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B-12 Vitamins

Down the hatch! Digestion and Your Health
By Brazos Minshew, TriVitas Chief Science Officer

As people, we love to eat. All of our most cherished and joyous celebrations surround food somehow. And judging from the expanding waistlines of many folks in North America, we must be the happiest people on Earth!

But what happens to food once we have eaten? How do our bodies absorb the nutrients from food?

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The tools of digestion
Your digestive tract is really, really long. For instance, your small intestine is about as long as four times your height. Your large intestine is about as long as you are tall. But all of this surface area is needed to properly digest and metabolize your food.

Your intestines are teeming with trillions of bacteria, most of them friendly! These bacteria are needed to help your body utilize vitamins and minerals. The vitamins and minerals from your food are often not in the most desirable form. They must be converted by bacteria, acids, enzymes, and hormones, and go through several other steps in order for you to maximize their value.

Digestive system basics
Digestion can be broken down into the following steps

Digestion really begins with anticipation as your brain triggers the feeling of hunger. Hunger is associated with a family of hormones that turn on when your blood sugar drops and turn off when your stomach expands, especially when what you take in has viscosity or thickness to it. That is one reason why water will kill your appetite, but not for very long. It just does not have the thickness from fiber and fats that you need to turn off your hunger for extended periods of time.
You feel the sense of hunger and begin to anticipate satisfying your needs with certain foods you crave. When you see and smell those foods your anticipation is heightened and you begin to secrete digestive juices to prepare to receive those foods. Your mouth may water. Digestion starts in your mouth when you chew foods and mix them with saliva. It is important to thoroughly chew your food in order to neutralize the starch found in absolutely everything you eat, even so-called low carb foods. That is one reason why some people gain excess weight. They just do not chew their foods well enough to neutralize the carbs.
When you swallow, your stomach is already prepared to receive the food. A hormone called pepsinogen is waiting to bond with hydrochloric acid and produce an enzyme called pepsin. This is how most proteins and Vitamin B-12 are digested. Any imbalance from aging, stress, or illness will cause indigestion and reduce your ability to digest protein and B-12.
After about a half hour the food begins to pass through the stomach into your small intestine. At the same time, your pancreas secretes enzymes into your small intestine to meet this bolus of food. The starch has been neutralized by chewing and the protein and B-12 have been prepared by your stomach. Now, special enzymes from the pancreas convert these nutrients for transport, amylase for the starch and protease for protein. Most of the magic of digestion occurs in the first part of the small intestine, called the duodenum. This is also where fats meet with bile salts and recycled fiber from your liver and gallbladder and begin their process of fat digestion.
Most vitamins are absorbed in the stomach and first part of the small intestine. Proteins, fats, and other nutrients are absorbed throughout the intestinal tract. Minerals, especially iron and calcium, are absorbed in the large intestine as the last drops of water are taken out of your food.

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For good digestive health, you must eat nutritiously. Include water, fiber, probiotics, Vitamin B-12, proteins, healthy carbohydrates, and healthy fats in your diet. It is also important to note that digestion can be impaired by stress. So, consider ways to reduce your stress, and supplement your diet with adaptogens to protect digestive health from the effects of stress.

And do not forget the joy of eating. Joy is really a sign of acceptance. Acceptance is essential for emotional health as you mentally digest the experiences of the day.

Take Control of Your Health

For optimal digestive health, adults need about 30 grams of fiber every day and water intake equivalent to about 1/2 their body weight converted to ounces
Fiber. Increased fiber stabilizes blood sugar and leads to regular elimination of toxins and waste. More fiber equals lower disease risk and improved detoxification. Eat plenty of fiber-rich fruits and vegetables every day. Children should eat 5 servings of fruits and vegetables. Women should eat 7 servings. And men should eat 9 servings of fruits and vegetables every day.
Water. Water is essential for the health of all your body systems. To calculate your daily water needs, use the simple formula below.
Example. A 150-pound person would need to drink about 75 ounces of water per day. 150 divided by 2 equals 75 ounces

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