I will begin a new series on the intestinal and digestive system health in the month of April addressing some key digestive concerns many Americans are facing today. To kick it off, let’s start with some interesting factoids about our digestive system that you may or may not know:
- Consists of mouth, esophagus, stomach, duodenum, bile duct, the small intestines, the large intestines, and finally (you guessed it) rectum
- There is more organs associated with your digestive system than any other body system
- One way or another, 2/3 of all your body parts are found to be associated the digestive system
- 2/3 of your daily energy supply is spent to “digest and clean-up” the foods and drinks you ingest
- Average American consumes 40 tons of food in a lifetime
- Human digestive system can only process 3 to 4 square meals per day adequately
- One bowel movement a day is considered constipation if you eat 3 square meals a day
- Estimated transit time of food from your mouth to rectum is anywhere between 24 hours to 48 hours
- You are not what you eat, you are what you “absorb”
- Your colon (large intestines) is your second brain
- Probiotics found in your intestinal system mostly resides in the colon – responsible for 75% of your immunity
- Emotions play a role and affect our stomach juice production and hence our ability to digest food
- Stomach lining designed to protect us from the stomach acid (HCl) sheds cells at a half-million a minute rate and replaces itself every 3 days
- Each day, the digestive system processes about 2.5 gallons of food, liquids, and bodily secretions into a 12 ounces of waste – efficient or what?
- Every system in your body is affected by digestive system function
Join me in a fascinating journey into the digestive system from top to bottom during the month of April.
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See you at the top (of our digestive system) soon!