Digestive System

EVERYTHING in health stems back to or is ROOTED in digestive issues. The health of the gut is
implicated in every single system in the body. Depression? You can’t address it without looking at the gut. Cancer? You can’t address it without looking at the gut. Multiple Sclerosis? You can not address it without looking at the health of the gut.

What this means —
meaning, what the autoimmune trifecta means, is that in order for autoimmunity to occur there
needs to be the perfect storm of three biological factors:
1) the genetic predisposition
2) the makeup of the bacteria in the gut (otherwise known as the microbiota… and
sometimes considered in the realm of “infection”)
3) the compromised integrity or permeability of the gut (commonly known of as
“leaky gut”)

Remember that the first step in the
Practitioner Mastery Paradigm is Empathy, and the second step is Leadership
-Take the lead through educating the client

*3 Tiers to Nutrition Epigenetic Mastery *— which you have access to in your Practitioner Mastery Toolkit:1) Tier 1: remove the non-negotiables 2) Tier 2: bring deficiencies to sufficiency 3) Tier 3: and, only then, dismantle dysfunction

WE ARE NOT WHAT WE EAT!
I mentioned that I’m a firm believer that you are not what you eat, but what your body
can do with what you eat. In other words, you are what you can break down and absorb. Let’s
uncover exactly what “break down” and “absorb” mean so that we can look at digestive function
and what that might mean for you and each and every one of your clients or patients and the
critical place where food meets physiology.

Food is the carrier for microscopic nutrition.
Microscopic nutrition is essentially the minute chemical components of the food that we
feed ourselves.

The digestive system is the highway along which that microscopic nutrition travels, and
your cells are the final destination. What this means is that diet is fundamental, yet so is the
health of the digestive superhighway which translates your food into food for your cells.

The relationship between how and what you eat, how you can process what you eat, and
ultimately how you feel is undeniable. This is, again, where food meets physiology, what I like to
call Symbiosis, which is another one of our pillars in the Practitioner Mastery Paradigm —

Barrier systems = how your body interacts with the outside world
Designed to protect you and be selectively penetrable
Barrier systems include:

• Mucous membranes
• Skin membranes
  Found in: (Various areas including)
• digestive,
• respiratory
• genitourinary tract
  The constituents that interact with and bypass these protective barriers make their way into your bloodstream to interact with
  every cell in your body. These constituents consist of those minute chemical components from
  the food you eat as well as myriad microbes, yeasts, and pathogens.
  

Do you remember those three legs:
● genetics (or a genetic predisposition),
● a leaky gut (thus all those food sensitivities)
● and bacterial or microbial imbalances (otherwise known as infection)

NOTE: HORMONE BALANCE IS OFTEN DONE BYPASSING THE GUT. IE: THYROID DYSFUNCTION TIED TO POOR DIGESTIVE HEALTH!

**Best Approach **

• Empathize
• Lead
• Educate
  

*digestive health appears as digestive dysfunction such as:**
● heartburn
● constipation
● gas
● diarrhea
● IBS
● Crohn’s
● Colitis
● Candida
● and more

**The health of the gut is at the CORE of health*

The mitochondria are the portion of every cell that transforms energy. All living things require
energy from the outside. Our bodies, as we’ll continue to uncover, require energy from food. And
the cells require energy from that microscopic nutrition that travels in the bloodstream that we
referenced earlier.

It’s the role of the mitochondria within each cell to convert the chemical energy or fuel
from that microscopic nutrition from the food we eat into a form that the cell can actually use to
grow, reproduce, repair and respond. The mitochondria are like little factories inside our cells,
and they play a central role in our metabolism, our vitality and our overall well-being. They can speed up aging and affect our mental health. They can heal fibromyalgia and they can end
chronic fatigue.

The mitochondria turns food and oxygen into energy = CELLUAR RESPIRATION
The more energy a cell needs (ie muscles) the more mitochondria will be present
Mitochondria are very sensitive to damage. And when they aren’t working properly, you
suffer all the symptoms of low energy — fatigue, memory loss, pain, rapid aging and more

In fact, while we’ll be talking about “leaky gut” in the Digestive Intensive, consider that it’s now
known that the walls of the mitochondria can get leaky too! Fatigue is the most common
symptom of poorly functioning mitochondria. In fact, the core reason we experience fatigue as
we age is the constant insult and injury to our mitochondria

The fuel that the mitochondria produces is ATP — and its essentially producing your ATP
from the glucose that’s in your bloodstream, which was broken down from the carbohydrates
you ate through a series of mechanical and chemical processes that we’ll be exploring.
Metabolism of one molecule of glucose yields thirty-one molecules of ATP. The energy
released from ATP through hydrolysis (which is a chemical reaction with water) can then be
used for biological functioning.

