Digestive System Health

Your digestive system health is built upon proper diet, exercise, and supplementation such as acai along with an occasional cleanse or fast. Studies show that death begins in the colon; a poorly functioning digestive system will cause all sorts of problems like nutrition deficiency, leaky gut, and poor skin. First, I'd like to explain a little about how the digestive system works.

Your digestive system is comprised of a few key players. They are your liver, pancreas, stomach, gall bladder, small intestine, and large intestine. Each part plays a role in the digestion of food and absorption of nutrients. The food you eat begins its journey in your mouth where saliva starts to break it down into a mushy ball more easily swallowed into your esophagus. The muscles in your esophagus move the broken food stuffs down into your stomach over the course of two or three seconds.

The stomach plays three main roles: to store the food you've just eaten, to break down the food into a more liquid mixture, and to slowly empty that liquid into the small intestine. Gastric juices originating from the stomach's walls aid in the breakdown and also kill any bacteria that may have originated on the food.

The mixture now goes into your small intestine and may reside there for up to four hours. While here, the small intestine will break down the liquidy mixture even more so your body can absorb the vitamins, minerals, proteins, fats, and carbohydrates. Acai will play a great role here for your digestive system health because it is so packed with all of the above! The pancreas, liver, and gallbladder assist the small intestine with digestive juices for breakdown. Your pancreas supplies enzymes that break down proteins and fats while juices from the liver called bile help absorb fats into your blood stream. The gallbladder acts as a reserve for the bile and will be used when called upon.

Onto the liver. The nutrient dense blood goes to your liver for processing while the remnants of the broken down food go to your large intestine. The liver will filter out harmful waste by turning it into more bile and also figure out how much of the nutrients get circulated to the rest of your body. It might keep some vitamins and sugars behind for storage.

The large intestine spans about five feet in length and is also coiled up like the small intestine. The main function of the large intestine is to absorb the remaining water and minerals from the waste created by the small intestine's digestion. The waste will descend to the colon and get smaller and smaller till we use the bathroom and rid the body of it. Fibrous foods will help push food stuffs through easier and alleviate congestion and back up in turn improving your digestive function and digestive system health.

The large intestine also contains equilibrium of good and bad bacteria that assist the digestion and absorption of nutrients as food passes through. This balance needs to keep in check or your system will not function properly. I think an ideal way to get your good bacteria into your digestive tract is simply eat dairy cultures like yogurt, kefir, or acidophilus probiotics. It's always important to remember that if you were to take a broad spectrum antibiotic given by the doctor for a bacterial infection to always replenish your good bacteria.

To quickly recap: your digestive system health will stay optimal with a proper diet high in fiber from sources such as fruits, vegetables, good fats and friendly bacteria; your system will function effectively and properly absorb the nutrients you feed it. The nutrients, good fats, protein, and soluble fiber from the acai berry will help promote a healthy digestive system.

Back To Acai Health Benefits
Return From Digestive System Health To Home