digestion

Food – Small Intestines, Big Business

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Though they are truly inferior in size to the large intestines, the small intestines play a huge role in the digestion and absorption of the nutrients we feed our bodies. The small intestines are coiled in the abdomen and are surrounded by a large network of blood vessels. Because of the peristaltic movements (repetitive, wave-like motion) of the digestive tract, there is some mechanical breakdown of food in the small intestine; however, the main role it plays is in the absorption of nutrients from the food we eat. This organ is about 1 inch in diameter and approximately 20 feet in length. It is divided into three sections; the duodenum, the jejunum, and the ileum; each with its distinctive function.

The duodenum is the first part of the small intestine and is attached to the end of the stomach. At only 10 inches, it is the smallest of the three sections, and is primarily responsible for the chemical digestion of food. The duodenum contains mucous and hormone secreting glands, and both the pancreatic and the bile ducts enter the duodenum, where they empty their digestive juices. The compilation of digestive juices in this part of the small intestine is responsible for the further digestion of fats, protein, and starch.

The jejunem is the middle of the three divisions of the small intestine. It is approximately eight feet in length, and contains folds called plicae circulars. Arising from these folds are the villi and the microvilli, tiny finger-like projections that protrude from the walls of the small intestine. These function together to increase the surface area available to secrete enzymes and absorb nutrients from our dietary intake. It has been estimated that the surface area of the small intestine is about 200m2, or the floor space of an average two-story house.

The ileum is the last section of the small intestine, following the jejunum, and connects the small intestine to the large. It is approximately 12 feet in length, and functions primarily to absorb vitamin B12 and bile salts. The enzymes necessary for the final digestion of protein and carbohydrates are secreted here. Villi and microvilli also line the ileum, so anything not absorbed by the jejunum is available to the ileum. The ileum is also distinguishable from the other sections of the small intestine by the Peyer’s patches—lymphoid nodules containing a large amount of lymphocytes and other cells important to the immune system. Because the inside of the gastrointestinal tract is exposed to the external environment, much of it is populated with disease-causing organisms. These patches establish their importance in the immune system surveillance of the intestines and help in generating an immune response, if necessary.

It is quite obvious that the small intestines are important to the body’s overall health. Since the small intestine is dependent upon the food that we put into it, the status of our health depends largely on the quality of food that we put into our bodies. Be kind to your body, and it will be kind to you.

Food – Small Intestine Helpers

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The liver and gallbladder are organs associated with the digestion that occurs in the small intestine. The liver’s only digestive function is to produce bile, for export to the duodenum. It does this via the common hepatic duct and the common bile duct. The gallbladder is chiefly a storage organ for the bile and lies between these two ducts. It is approximately four inches long and is located to the back and just below the lower right side of the liver. In addition to storing of the bile until needed, the gall bladder concentrates the bile, with it being up to ten times as concentrated when it leaves as when it entered. The primary function of bile is the emulsification or breakdown of fats so that they can be absorbed and used.

Bile is the major means by which cholesterol is excreted from the body. In the event that the bile salts (these constitute part of the liquid called bile) are inadequate or the cholesterol is excessive, the cholesterol may crystallize and form gallstones. These gallstones can pool in the gall bladder—the cystic duct leaving the gall bladder—or the common bile duct which leads to the small intestines. Gallstones are a common disease process and are more common in females, individuals over 40, those who are overweight, and fair skinned people. Gallbladder disease is also increased when the diet is low in fiber, and water is not taken liberally. Common symptoms include fullness and burping after meals, heartburn, chronic upper right-sided abdominal pain to severe pain that radiates to the right shoulder, nausea, vomiting, and even yellowing of the skin. These symptoms are more noticeable several hours after a heavy meal that includes fried or fatty foods.

There are many lifestyle decisions that can help prevent gallstones. These include: decrease saturated fats as found in meat and animal products; consume monounsaturated fats and omega 3 fatty acids such as is found in olives, canola, and flax seed; eating nuts (peanuts, walnuts, almonds); diet high in fiber; consumption of vegetable protein; avoid a high sugar intake; regular exercise; maintain normal weight; avoid rapid weight loss; and liberal consumption of water.

Treatments include a wait-and-see approach with lifestyle changes, medical non-surgical removal of the stones, and surgical removal of gallstones. There are also natural remedies for treatment of gallstones. One is found in Jethro Kloss’s book, Back to Eden. The author has personally administered this treatment to one person with severe symptoms, and it was very successful.

May the Lord guide in our lifestyle decisions that so greatly affect our life, health, and relationship to Him.

