The human digestive
[gastro-intestinal] tract--also called the GI tract--is a lengthy hollow
organ tubular system designed to process and absorb nutrient materials from our
environment which fuel all of our internal biochemical processes directed at
growth, repair and normal ongoing physiological functions.
The largest single digestive
organ is our small intestine which carries out most of our digestive
processes, absorbing into our bloodstream almost all of the nutrients from our
food. The small intestine, contrary to its anatomical name, is an average 23
feet/7 meters long [~4 times longer than the human body!] and it has an
undulating 'brush border' internal surface which greatly increases its average
overall absorptive internal surface area for taking in food to ~250 square
meters/~2,700 square feet, the staggering equivalent of the total surface area
of a doubles-sized tennis court!
The large intestine, also
called the colon, which follows, is, by comparison, only 5 feet/1.5 meters
in length with simply a smooth internal surface which absorbs water from the
remaining unwanted food materials that the body will later eliminate. The small
intestine is called ‘small’ because its internal width is only ~ 1 inch while
the large intestine’s width is ~ 3 inches giving us this paradoxical large and
small naming confusion which is oddly based on measurements of the width rather
than the obvious great difference in the lengths of these two very important
hollow digestive organs.
Finally, again for comparison,
the human esophagus [from the Greek oisophagos, which means ‘to carry to
eat’] is a collapsed only 10inch /25cm long fibromuscular tube which dilates
around food materials as it transports them downward to the stomach with the
muscular action of swallowing. And the stomach, which is ~12 inches/~30
cm long and 6 inches/~15cm wide, is also a hollow organ but one that will
greatly expand from an empty volume of ~ 50 milliliters/~ a 2oz shot glass to a
full dilated volume of ~ 1 to even 2 liters or approximately one quart or more.
Next, we’ll
discuss the digestive enzymes and acid production that actually break all of
our food down for absorption because understanding how all this works helps us
understand what is actually going wrong when we become ill and, also,
how to fix it all using safe natural medicines that do no harm.
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Intellectual Property Office [CIPO]
Dr.R.Putnam, ND
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__________________________
Dr. Richard Putnam BA, DC, ND
Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine
[Ontario Reg. #564]
1478 Unity Road, Unit 5, Box 36
Glenburnie, ON, Canada, K0H 1S0
+1-613-484-5445
www.drrichardputnam.com
Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine
[Ontario Reg. #564]
1478 Unity Road, Unit 5, Box 36
Glenburnie, ON, Canada, K0H 1S0
+1-613-484-5445
www.drrichardputnam.com