Is Juicing Good for Your Digestive Health?

Juice cleanses (or juicing), and other detox diets, have been touted for their ability to eliminate “toxins,” control weight, and improve the workings of your digestive health.

Although fruits and vegetables are an essential part of a good overall diet, health experts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) caution that fad diets generally don’t work long-term and may not be as healthy as they seem. And, in some cases, they might even be risky, according to a review of studies examining the effectiveness of detox diets published in the Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics in December 2014.

There is no credible scientific evidence that a detox diet or juicing is actually effective, the study states. According to the review, the few studies that suggested these diets may have some benefit were small and flawed.

What We Know About Juicing and Health

The first step in juicing extracting juices from raw vegetables and fruits. To do this, you use a juice extractor that grinds up and then spins down the food, separating the juice from the pulp.

The idea behind the juicing movement is that raw fruit and vegetable juice can cleanse or detoxify your body and help you lose weight, according to the National Center for Health Research (NCHR). Some people also believe that juicing can help ward off disease and certain problems associated with aging, including dementia.

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The NCHR also reports that there are claims that juicing is beneficial for your digestive health — that juice, which lacks the fiber found in whole fruits and veggies, is more easily absorbed by the body.

However, eliminating fiber from your diet might not be such a good idea.

“Juicing may be a good way for individuals who do not consume enough fruits and vegetables to get important vitamins and minerals by creating tasty concoctions of fruit and vegetable juice,” says Debra J. Loder, RD, program director at Remuda Ranch, a program for eating disorders in Wickenburg, Arizona. But, she adds, fiber plays a key role in digestive health and helps people feel more satisfied for longer after eating. Fiber also reduces your risk for heart disease and helps keep your cholesterol levels in check, the NCHR notes.

There is also no evidence that drinking fruit or vegetable juice is better for you than eating whole fruits or vegetables, according to the American Cancer Society (ACS). The idea that the enzymes found in raw fruits and vegetables have any special powers is also misguided, because these enzymes are broken down by your stomach juices during digestion, the ACS adds.

A healthy digestive system is designed to break down carbohydrates, like fiber, and is capable of extracting the nutrients your body needs from all types of foods, including whole fruits and vegetables, according to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. Your body is also designed to remove toxins on its own. That’s the job of organs like the liver, kidneys, and colon, the NCHR states.

Why Juicing Is a Dangerous Fad

For certain people, juicing poses additional risks:

• Some say that juicing should be part of a cancer-fighting diet, but the ACS warns that people with cancer should never consider juicing an actual form of treatment.
• Those with chronic kidney disease who consume too many oxalate-rich foods while juicing — such as spinach and rhubarb — could develop kidney failure, found a study published in 2013 in The American Journal of Medicine.
• Among otherwise healthy people, overuse of juicing can cause sudden weight loss, nausea, fatigue, and diarrhea, the NCHR warns. Because juicing limits fat and protein intake, following a juice cleanse can also slow your metabolism and lead to weight gain, the group adds.

5 Ways to Juice Wisely

If you want to incorporate juicing into your diet, here are five ways to do it safely:

1. Preserve fiber.  Instead of using a juice extractor, opt for one of the many juicers on the market that preserve the fiber in fruit and vegetables, Loder advises. “Either use a juicer that does not remove the pulp or add the pulp to a batch of muffins or soup,” she says.
2. Control portions. Juice in small quantities to avoid excess calories and weight gain.
3. Don’t forget veggies. For a healthier alternative to all-fruit juices, make juice with vegetables and include one fruit for a hint of sweetness.
4. Add protein. Incorporate Greek yogurt, nuts, or seeds into juices to balance your carbohydrate intake. Add some protein, and help your body absorb fat-soluble nutrients.
5. Eat whole fruits and veggies too. A diet high in fiber from whole fruits and vegetables is key for digestive health, Loder says. “My recommendation is to juice if you want to,” she adds, “but also remember to enjoy fresh fruits and vegetables in their whole state to help keep you full and satisfied. ”

Mary Elizabeth Dallas also contributed to this report. 