She says: “At the most basic level, scientists are discovering that nearly all of the chronic
diseases that cause so much suffering all share mitochondrial dysfunction, excessive
inflammation, high cortisol levels and other markers of broken biochemistry. For health to return, the chemistry
must revert to normal and communication within and between our cells must be restored.”

Three Main Focuses:

• the anatomy of the digestive system;
• the function of the digestive system;
• and the physiology of the digestive system
  

*Three essential Macronutrients *

• Protein
• Carbs
• Fats
  

NOTE: First, the word nutrient means a nutritive substance, something that is there to nourish,
support growth, to maintain what the body has achieved and to repair what might need fixing.
Nutrient.

Proteins, as we’ll see through our travels, are broken down into peptides, which are
broken down further into amino acids, which are absorbed at the level of the small intestines —
into the bloodstream, the cell and those tiny mitochondria. Hello energy.

Carbohydrates are broken down into monosaccharides such as glucose, fructose and
galactose, which are also absorbed at the level of the small intestine — into the bloodstream, the
cell and those tiny mitochondria.

Fats are broken down into fatty acids, absorbed where? (yes, the small intestine!) And go
where? (that’s right —the cells and the mitochondria)

Digestive process = THE MOUTH

• Food enters the mouth
• Broken down by 3 main saliva glands = parotoid, sublingual and submandibular
• Bolus = when food mixes with saliva to aid in swallowing (happens from masticating when you bite)
• Saliva contains an enzyme called “amylase” = responsible for breaking down carbohydrates
• Digestion of carbohydrates starts in the mouth (probiotic foods help with this)
• Saliva breakdown is instrumental to nutrient breakdown and delivery (we production diminishes so does appetite)
• Anything ending in “ase” = an enzyme
• Anything ending in “ol” = alcohol (sugar alcohols that bypass natural digestion and absorption can even cause diarrhea)
• Anything ending in “ose” = real sugar (naturally occurring)
  

I’d like to highlight that there were two kinds of breakdown of the food happening in the
mouth:
1) the chemical breakdown, assisted by the enzymes amylase in this case and
2) the mechanical breakdown, facilitated by that all-important action of chewing

Digestive Process: = ESOPHAGUS

• Moves from the mouth to the oropharynx and slides up against the epiglottis
• The epiglottis is what protects food from getting into the trachea, which is the pipe for
  breathing. The epiglottis diverts the food from the respiratory path so that it can travel on into
  the esophagus. It’s a good little flap and you want it to do its job!
• The ESOPHAGUS is pitstop #3 in our journey. It’s that long pipe on your diagram. So
  we’ve already traveled through the oral cavity and gone through the wet terrain of the salivary
  glands.
• The bolus moves through the esophagus with rhythmic waves of smooth muscle
  contractions called peristalsis. This is a squeezing down action that happens along that long tube
  that leads from the mouth to the stomach. Along with the squeezing, there is some major mucus
  release to help lubricate the travel.
• Bolus travels from your esophagus using peristaltic muscles in about 6 seconds
• Once the food approaches the stomach, there is a little doorway it needs to pass through.
  That doorway is called the Lower Esophageal Sphincter, often referred to as the LES
  

Digestive Process = THE STOMACH

• LES important in the treatment of heartburn or aka “Reflux”
• The stomach releases highly acidic gastric secretions to destroy any bacteria or parasites
  that may have entered the body with the bolus.
• Gastric acidity is recognized as the first line of defense against food-borne pathogens.
  Most bacteria do not like acidity and will suffer in a properly acidic environment,
• In the stomach there is also the production of an enzyme called pepsin
• So note that the chemical breakdown of protein doesn’t actually start until the food hits
  the stomach.
• We had the mechanical and chemical breakdown of carbohydrates in the mouth.
• The mechanical breakdown in the esophagus is “peristalsis”
• Carbs continue to breakdown in the stomach and is introduced to protein molecules
• Chyme = the breakdown of food into smaller constituents in conjunction with gastric secretions
• Stomach surrounded by thick layers of mucous and muscle
• Bolus becomes chyme
• After 3 hours chyme opens the pyloric sphincter
• In fact, this sphincter is never actually closed. Peristalsis happening in the stomach
  causes small amounts of chyme to pass into the small intestines, along with water, all the time.
  Yet most of the chyme is forced back into the pyloric region of the stomach until there is a
  sufficient amount to initiate a more tangible opening.
  

NOTE: DUMPING SYNDROME = Contents of the stomach move into the small intestine in more concentrated amounts that usual. stages of labeling — early, middle and late — characterized by the severity of the signs and
symptoms.

