WHAT HAPPENS WHEN I EAT?

The entire digestion process begins even before you put food into your mouth. Just the thought or even the sound of cooking triggers saliva production in your mouth, and your stomach to produce digestive juices. Different parts of the tongue decipher different tastes – sweet, sour, bitter and salty.

Each mouthful of food takes about 5-6 seconds to reach the stomach. Your stomach has an average volume of 50 ml. when it’s empty, and 1.5 litres when it’s full. But the stomach is very stretchy and over periods of ‘overindulgence’ it can hold higher volumes and leave you feeling bloated. You can try herbal teas like peppermint which help to ease discomfort.

Eating Tips:

Take your time eating – If you rush your food, your stomach lining can easily become irritated causing some of the acidic contents to come back up. This acid can cause indigestion and is very distressing. You can always try a probiotic yogurt or a digestive enzyme supplement called ‘papaya-enzyme’ to aid digestion.

Listen To Your Own Body:

While your stomach breaks down food, the hormone ‘ghrelin’ is produced – this stimulates hunger and helps to control how full you feel. Food can stay in the stomach for minutes or hours. It is down to particle size.

The Final Journey:

Food travels along structures known as ‘villi’ while it’s nutrients are being absorbed. Any unabsorbed residue enters the large intestine, which contains more than 400 different species of bacteria to break it down. As the contents move along it, water is absorbed and the final product – faeces’ is formed, which is stored in the rectum before excretion.