Food – Helps for Digestion

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For several months we have discussed the anatomy and physiology of the digestion system and the importance of eating based on the way God designed our body. The following is a review and listing of items important for good digestion:

  1. Meal time should be a pleasant, unhurried time to allow for good digestion.
  2. Digestion, both mechanical and chemical, begins in the mouth, so our food should be thoroughly chewed. There are no teeth in the stomach!
  3. We should eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and supper like a pauper. The breakfast should break our overnight fast, and is critical for the start of a productive day. The stomach, like all organs, needs rest. We should go to bed with an empty stomach, allowing the stomach and all of the organs of digestion and the brain to be relieved of digestion during the sleeping hours.
  4. We should avoid liquid drinks at meal times. Drinking liquids at meal times can interfere with the delicate balance of temperature and chemical regulation necessary to digest food.
  5. Our diet should be composed of as many raw foods as possible. Raw foods have the active components necessary for good nutrition. When we do cook our vegetables, it is best to lightly steam them and then use the water in soups and stews.
  6. We should allow five hours between meals to allow one meal to be processed in the stomach, and the stomach emptied before the next food is consumed. Studies have been done that demonstrate that eating between meals can result in breakfast food remaining in the stomach until nightfall when eating between meals is practiced.
  7. Adequate water is essential to health, digestion, and elimination and should be consumed between meals. An excellent formula to use to determine how much water you should drink daily between meals is to take your weight, divided by 2, and the number of ounces of water that you should drink is the result. (140 lbs. divided by 2 equals 70, so a person of this weight should drink approximately 70 ounces or nine 8 ounce glasses of water per day.)
  8. Light exercise after a meal improves digestion.
  9. From our instruction at creation, through the diet history in the Bible, through modern epidemiology, and through our anatomical design at the hand of God, man’s health would be best enhanced by a vegetarian diet.

Spiritual Digestion

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We are marvelously created. Ellen White tells us that we should study anatomy and physiology. It should be one of the first subjects that we teach our children. We should be equipped with the knowledge of how to care for the human body.

Cells are the tiny building blocks of the body. They make up tissues, and tissues make up organs, and organs make up the systems within the body. The body has a number of systems that work together.

One of those systems is the respiratory system. It is amazing how we can breath! We take air into our lungs through the pocket-like alveoli cells, and oxygen is transferred into the blood stream and nourishes every cell in the body.

Another is the lymphatic system. It has two hundred and fifty thousand miles of lymphatic vessels, which work every day to remove toxins and poisons through the lymph fluid.

The musculo-skeletal system contains six hundred different muscles, and over two hundred bones. There are other amazing systems within the human body. Truly, we can praise the Lord and say, “Thank you Lord, for this wonderful body that you have given us.”

“I will praise Thee for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Marvelous are Thy works and that my soul knoweth right well.” Psalm 139:14. We are fearfully and wonderfully made by our God, the Creator, Who made us in His crowning act of creation.

 

Physical Digestion

 

The digestive system is another truly remarkable system, whereby we take in food and it is processed so that the nutrients can be absorbed into our cells, giving us life. In this week of prayer article, this is the system we will study.

The body has an irregular-shaped tube that begins in the mouth and ends in the anus. We take in food through the mouth, then the teeth are used to physically break down food through a process called mastication.

The whole point is to take the solid matter and break it down so that it will eventually be usable in the blood stream. The salivary glands are in the mouth. They produce approximately a liter of saliva every day. Saliva moistens food and contains digestive enzymes, such as amylase, which break down carbohydrates.

The tongue, a little organ with which we speak, also has another purpose. It is used to push the food to the back of the throat, so that it can be swallowed into the esophagus.

The esophagus is a long, narrow, muscular tube that carries the food down to the stomach. Food is pushed along through this tube by a wave-like motion called peristalsis. This action is so strong that even if I were standing on my head, it would be able to push the food to my stomach.

Next the food enters the stomach through the cardiac sphincter at the end of the esophagus. The food is further broken down by contractions in the stomach’s muscular wall, and the gastric juices, hydrochloric acid and enzymes. The food is now broken down to what is called chyme pronounced kime). After it is in the stomach generally for one to four hours, depending on the type and combination of food that was eaten, it passes through the pyloric sphincter into the small intestine.

The small intestine is approximately twenty feet long. The food passes through three sections. The first is the duodenum, the second is the jejunum and finally the ileum. The mucous lining of the small intestine contains thousands of microscopic glands called intestinal glands that secrete intestinal digestive juices. The circular folds of the intestine called plica are covered with thousands of tiny finger like membranes called villi.

