Easy-of-Digestion Blog » Digestion http://www.ncsee.org All about food, nutrition and digestion Thu, 18 Jun 2009 19:07:03 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8 en hourly 1 Indigestion, constipation and bad breath http://www.ncsee.org/indigestion-constipation-and-bad-breath/ http://www.ncsee.org/indigestion-constipation-and-bad-breath/#comments Thu, 18 Jun 2009 19:05:26 +0000 moonlingio http://www.ncsee.org/?p=10 Indigestion, constipation, and bad breath are among the most common and frequent ailments to beset us. It’s hardly surprising when you consider how busily the digestive system works all day long, supplied with almost constant food and drink. The meals that we eat are often too late, too much, too quick, too spicy, too fatty, and low in fibre; our chosen drinks are often fizzy, or caffeine-based; none of which helps our digestive systems to function at their best.

In addition to including more wholefoods and fibre-rich fruit and vegetables in your diet, fresh juices can help to keep the digestive organs healthy and well-toned. Better digestion means that more nutrients will be absorbed too.

Bad breath can be the result of  a number of things, including indigestion, constipation, illness, lack of food, dental decay, gum disease, and over-indulgence in rich, spicy food. As well as eating plenty of fibre-rich wholefoods to help the digestive process, some juices can help to freshen breath, especially parsley and carrot. Try these combinations.

Dilute with water if you prefer. Juice each ingredient then blend using a spoon.

4oz/115g parsley
3 large carrots

or

1 apple
2  stalks celery
2oz/50g parsley

These juices help nourish this area of the body. They are rich in the В group of vitamins, vitamin C, beta-carotene, and the mineral chlorine.

]]> http://www.ncsee.org/indigestion-constipation-and-bad-breath/feed/ 0 Food we eat http://www.ncsee.org/food-we-eat/ http://www.ncsee.org/food-we-eat/#comments Tue, 16 Jun 2009 09:03:03 +0000 moonlingio http://www.ncsee.org/?p=3 So, what’s the essenceof the process of digestion? Given a healthy diet and good teeth, what does the body do with the food which we eat?

Food enters the body through the mouth. Waste leaves the body in a number of ways. For example, it comes out as liquid from the bladder, called urine. Waste also leaves the body as solid material, through the anus, called faeces.

Many children accidentally swallow small objects such as coins or marbles. These objects come out in the faeces after about 24 hours.

What must there be between the mouth and the anus? What is true of human beings is likely to be true of other animals such as rats. When dead animals are opened up, a long tube is seen passing through the body. It passes from the mouth to the anus. This tube is called the gut, and is found in a very large number of different animals, including man. The food as it goes through a number of inner organs such as: anus, caecum, colon, duodenum, oesophagus (gullet), ileum, mouth, stomach, rectum.

In a living adult person, the total length of the gut, from mouth to anus, is about 10 metres (m). We are normally sitting upright when we eat, so it is easy to imagine that the food passes down the gut helped by the force of gravity.

A person can swallow food, including liquids, when placed upside down. However it is easy to choke when trying to do this. The gut is packed into the body in such a way that, in some parts, the food actually passes upwards over short distances. The process that pushes the food along from the mouth to the anus shown is called peristalsis.

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