully functioning liver
has become a rare commodity. Not only does the liver provide the vast
majority of the chemicals required for good digestion , it also deals
with toxins (such as alcohol) rendering them less harmful.
- The third source of digestive enzymes are the beneficial gut organisms.
100 trillion of these creatures should inhabit the full length of the
30ft digestive tract from mouth to anus, proliferating in the large
intestine.
Beneficial
gut organisms are those friendly bacteria like acidophilus and other
probiotics. A Probiotic is a microbe that protects its host and
prevents disease. These friendly bacteria supply vitmains like B12, K,
thiamine and folic acid as well as fighting harmful bacteria.
Probiotics often require the presence of prebiotics to function
optimally. Prebiotics are anon-digestible food ingredients that
stimulate the growth or activity of bacteria in the digestive system
which are beneficial to the health of the body.
You
can increase the number of beneficial gut organisms by eating certain
foods. For example yoghurt, fermented vegetables - sauerkraut or
kimchi, and kombucha tea. You can also supplement with various
probiotic products available on the market today. One of these includes
, a Human Health Product by NTS. Digest-Ease is a powerful probiotic which provides a bounty of predigested, functional food.
It contains an impressive amino acid profile and provides a huge number
of beneficial organisms (both probitic and prebiotic) in each serve.