Good Digestion Celery Juice – The Roasted Root

Homemade green juice designed for good digestion made with celery, cucumber, orange, and lemon. This powerfully nutritious celery juice is great for restoring digestive balance, preventing sickness, and replenishing electrolytes.

I’ve been reading about the benefits of celery juice on digestive health over the last few months and figured it was high time I make it myself at home. I had been purchasing store-bought green juice that contained celery but wanted to try a higher concentration of it to observe the full health benefits.

As it turns out, when celery juice is consumed alone, it has some powerful healing properties. I provide a recipe at the end of the post which includes other ingredients, but do keep in mind to unlock celery juice’s full benefits, you will want to consume straight celery juice.

Before we dive into my good digestion celery juice recipe, let’s discuss the science-y stuff.

Health Benefits of Celery Juice

• Increases natural production of stomach acid to help you digest food.
• Celery juice is a natural antibiotic and antiparasitic. For those of you who struggle with candida, SIBO, and/or leaky gut, regularly drinking celery juice each morning on an empty stomach can help kill off unwanted visitors.
• Great source of Vitamins A, C, and K.
• Contains electrolytes, magnesium and potassium, making it a very hydrating beverage.
• Contains beta carotene, iron, and calcium.
• Studies show celery juice may help lower blood pressure.
• A natural antioxidant, celery juice helps prevent oxidative stress and may help reduce the harmful effects of chemotherapy.
• The flavanoids in celery juice help act as a natural anti-inflammatory.
• Celery juice may help lower cholesterol.
• May help balance blood sugar (assuming you aren’t consuming lots of carbs and sugar in your diet).
• Helps relieve constipation and therefore protects against digestive disorders when consumed regularly.
• Makes your skin nice and glowy.

(Note: The above information was sourced from here  and here)

Putting it all together, celery juice is a nutrient-rich, very hydrating and potentially healing beverage, that helps your body achieve a good acid-base balance, replenishes vitamins and electrolytes that nourish your body and keep your digestive system running smoothly. How’s that for a celery juice testimonial?

We often overlook the importance of electrolytes, but our body needs them for so many different functions, including the natural ability to detox our liver, proper digestion, hormonal balance, quality sleep, and more. The fact that celery juice has a natural anti-microbial benefit makes it attractive to those with chronic gut conditions.

Does this mean celery juice will cure all your woes? Nay. It means it is one tool you can put in your wellness arsenal to help you along the way.

What Type of Juicer to Use

Before setting out on my juicing adventure, I did a bit of research on the best type of juicer to use. From what I gathered, you want to use a quality masticating juicer that can handle hearty vegetables like celery, carrots and beets, and can also handle fibrous leafy greens.

Which leads me to my next point:

Champion graciously sent me their Elite 4000 series juicer, which includes two types of augers so that you can juice fruit, vegetables, greens, and also make nut butter, frozen smoothie (kinda like nice cream), soups, sauces, and more. The juicer is super efficient and versatile!

I’m amazed at how well the juicer operated given the amount of produce I put through it in one juicing session. I definitely recommend it, whether you’re a juicing newbie or a seasoned juicer extraordinare.

SO now that we know the ins and outs of celery juice, let’s talk about this particular juice recipe. Remember, celery juice’s health properties are best observed when consumed alone so you can 200% JUST juice celery; however, I wanted to provide a simple recipe for a juice I’ve been making that tastes great, has natural anti-parasitic qualities, and is also beneficial for your health. In addition to celery, I like using cucumber, an orange, and half a lemon.

All things considered, this elixir wins you a gut-healthy beverage that aids your liver and also tastes very pleasant! And this is coming from someone who does not love the taste of green juice.

