By: Bishop Chanakira
Submitted: 2010-07-13 23:22:31 | Word Count: 1014
As all of us are well aware, we are alive because we eat food that nourishes our bodies and ensures we survive. To get nourishment from the foodstuff we ingest, our gastrointestinal tract must digest it into simpler substances that can be absorbed through the intestinal walls and into the bloodstream. Because of the variety of foodstuffs that humans take, our gastrointestinal system is a complicated organization of muscles, liquids and substances that all work together to digest the food. Digestion is breaking down of foods into forms absorbable by the intestines.
Digestion itself is undertaken in two ways: chemical method and mechanical means. The mechanical means is the physical movement of the stomach and intestines to grind and churn the food into the smallest possible portions for the chemical method to take effect. The intestinal movement to churn the food is called peristalsis, and it goes on all the time even when no solid food is present in the intestines, although it can slow down when you are at rest, ill or asleep. Mechanical digestion also includes introducing and mixing the enzymes into the foodstuff to begin the chemical digestive process.
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Chemical digestion consists of several chemical actions that break down and convert the larger carbohydrates, protein and lipid molecules into molecular sizes small enough to pass through the intestinal walls and get absorbed by the blood for delivery to the various parts of the body via the circulatory system. The digestion is largely performed by enzymes lipase, protease, and amylase, complex proteins that break down the food nutrients into simpler substances. Without the enzymes, food cannot be used by the body, and body discomforts will occur. A part of our required enzymes are produced by our bodies, but the rest are derived from the meat and plants we eat being naturally present in them.
Amylase enzymes break carbohydrates and starch into the simper molecules disaccharides of maltose, lactose and sucrose. These are then disassembled further into simple sugars by lactase, maltase and sucrase for absorption by the body. Amylase enzymes are found in the saliva and pancreatic secretions. The enzyme protease acts on protein, eventually breaking it into amino acids, life's building blocks. Protease starts in the stomach as pepsin, but is usually deactivated as it reaches the intestine, although some kinds of proteases from plants are not easily deactivated. Lipases work on fats, breaking them down into fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E and K.
However, enzymes alone are hard put to process the foodstuff into nutrients and form the indigestible part into excretal waste. Probiotics help in both actions to enable the digestive tract get the most out of the ingested foodstuff. For example, lactic acid bacterial action help the enzyme lactase break down the disaccharide lactose, so that better lactose tolerance results.
Thus, the combination of probiotics and good digestive enzyme action provides us with the perfect method of obtaining maximum benefits from the food we eat. After all, food is our life and all health is ultimately dependent on the food we take.
Author Resource:-Probiotics acidophilus are extremely beneficial to our overall health. Probiotic supplements are a great way to make sure your digestive system gets the adequate levels of good bacteria the body needs.