Through the villi, the nutrients are absorbed from the chyme through the walls of the intestine into the blood stream. It is here in the small intestine, that the liver comes into play.

The liver is a remarkable organ. It weighs about three pounds and sits right underneath the rib cage. It is often referred to as the largest gland in the body. It produces about a pint of bile per day. Bile is the substance necessary for the breakdown of fats. It emulsifies fat globules into smaller particles.

The bile is stored in an organ called the gallbladder. The gallbladder releases bile when fat is brought into the body. It is stimulated by a hormone which causes it to contract and secrete its contents into the duodenum. For example, an olive is eaten, which has a high fat content, the gallbladder releases bile that was made by the liver to break it down into little portions.

The liver cells play a major role in the metabolism of several kinds of food, and their absorption through the small intestine into the blood stream where the nutrients can feed the cells.

When leaving the small intestine, the chyme passes through another sphincter into the large intestine. The large intestine is about five feet long, and forms the last part of the digestive tract. Its contents are now referred to as fecal matter. In the large intestine, materials that escaped digestion in the small intestine are acted upon by bacteria, and additional nutrients may be released from the fiber and absorbed.

The pancreas produces pancreatic juice, one of the most important digestive juices. It is necessary for the breakdown of foods from large material into nutrients that can be absorbed by the body. It contains tripsin, amylase, protease, lipase and other enzymes that help break the food down so it can finally be absorbed into the body.

 

You are What You Eat?

 

There is an old saying that says, “You are what you eat.” One day I was sitting beside a wise old woman who was more than eighty years old. She was eating a fresh avocado, and fresh tomato with some whole grain bread. I commented that you are what you eat. She looked at me, shaking her head, and said, “No, you are what you digest. If the food is not digested, whereby the nutrients can be extracted and put into the blood stream, of what value is it?”

Later in Mexico I visited Charlotte Gerson of the Gerson Clinic. There I learned that there was another phase in this process that I had neglected. I was listening to one of her lectures,where she was talking to a number of people who were terminally ill. She was talking to them about the nutrients within the food and how important they are in healing, and she said, “You are what you,” “digest,” I interjected. She looked at me and said, “No, Danny, you are what you assimilate.”

That is why she gives an eight ounce glass of juice, every hour, for thirteen hours a day, to cancer patients. She also feeds them a good vegetarian diet, high in calories, because, she saysmost cancer patients are starving. Their cells are starving, they need nutrition and the juice is in a form where there is little digestion required. Webster’s defines assimilate as: “The conversion of ingested food to substances suitable for incorporation into the body and its tissues.” Charlotte Gerson said, “unless we can get the nutrients to cellular levels they are worthless.” In other words, through the process of proper chewing, proper combinations of food, proper foods that are high in enzymes and the proper work of the stomach and the small intestine, we can not actually assimilate the nutrients. “That is where life is.”

Plants, fruits, vegetables, grains, nuts, and seeds, through digestion and assimilation, become our flesh and bones. Consider a lettuce leaf. This vegetation makes flesh and bone. It is from the plants that we are built up. How is it, that the food we eat becomes flesh and bone? Plant foods are good enough for the animals to make their flesh, but what about a human body?

Ellen White says, “Those who eat flesh are but eating grains and vegetables second hand, for the animal receives from these things the nutrition that produces growth. The life that was in the grains and vegetables passes into the eater. We receive it by eating the flesh of the animal. How much better to get it direct, by eating the food that God provided for our use.” Counsels on Diet and Foods, 313. Properly chosen plant products—grains, fruits, nuts, and vegetables contain all the nutrient properties to make a healthy body.

 

Spiritual Digestion

 

Let us turn now from the physical to the spiritual. “When Jesus then lifted up His eyes, and saw a great company come unto Him, He saith unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat? And this He said to prove him: for He himself knew what He would do. Philip answered Him, Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little. One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, saith unto Him, There is a lad here, with five barley loaves and two small fishes: but what are they among so many? And Jesus said, Make the men sit down. Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand. And Jesus took the loaves; and when He had given thanks, He distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were set down: and likewise of the fishes as much as they would.” John 6:5–11. In the feeding of the five thousand, Jesus worked a miracle and fed all that came to see Him. He made ample provisions for every person present.