Important Notes:

• Be sure you use all organic produce every time you juice. If you use produce that is not organic, you’ll be drinking a heavy concentration of pesticides, which messes with your gut health, hormones, and overall immune system, as they are toxic to your body.
• Soak your organic produce in an apple cider vinegar bath for at least 15 minutes before juicing it. This will kill any parasites or bad bugs that may be dwelling on the produce.
• For those of you with digestive issues, keep your juices as low in sugar as possible. Sugar, even coming from fruit and vegetables, feeds bacteria of all types, and this includes your bad bacteria. Don’t go crazy with apples, as they produce some mega tasty food for any parasites or bad bacteria living in your digestive system.
• Make a big batch! Juicing is time-consuming, so make an evening of it! Buy more produce than you need so that you can make a huge batch and freeze what you won’t be drinking within a 5-day window.
• If you have IBS, start by drinking only a small amount of celery juice (4 to 6 ounces), as large quantities could cause a flair – celery is high in fermentable carbohydrate and although the fiber is removed, it can still cause tummy troubles for those who are sensitive to FODMAPs.

You can get creative with you juice add-ins. I have also added a few carrots and a 2-inch nub of ginger to the recipe below for added flavor and health benefits. If you’re looking to detox, you can add fresh parsley and turmeric for a powerful detoxification elixir.

If you’re looking for more healthy juice recipes, check out my Beet Juice and Carrot Apple Ginger Juice

My cookbook,

Paleo Power Bowls, is now available! CLICK HERE to check it out, and thank you for your support!

If you try this Good Digestion Celery Juice, please feel free to share a photo and tag @TheRoastedRoot on Instagram!

Bottoms up!

Ingredients

• 2 pounds organic celery, washed, soaked, and chopped
• 2 large organic cucumbers, washed, soaked, and chopped
• 1 large navel orange, washed, soaked, and chopped
• 1/2 lemon

Instructions

1. Soak all ingredients in a bath of apple cider vinegar and water for 15 minutes prior to juicing. (I use about 1/2 cup of cider vinegar per 1 gallon of water when I soak my vegetables).
2. Follow the instructions according to your specific juicer (I use a Champion juicer). Once all ingredients are juiced, strain the juice through a fine-mesh strainer to remove the pulp. Drink immediately or store in an air-tight jar in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

Nutrition Information

Yield 32

Serving Size 1 grams

Amount Per Serving

Unsaturated Fat 0g

Juicing: What are the health benefits?

Juicing is no healthier than eating whole fruits and vegetables.

Juicing extracts the juice from fresh fruits or vegetables. The liquid contains most of the vitamins, minerals and plant chemicals (phytonutrients) found in the fruit. However, whole fruits and vegetables also have healthy fiber, which is lost during most juicing.

Some believe that juicing is better than eating whole fruits and vegetables because your body can absorb the nutrients better and it gives your digestive system a rest from digesting fiber. They say juicing can reduce your risk of cancer, boost your immune system, remove toxins from your body, aid digestion and help you lose weight.

However, there’s no scientific evidence that extracted juices are healthier than the juice you get by eating the fruit or vegetable itself.

But if you don’t enjoy eating fruits and vegetables, juicing may be a way to add them to your diet or to try fruits and vegetables you might not eat.

Consider blending instead of juicing. Blending the edible parts of fruits and vegetables produces a drink that contains more healthy phytonutrients and fiber. Fiber can help you feel full.

If you try juicing, make only as much juice as you can drink at once; harmful bacteria can grow quickly in freshly squeezed juice. If you buy commercially produced fresh juice, select a pasteurized product.

Oct. 01, 2019

Show references

1. Duffy RL. Think your drink. In: Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Complete Food and Nutrition Guide. 5th ed. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; 2017.
2. The juicing trend — about raw juice. Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. https://www.eatright.org/homefoodsafety/safety-tips/food/the-juicing-trend-about-raw-juice/. Accessed Aug. 20, 2019.
3. Henning SM, et al. Health benefit of vegetable/fruit juice-based diet: Role of microbiome. Scientific Reports. 2017; doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-02200-6.
4. Detoxes and cleanses. National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health. https://nccih.nih.gov/health/detoxes-cleanses. Accessed Aug. 20, 2019.
5. Obert J, et al. Popular weigh loss strategies: A review of four weight loss techniques. Current Gastroentrology Reports. 2017; doi: 10.1007/s11894-017-0603-8.
6. What you need to know about juice safety. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. https://www.fda.gov/food/buy-store-serve-safe-food/what-you-need-know-about-juice-safety. Accessed Aug. 20, 2019.
7. Zheng J, et al. Effects and mechanisms of fruit and vegetable juices on cardiovascular diseases. International Journal of Molecular Sciences. 2017; doi: 10.3390/ijms18030555.