Signs & symptoms of Dumping Syndrome include:
● fullness and or nausea just 10-30 minutes after eating (this is typically the earlier
stage)
● intermediate stage may appear as bloating, gas, abdominal pain, cramping or
explosive diarrhea just 20 minutes to 1 hour after eating
● late stages will result in a reaction that looks more like reactive hypoglycemia —
occurring 1 to 3 hours after eating — so think quick rise then fall in glucose levels
appearing as flushing, rapid heartbeat and the feeling like it’s time to lie down

*POTENTIAL DUMPING SYNDROME REMEDIES *
eat small, more frequent meals
● eat less solid and more crushed foods — well-cooked foods would be good)
● eliminate liquids during meals
● eat a lower glycemic diet
● eat more complex carbohydrates and higher fiber foods (start low and go slow if this
is not already a part of the diet)
● increase the good fats in the diet
● and, of course, eliminate dairy, which can exacerbate many digestive distresses

*Digestive Process *= SMALL INTESTINE

• The chyme — the food mixed with those gastric juices — moves through the pyloric
  sphincter and enters our 5th pitstop, which is the small intestine.
• The small intestine presents a 20-foot long journey in and of itself.
• From beginning to end, the small intestine is a tube that consists of three distinct parts:
  ● the duodenum
  ● the jejunum
  ● the ileum
  

Small Intestines Breakdown

• The duodenum, or upper part of the small intestine, introduces pancreatic enzymes to
  the chyme and bile from the gallbladder.
• It’s the bile and the pancreatic lipase that help the body to begin to chemically
  break down and digest FATS. (Pancreatic enzyme)
• Bile = translates dietary fat into water soluble substances that can be transported through water-soluble bloodstream
• Fat digestion happens largely in the small intestine
• Impaired duodenum equals impaired fat digestion. Impaired gallbladder equals
  impaired fat digestion.
• Impaired gallbladder can also lead to further GI complications like SIBO
  because of that impaired fat digestion.
  

The jejunum is the next portion of the small intestine. It has a lining that is specialized in the absorption of the carbohydrates and proteins that we eat. Remember, digestion equals breakdown and absorption equals uptake — or the USE of those nutrients.

• The proteins have now been broken down in the stomach by enzymes called pepsin and the acid into their chemical constituents — peptides, which break down further into their chemical constituents — amino acids.
• The jejunum lets those chemical constituents (which have HOPEFULLY been properly broken down and not leaked through as a gang or a peptide) into the bloodstream.
• The carbohydrates are further broken down in the duodenum by enzymes from the
  pancreas and liver into simple sugars —
  

Three Simple Sugars

• Glucose
• Fructose
• Galactose
  — and those are the sugars that readily feed the cells and the powerhouse of the cells
  for the creation of energy. (Powerhouse of cells – Mitochondria)
  

The function of the ileum, our third portion of the small intestine, is mainly to absorb
vitamin B12 and bile salts and whatever products of digestion that were not absorbed by the jejunum or midsection of the SI.

• The wall of the ileum is made up of folds, each of which has many tiny finger-like projections known as villi
• The ileum is also largely responsible for much of your immune system
  

OK. So the small intestine, is where food should go through its final breakdown. That
means:
● Protein into amino acids
● Carbohydrates into glucose and other simple sugars
● Fats into fatty acids and glycerol

So the small intestine is where these final products (that microscopic nutrition) are then
absorbed into the bloodstream and transported to cells in the body to be used as nutrients… for
the cells!

Digestive Process – LARGE INTESTINE

• The last straggling nutrients and waste products (the stuff we DON’T need) move out of the small intestine through the ileocecal valve —the place where the ileum connects to the colon— and into our 6th pitstop, the LARGE INTESTINE, or colon.
• While most of the nutrients were, or should have been, absorbed in the SI, the large intestine still needs to reabsorb water and electrolytes from the remaining product into the bloodstream.
• The indigestible waste products move through the rectum and out the anus for elimination from the body, in the form of poop!
  

Digestive Process: THE RECTUM/ANUS

• Where the undigestable food is excreted from the body as waste
  

Critical Organs of the Digestive, GI Tract, or Alimentary Canal

• The Teeth
• The Tongue
• The Liver
• The Gallbladder
• The Pancreas
  

The Seven Principals Organs of the Digestive Tract:
gans in the primary digestive system. We had:
1) The oral cavity (the mouth)
2) The salivary glands (which are often thought of as accessory digestive organs, but I
brought them into our primary discussion for our nutrition focus)
3) The esophagus (that long tube leading from the mouth to the stomach)
4) The stomach
5) The small intestine (which we broke into three sections — the duodenum, the
jejunum and the ileum)
6) The large intestine, or colon
7) The rectum and anus

• Blockages (obstructions) that develop in the intestines, rectum, or anus can cause rhythmic, crampy abdominal pain, abdominal swelling, and vomiting.

Copyright © 2025 Coach for Life! — Powered by