“And when they had found Him on the other side of the sea, they said unto Him, Rabbi, when camest thou hither? Jesus answered them and said . . . Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled.” John 6:25, 26. In other words there was great temporal blessings for those that followed Christ. He provided food for them. Five thousand were hungry and Jesus multiplied two little articles of food and fed every one. Jesus said to them: “Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of Man shall give unto you: for Him hath God the Father sealed.” John 6:27.

Those in the end who have the mind of Christ will not be people who are satisfied with the temporal—the fish and the loaves, but spiritually filled people. People who are eating of the Word of God and are totally satisfied. Through eating the Word of God a change is taking place in their lives. Thereby His people are sealed.

The Jews said, “Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat.” John 6:31. They could not see the spiritual applications of the words of Christ. They were still looking at the earthly.

Jesus answered, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but My Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is He which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world . . . I am the bread of life: he that cometh to Me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on Me shall never thirst.” John 6:32–35.

When food is eaten, the life of that food becomes part of you. “The giver of the manna was standing among them. It was Christ Himself who had led the Hebrews to the wilderness and had daily fed them with the bread from heaven. That food was a type of the real bread from heaven. The life giving spirit flowing from the infinite fullness of God is the true manna. Jesus said, ‘The bread of God is that which cometh down out of heaven and giveth life unto the world.’ ” The Desire of Ages, 386.

 

Set Your Affections On Things Above

 

How many of us are looking to the temporal and to the earthly. Esau should have had the birthright, but instead he sold it for a pot of lentils. He sold his spiritual inheritance to satisfy his temporal wants. How many of us are looking to the earthly, wandering in the wilderness, perhaps murmuring against the health message from heaven, and some even eating from the flesh pots of Egypt. Instead, should we not be looking for the spiritual food from heaven?

The Jews murmured against Christ, but He answered them, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink His blood, ye have no life in you.” John 6:53. If you do not eat life, you will not have life.

Christ is now taking them from a temporal thing to a spiritual one. He is saying, “I provided the fish and the loaves, I gave you everything you needed for your temporal needs. I am the bread, eat of Me, and you shall never hunger. You shall never thirst if you drink of Me.”

He is saying to you right now, “Except ye eat of the flesh of the Son of Man and drink of His blood ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth My flesh, and drinketh My blood, hath eternal life: and I will raise him up at the last day. For My flesh is meat indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. He that eateth My flesh, and drinketh My blood, dwelleth in Me, and I in him.” John 6:53–56.

What does it mean to eat the flesh of the Son of God? How do you drink His blood? “Only the day before, the great multitude, when faint and weary, had been fed by the bread which He had given. As from that bread they had received physical strength and refreshment, so from Christ they might receive spiritual strength unto eternal life.” The Desire of Ages, 386.

“To eat the flesh and drink the blood of Christ is to receive Him as a personal Savior, believing that He forgives our sins, and that we are complete in Him. It is by beholding His love, by dwelling upon it, by drinking it in, that we are to become partakers of His nature. What food is to the body, Christ must be to the soul.” The Desire of Ages, 389.

Apply what we have learned about physical digestion and assimilation to partaking of Christ. Food cannot benefit us unless we eat it, unless it becomes a part of our being. You are what you eat. You are what you digest. You are what you assimilate.

In the same way Christ is of no value to us if we do not know Him as a personal Savior. A theoretical knowledge will do us no good. We must feed upon Him, receive Him into the heart, so that His life becomes our life. His love, His grace must be assimilated. We take food into our mouths, but that is not enough. Similarly, we take the Word of God into the mind, but that is not enough. We may walk around with our theological knowledge and our theories. We may argue about what is truth, but unless our lives are changed, we have not assimilated Christ.

“Are you a follower of Christ? Then all that is written concerning the spiritual life is written for you, and may be attained through uniting yourself to Jesus. Is your zeal languishing? Has your first love grown cold? Accept again the proffered love of Christ. Eat of His flesh, drink of His blood, and you will become one with the Father and with the Son.” Ibid.

Jesus answered the unbelieving Jews. “Doth this offend you? What and if ye shall see the Son of Man ascend up where He was before? It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.” John 6:61–63.

Do you want this spiritual process of a supernatural change to take place in your life? My friend, you must assimilate Christ. Make His life your example in everything. He wants to make you a new creature. Will you allow Him to do this work in your life? I urge you to make that choice today.

We eat the plants and they become our flesh and blood. What about when we eat Christ’s word? “As our physical life is sustained by food, so our spiritual life is sustained by the Word of God. And every soul is to receive life from God’s word for himself. As we must eat for ourselves in order to receive nourishment, so we must receive the word for ourselves. We are not to obtain it merely through the medium of another’s mind. Each must eat for himself. Each must assimilate the Word of God for himself.