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Digestion Juice Recipe (And The Importance Of Gut Health)

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One of the highlights of my career thus far has easily been creating ailment-based juices for Erewhon. This is because I believe in juicing with a purpose. Sure, drinking tons of veggies is never exactly bad for you, but I think in this current state of juice craze, we don’t think enough about what we’re drinking.

Drinking the juices isn’t enough, having awareness about what you’re drinking and why it’s amazing for you is such an important element. This is the element that combines the mind-body-spirit trio which makes it possible for you to heal and truly cleanse your body.

I have had clients come in and ask me why they couldn’t lose weight when they were drinking tons of greens and eating raw salads all day. They were shocked to find that they had a thyroid issue and it was being negatively affected by the way they were eating.

Everyone is different and all of our body’s needs are different. Even the healthiest foods in the world aren’t for everyone all the time. 

But if there’s one thing that is important for everyone all the time, it’s digestion. Almost everyone that comes into my office has a digestive issue. Nothing in your body can function correctly if your digestive system and gut are not functioning properly. So this should be a major priority, right?

Imagine your body as a government. There are a lot of areas that work hard to keep it functioning, but at the head of it all is the President. Think of the gut as the president of your body.

Did you know that every single cell in your body is affected by your gut? Anything from lack of energy to weight gain to allergies to premature aging to mood swings to chronic disease could be due to issues in your gut.

Modern society is not a very gut-friendly place. There are toxins everywhere and the gut loves to soak them up.

Thankfully, getting your gut back to its optimal health isn’t difficult. There are two major things you can do:

1. Take a strong probiotic. Probiotics work to fill your gut with good bacteria which is especially important in this antibiotic age. If you take anything every morning, take a probiotic.

2.  Chew, chew, chew. This is one of the simplest yet more difficult tips for people to take on. Chewing your food, and I mean really chewing it gives your body the chance to digest the food fully. Take time to slow down at meals. Sit at a table, use real silverware, turn off your phone and chew everything until it’s nearly liquid. Shoveling healthy food into your mouth isn’t healthy.

3. Let’s talk about juice. I designed this juice to help keep your gut in balance.

• 1/2 fennel bulb: a natural diuretic that aids in digestion and also helps with kidney or bladder troubles and fluid retention. It also is a great energy booster.
• 1 cucumber: a natural diuretic, reduces inflammation, relieves stomach acid, and provides soothing cleansing effect.
• 1 apple: lower your risk for constipation and remove toxins from the intestines. They also maintain liver function and improve digestion.
• 2 celery stalks: aid in bowel movements, promote healthy kidney function, and detoxes the body.
• 1 lime: stimulates digestion, eliminates toxins and purifies the liver and other organs.
• 1-inch piece ginger: a digestive superfood great for stimulating healthy digestion. It soothes the stomach and helps the body digest everything properly.
• 1 small handful fresh mint leaves: kills microorganisms that are associated with digestive issues, treats IBS, stops cramping, soothes digestion. 

Juice all these ingredients except for aloe vera (stir that into the juiced ingredients) for a really fabulous digestion tonic that will leave your tummy pretty happy. Ideally, you pop a probiotic and chase it down with this juice. Now we’re talking!

Find the Perfect Juicer for You with Food Matters Juicer Buying Guide

3 Detox Juice Recipes for Healthy Skin and Digestion – A Delicious Life

Spring and summer time are the best to start cleansing your body of toxins with fresh fruit and vegetable detox juices. You’re still hesitating, ain’t you?  Here I will explain you how to gently cleanse your body with delicious detox juices at home.