“We should carefully study the Bible, asking God for the aid of the Holy Spirit, that we may understand His word. We should take one verse, and concentrate the mind on the task of ascertaining the thought which God has put in that verse for us. We should dwell upon the thought until it becomes our own.” The Desire of Ages, 390.

How many of us are content with getting up in the morning, and sleepily reading a couple of pages from the Spirit of Prophecy? Maybe we are even reading the Bible through, but have we assimilated the Word? If it does not become a part of us, and His life become our life, it has no value!

“The Word of God is the seed. Every seed has in itself a germinating principle. In it the life of the plant is enfolded. So there is life in God’s Word. Christ says, ‘The words that I speak unto you, they are Spirit, and they are life.’ John 6:63. ‘He that heareth My word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life.’ John 5:24. In every command and in every promise of the Word of God is the power, the very life of God, by which the command may be fulfilled and the promise realized. He who by faith receives the Word is receiving the very life and character of God.

“Every seed brings forth fruit after its kind. Sow the seed under right conditions, and it will develop its own life in the plant. Receive into the soul by faith the incorruptible seed of the Word, and it will bring forth a character and a life after the similitude of the character and the life of God.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 38. What about your spiritual life, is it languishing? Are you giving it the nutrients of the Word, and assimilating it until it becomes your very own?

As the nutrients in the food give us life, so the Word of God gives us spiritual life. It gives us health and strength, and helps us to grow. No wonder the prophet Jeremiah said, “Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O Lord God of hosts.” Jeremiah 15:16.

We serve a personal God, who loves each of us individually. This quotation makes it very clear: “In His promises and warnings, Jesus means me. God so loved the world, that He gave His only-begotten Son, that I by believing in Him, might not perish, but have everlasting life. The experiences related in God’s Word are to be my experiences. Prayer and promise, precept and warning, are mine . . . faith thus receives and assimilates the principles of truth, they become a part of the being and the motive power of the life. The Word of God, received into the soul, molds the thoughts, and enters into the development of character.” The Desire of Ages, 41.

God is speaking to each of us. He has a special message for you and me in His Word. We need to study the Bible, and contemplate it, until we see the meaning that God has for us.

 

The Leaven

 

In the book Christ’s Object Lessons, there is a study on leaven. It is the leaven, that when applied to the meal, causes growth. “The leaven hidden in the flour works invisibly to bring the whole mass under its leavening process; so the leaven of truth works secretly, silently, steadily, to transform the soul. The natural inclinations are softened and subdued. New thoughts, new feelings, new motives, are implanted.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 98.

Eating the Word, is taking His words into your mind, and by faith it becomes your very being. “A new standard of character is set up—the life of Christ. The mind is changed; the faculties are roused to action in new lines. Man is not endowed with new faculties, but the faculties he has are sanctified. The conscience is awakened. We are endowed with traits of character that enable us to do service for God.” Ibid.

I pray that from this day forward you will open the Bible with a new hunger to receive God’s words for you. Then communicate what you have learned and experienced with others.

“Christianity proposes a reformation in the heart. What Christ works within, will be worked out under the dictation of a converted intellect. The plan of beginning outside and trying to work inward has always failed, and always will fail. God’s plan with you is to begin at the very seat of all difficulties, the heart, and then from out of the heart will issue the principles of righteousness; the reformation will be outward as well as inward.” Counsels on Diets and Foods, 35.

Eat of the Lord, read His Word, study it carefully. In the Word of God is contained all the power and the promises for you to be changed. “By looking constantly to Jesus with the eye of faith, we shall be strengthened. God will make the most precious revelations to His hungering, thirsting people. They will find that Christ is a personal Saviour. As they feed upon His word, they find that it is spirit and life. The Word destroys the natural, earthly nature, and imparts a new life in Christ Jesus. The Holy Spirit comes to the soul as a Comforter. By the transforming agency of His grace, the image of God is reproduced in the disciple; he becomes a new creature. Love takes the place of hatred, and the heart receives the divine similitude. This is what it means to live ‘by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.’ This is eating the Bread that comes down from heaven.” The Desire of Ages, 391.

When the Holy Spirit speaks to the heart, the truth is not only digested, but assimilated. The assimilation is sanctification. It is a total renewal and change of the heart and mind.

I challenge you today, while we are in the sealing time: make a total surrender to the Lord. Allow Him to perform this supernatural change in your mind and life. Assimilate the Word. Let it change your life completely.

Ellen White had this special message for us today: “Now is the time to prepare. The seal of God will never be placed upon the forehead of an impure man or woman. It will never be placed upon the forehead of the ambitious, world-loving man or woman. It will never be placed upon the forehead of men or women of false tongues or deceitful hearts. All who receive the seal must be without spot before God—candidates for heaven. Go forward, my brethren and sisters. I can only write briefly upon these points at this time, merely calling your attention to the necessity of preparation. Search the Scriptures for yourselves, that you may understand the fearful solemnity of the present hour.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 216.

 

The Digestion Process

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In Psalm 139:14, King David, under inspiration of the Holy Spirit, declared: “I will praise Thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” More and more we are led to echo these words of David as we study the structure and function of the human organism and see therein reflected the marvels of divine engineering. It is God’s wish that we should understand the working mechanisms within the human body so that we can develop an intelligent life style that works in harmony with the laws of our being. This will, in turn, enable us to keep our body temples pure and undefiled as a “living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God.” Romans 12:1.

Those who strive, by the grace of God, to be faithful stewards of their physical being will also reap the rich reward of an increased spiritual dynamic in their lives that will help facilitate the development of a righteous character. For these reasons, we must concur with God’s prophet in declaring that “the health should be as faithfully guarded as the character.” Education, 195.

The digestive system is one of the major systems that God has established within the human body, and we need to become conversant with its structure and function. Too often this vital component of the body is abused, resulting in dysfunctional problems and ill health, which, in turn, affect the mind and dull the spiritual perceptions. A proper state of things is therefore vital as this relates to our quest for the eternal crown.

The digestive system begins at the lips where food first crosses the threshold into the system and terminates at the anus where waste residues are finally expelled from the body. What happens in between is truly a miracle of God’s ingenuity.

As food is being chewed, it becomes more liquefied by the saliva, making it more easy to swallow. Also, a certain enzyme called ptyalin, present in saliva, begins the chemical breakdown of cooked carbohydrates (CHO) and sugar into maltose, which is a simpler form of sugar. After food has been adequately chewed and then swallowed, it is passed downwards to the stomach via the esophagus, a muscular tube about 9–10 inches long. Food does not simply drop down into the stomach in the same way as one can drop a pebble down a well. The esophagus conveys the food downward through the action of peristalsis. This conveyance mechanism takes place when the circular muscle fibers in the esophagus relax in front of the swallowed food while also contracting behind it, thus moving the material downward toward the stomach. While the act of swallowing food is done voluntarily, the remaining part of the journey comes under the control of the autonomic (involuntary) nervous system.

The esophagus connects with the upper part of the stomach. However, before food can finally empty into the stomach, it has to pass through a special entryway called the cardiac sphincter. This portal, which is normally kept in a tightly closed position, becomes relaxed and opens as the peristaltic wave rolls down the esophagus and impinges upon this initial upper area of the stomach; thus allowing food to pass within.

The stomach may not share the same glamorous image as the heart or the brain, yet it is as worthy of recognition as any other organ of the body. After receiving food from the esophagus, the stomach acts as temporary storage while its muscular contractions mix the food with its gastric juice. Peristaltic waves in the stomach slowly ripple down the length of its muscular walls at about three times per minute in order to produce this necessary mixing and help to liquefy the ingested food stuffs.

Various glands in the mucus lining of the stomach collectively produce a clear, colorless mixture called gastric juice. Some of these glands generate a substance called hydrochloric acid (HCl). This serves to acidify the food and acts as an antiseptic and disinfectant, rendering harmless many organisms ingested with the food. There are other glands within the stomach wall, which produce a substance called pepsinogen. When pepsinogen is released and interacts with HCl, it is converted to pepsin, a powerful enzyme that begins the breakdown of protein foods into more soluble substances known as peptones. Rennin is another product secreted by the stomach and is involved in the digestion of casein, a milk protein. Also present in small amounts is a fat splitting enzyme called gastric lipase.

Especially interesting is the fact that some cells specialize in producing a heavy layer of mucus that coats the lining of the stomach. This is crucial to the stomach’s own defenses; and if this barrier did not exist, preventing the HCl and pepsin from having direct contact with its delicate lining, the stomach would start to digest itself. Unfortunately, this can happen (though on a limited scale) in the case of a gastric ulcer where the defenses are breached and the gastric juice makes direct contact with the stomach lining. This condition produces much discomfort and, if not rectified, can result in the ulcer eroding its way completely through the stomach wall. Ulceration is even more common a little lower down from the stomach in the duodenum.