Juicing has become widespread in recent years as it’s an easy and delicious way to slim down and consume nutrients without having to eat a lot. There are many people who follow a juicing diet to loose weight, while the others include a glass of fresh juice into their daily menu to eliminate toxins and detox their body.

Things You Should Know Before Going on Juice Cleanse

Juice cleanse certainly helps you loose weight quickly, improve your skin or lower cholesterol, but juices cannot substitute for a balanced meal that provides you with enough energy to stay active and support good health. Keeping a detox juicing diet for a long time may cause some unpleasant side effects that many followers of juicing diet prefer not mentioning. Consuming just juice alone could lead to some health problems such as upsetting digestive system, headaches, fatigue, mood swings, drier skin, etc.

A safer and more advisable way to add fresh juices into your diet is to include a glass of juice made of seasonal fruits and vegetanles into your daily menu. A glass of juice added on a regular basis into your diet can aid in detox, boost nutrient absorption, improve skin appearance, promote energy, and improve overall health.

If you’re just starting out with juicing, it’s advisible to start with 1/4 glass a day, dilute with one part of water (1:1). Then you can gradually increase the juice amount up to 1 glass a day.

You should consume juice 30-40 minutes prior to eating the main meal, so this period of time is required to properly digest the nutrients in the juice. Avoid consuming juice on an empty stomach. It’s better to start your day with a glass of water right in the morning, and then in 15 minutes slowly drink juice.

Choosing ingredients for your juice keep the balance between vegetable and fruit parts. For a healthier alternative to all-fruit juices, make juice with vegetables and include one fruit for a hint of sweetness.

Here Are my Favoutire Detox Juice Recipes

PRINT THE RECIPES

1. A Purple Dream made with beets and carrots.

Beet Carrot Apple Juice

This juice has quickly become a favourite, and it’s very easy to make and you usually have all the ingredients at home. Beetroots are low in fat, full of powerful antioxidants, rich in Vitamin C, and help in the absorption of iron. Beetroot juice can make you feel more energetic and active. This is probably why it’s best to have it early morning to wake up your sleepy organs. But never drink juice from beets alone or in great quantities. It’s recommended to combine beet juice with other fruit and vegetable juices to avoid side effects such as hices, chills, fever, and stomach upset. What tastes good with it? Adding the juice from apples, carrots or other fruits not only makes beet juice easy to digest, but also increases it nutritional value.

Ingredients:

• 2 small or 1 large beet
• 2 medium carrots
• 1-2 apples
• 2 inch piece of fresh ginger
• 1 leaf cabbage (optional)

Method:

1. Wash and peel all the ingredients. Cut into pieces.

2. Run all the ingredients through your juicer.

It’s such a nice combo! I hope you like it.

2. A Spring Mood – Carrot Orange Ginger Juice.

Carrot Orange Ginger Juice

Who can resist this fresh sunny juice made with carrots and oranges? Carrot Orange Ginger juice is one of my favourite combo! Refreshing and made with just a handful of ingredients, this carrot orange ginger juice is the perfect perk. This juice can improve the eye health, reduce stress and build immunity.

Ingredients:

• 2 large carrots
• 2 oranged
• 2 inch piece of fresh ginger

Method:

1. Wash and peel all the ingredients. Cut into pieces that fir your juicer.

2. Run all the ingredients through your juicer.

3. Green Celery Ginger Juice.

Green Celery Ginger Juice

This belly bluster green juice is a powerful one! It has a perfect balance of fruits and vegetables and help detoxify your body after holidays or bingeing. You can adjust the recipe to your taste by replacing celery with kale, spinach, etc.

Ingredients:

• 2 stalks celery, no leaves
• 2 green apples
• 1 small cucumber (aprox. 60 g)
• 2 oranges
• 2 inch piece of fresh ginger
• 1/4 lime or lemon

Method:

1. Wash and peel all the ingredients. Cut into pieces.

2. Run all the ingredients through your juicer.

DID YOU MAKE ANY OF THESE RECIPES?

Please let me know how it turned out for you! Leave a comment below or share a picture on Instagram and tag me @irinakizimenko.