There are many causes for peptic ulceration, though the major factors are:

  • Irregular meal times
  • Tension, anxiety, and emotional stress
  • Ingestion of irritants to the stomach lining, e.g., hot spicy foods, alcohol
  • Smoking

Diagnosis of peptic ulcer, either gastric or duodenal, can only be made for sure after careful medical investigation (usually involving an inside view of the stomach through a fiber-optic instrument.) Prevention, of course, is always better than cure; and correcting faulty life style practices that lie at the root of this condition is obviously the wisest course both for the prevention and cure of peptic ulcer.

One final ingredient of gastric juice that is worthy of mention is a substance known as the intrinsic factor. This vital component is necessary for the absorption of vitamin B-12. If the stomach does not produce sufficient amounts of the intrinsic factor, it will result in B-12 deficiency in the system. This special vitamin is, in turn, necessary for the production of healthy red blood cells. Insufficient levels produce a blood disorder called pernicious anemia. Vitamin B-12 deficiency can also cause chronic degeneration of the spinal cord, resulting in various degrees of nerve dysfunction to other parts of the body. People who have had surgical removal of some or all of the stomach are obviously prime candidates for B-12 deficiency due to their reduced or non-capacity to produce sufficient amounts of the intrinsic factor. Fortunately, whatever might be the causes of B-12 deficiency as described here, the problem can be easily corrected by periodic injections.

The stomach secretes between one to two liters of gastric juice per 24-hour period. There are two basic ways by which this happens: the first and immediate way is through stimulation of the vagus nerve, a major nerve extending from the brain which gives off branches to the stomach, which in turn initiate the secretion of gastric juice. The thought, sight, and smell of food is sufficient (when a person is hungry) to trigger this mechanism. A further aspect of nervous stimulation is produced when food enters the mouth and “tickles” the taste buds. This also results in increased vagal activity. Further still, food that enters the stomach, causing initial distention, will also serve to further increase production of gastric juice. The second phase of gastric secretion (the humoral phase) is initiated later in the digestive process as a result of protein breakdown. This causes the release of gastrin, a hormone that stimulates the stomach via the blood stream.

Regular meal times, as already mentioned, are essential in order to keep the stomach healthy and able to function to the optimum. If regularity is maintained, the body’s biological clock will prime the digestive tract and make it ready for action at specific times of the day in anticipation of food. God wants us to understand the importance of regularity; and for this reason, He has counseled us to maintain this factor in our eating habits. You may have noticed that if circumstances prevent you from taking a meal at the usual time, the appetite begins to wane until we start feeling “past it.” We may still retain an inclination to eat, but the hearty, wholesome relish is gone. At such times, if the physical work demands placed upon us will permit, it would be better for the system if we were to forego eating a late meal well outside of our usual routine and wait until the next established meal period comes around.

Other factors included with regularity that help us take proper care of the digestive system are as follows:

  • Chew the food well
  • Allow at least five hours between each meal
  • No smoking
  • No drinking at meals

After food has been well mixed and liquefied in the stomach (it is now referred to as chyme), small amounts are allowed to pass through the stomach’s lower exit into the small intestine. The first nine to ten inch section of the small bowel is called the duodenum. It is here that digestion takes its next major step. Enzymes from the pancreas are secreted into the duodenum to continue the breakdown of proteins, fats, and carbohydrates into smaller components. Bile from the gallbladder is also secreted into the duodenum. The function of bile is to emulsify fats so that they can be more easily dealt with by lipase, the fat digestion enzyme from the pancreas. The acidic chyme is also neutralized in the duodenum by bile and pancreatic enzymes which are alkaline in nature. The gallbladder and pancreas, under the influence of nervous and humoral stimulation, are also led to release their digestive juices.

As the liquid chyme continues further down into the small intestine, it comes under the action of other digestive enzymes which are released from the wall of the gut. These enzymes finalize the breakdown of protein foods into amino acids, carbohydrates into simple sugars, and fats into glycerol and fatty acids.

After the breakdown of ingested foodstuffs, the next step in digestion involves the absorption of this material from the bowel so that it can be utilized by the body. This is accomplished through the action of countless minute structures called villi.

The villi are tiny, finger-like projections that line the wall of the small bowel for the major part of its length. The villi are so constructed that collectively they present a much larger surface area for the absorption of nutrients than could be realized if the lumen of the bowel were smooth and even. Digested materials absorbed by the villi are then shipped off to the liver, via the bloodstream, for processing. Some of the digested fat substances and fat-soluble vitamins are released directly into the general circulation via a more circuitous route, rather than going to the liver first.If digested protein substances, for example, were released directly into the circulation without being processed first by the liver, a very toxic condition could develop in the body. It is for this reason that people with cirrhosis, who have a diminished liver function, must be careful with their diet, especially regarding protein intake. If a poorly functioning liver is overwhelmed by an over ingestion of protein, which it does not have the capacity to fully handle, it has little choice than to allow unprocessed material to pass out into the blood stream. In extreme cases, this could result in coma and even death.

The liver is also a marvel of God’s design and it fulfills many functions, one being, serving as a factory, or initial service center, for digested materials. Many substances undergo further changes here before being released into the general circulation for use by the body.

Another major function of the liver is to take glucose (the end product of CHO breakdown) and convert it into a more concentrated form called glycogen. This material is then stored temporarily inside the liver cells and later reconverted into glucose when needed by the body. By means of this function, the liver is involved in maintaining the correct level of glucose in the bloodstream. Much could be said about this very versatile organ, but space will only permit this very brief mention.

By the time ingested material reaches the large intestine, it is still liquid and almost, if not completely, void of all nutritive elements. The peristaltic action of the colon is much slower than in the small bowel, and water is absorbed from digestive residues as they are gradually conveyed along inside the colon. This process results in solidifying the waste material and formation of the feces.

Peristalsis often increases in the colon for a time immediately after a meal, causing waste to be more rapidly moved onward on its final journey through the system. When waste material is emptied into the rectum, nerve pathways in the bowel, in contact with the spinal cord, initiate the desire to go to the bathroom and expel the waste material. Nerve pathways leading from the spinal cord also ascend upward to the brain, thus alerting the individual to natures call.

Colon cancer is a major cause of disease in America today. Probably the greatest causative factor is unhealthy life style, especially faulty diet. The highly refined diet that so many seek to exist on today is grossly deficient in fiber and certain protective foods. Low fiber intake results in a slow passage of food waste through the system (especially in the colon). This is referred to as the transit time. This slow movement of refuse through the system allows cancer initiating substances to remain in contact with the bowel wall for an extended period of time, thus providing the ideal conditions for disease to establish itself.

For example, a well-known breakfast cereal manufacturer, in a promotional for its high fiber products, stated that the standard, low-fiber, white bread, cheese sandwich can take a week to pass through the digestive tract! Little wonder that constipation is so common in the so-called civilized world when so many live on such an uncivilized diet. Of course, the point the breakfast food producer was obviously trying to make was that their high fiber cereal did not behave in such a sluggish fashion as the average cheese sandwich and contribute to a clogged up system.

Fiber is important to the health of the system, especially the colon. Medical science has amply documented the fact that people who eat an unrefined diet, naturally high in fiber, have a much shorter transit time and a much lower incidence of colon cancer. Vegetarians automatically receive an adequate intake of fiber apart from the other benefits that such a diet provides; and, as far as the colon is concerned, they also have far less incidence of constipation, diverticulosis, and appendicitis.

To be kept health and functioning well, the divinely prescribed diet of fruits, grains, nuts, and vegetables, coupled with the other healthy life style factors of water, exercise, rest, abstemiousness (see Ministry of Healing, 127), will keep his and the rest of the system healthy and sound.

It may be well to remind ourselves that as human beings, we can easily go to extremes in our philosophy and practice of life style. A tendency has developed among some people to view the colon as the key organ of the body in respect to physical well being. Much of the diseases that afflict modern man are believed to originate in the colon and consequently can be prevented and also cured by placing special emphasis upon treating this organ. While there may be genuine medical grounds for a person from time to time to resort to an enema, or the occasional colonic, it is neither a healthy practice nor a sign of balanced thinking to make this the chief focus and practice on a regular basis.

The inspired counsels on health given us by God present a much broader, well-balanced philosophy on the question of health and the cause and treatment of disease. In fact, Ellen White was led to give timely caution to those in her day who had a fixation on the colon: “There are men who make a specialty of treating the rectum, and some feel that they have been greatly benefited. But I have been instructed that this treatment, as well as many surgical operations, leaves with many a serious weakness.” Paulson Collection, 217.

We have much to be thankful for. Especially we need to thank God for the marvelous gift of life and the wonderful bodies wherein we are able to live out this precious gift. Therefore, as we eat, let us eat to His glory, eating only those things that will do us good, and also with thankful hearts rejoice that we have amazing living organisms that, under God’s continued and immediate agency, are able to assimilate the nutritious bounties of the earth, perpetuating in turn the glorious gift of life!