Prebiotics And Your Gut During A Juice Cleanse

Juicing For Gut Healing

As you know, here at Rowdy we’re all about promoting a happy, healthy gut. So how does juicing play into this gut-healing role of ours?

Juicing is all about healthy living and so it gut-health–the two go hand-in-hand. 

By getting those delicious and nutritious raw fruits and veggies in while juicing, your body (and your gut) thank you for those power-filled ingredients. The thing is, only a healthy gut full of good-guy bacteria can properly absorb what you’re feeding your body. 

You need a healthy gut to get all the benefits of juicing, but juicing also helps promote a strong microbiome too.

As you incorporate good-for-you ingredients like PRO and PREbiotics that work hard to keep the gut strong, you don’t ever want to throw your gut out of whack by feeding it the wrong food. Focusing on a juice fast to heal digestion and healthy eating helps to promote only those gut-friendly ingredients and stay away from gut-busters like refined sugar, high GI foods, and artificial sweeteners. 

See, juicing and the gut are proud to be pals! Let’s get juicing.

The Benefits of Juicing

Juicing seems healthy and delicious, but also like a lot of work. So we’re here to tell you that it’s worth it! Here are 5 juicing benefits to promote a healthy gut and happy body:

1. Juicing Increases Nutrient Absorption While Being Easy On Your Digestive System

The process of juicing extracts the vitamins and dense nutrients from fruits and veggies, leaving behind the pulp.   The pulp is what your gut would normally have to work hard to digest, so the fact that your juice is pulp-free gives your digestive system a mini vacation so it can relax and heal.

You’re also more likely to get a sufficient amount of vegetables in your daily diet when you juice. Trying to incorporate enough veggies into each meal every single day can be challenging. When you juice them instead, they’re much easier to consume—you get all of their delicious nutrients in and promote a happy gut.

2. You Can Use a Wider Variety of Vegetables When Juicing

Do you cook the same veggies for dinner often? Your gut loves variety, but it can be challenging to switch it up as much as you should. With juicing, you’re able to add a larger variety of vegetables to your daily juices giving your body the diverse range of nutrients that it needs. Try your best to use 5 or 6 different veggies each day in your juices.

3. Juicing Detoxifies Your Body

Technology, work, relationships, poor diet, caffeine, alcohol, lack of sleep… they can all cause stress on our bodies. Juicing helps detoxify your body from those unhealthy stressors and gets it back to its happy place.

By drinking juice that’s free of pulp, you can properly nourish your gut with the nutrients it needs while giving it a break from working hard to digest whole vegetables or their pulp. Resting your digestive system with a juice cleanse is a good way to give your body a break every so often.

4. Juicing to Lower Blood Sugar

Juicing helps give your body get the nutrients it needs without overloading your digestive system. The only thing is, you have to be careful when it comes to juicing with fruits.

Fruits might sweeten up your drink, but they also contain a sugar called fructose. Fructose is processed by the liver and when the body becomes overloaded with too much of it, it can increase fat production and imbalance blood sugar.

Your body needs less than 15-25 grams of sugar each day, so don’t pile your juices full of fruit. Stay away from fruits like mango, strawberries, and pineapple that are high in fructose and try your best to use 80% vegetables and 20% fruit.

And when you have to add something sweet to take away from the bitterness of the vegetables you juice, use a green apple to sweeten things up.

5. The Benefits Of Prebiotics & Juicing

A healthy gut absorbs more nutrients than an unhealthy one does, so a healthy, balanced gut is crucial when juicing—you want to be able to absorb as many nutrients as possible.

So what makes a healthy gut? A healthy gut has a balance of bacteria that helps the body digest food, fight off unhealthy bacteria, and maintain overall health. Our favorite way to balance out the gut’s bacteria is through prebiotics and probiotics.

Prebiotics and probiotics are the good-guy bacteria that live in our gut. Probiotics fight off bad bacteria, aid in digestion, and keep us healthy. Probiotics are alive and fighting for our health. Sounds awesome! But then what are the benefits of prebiotics, you ask? Prebiotics feed the probiotics so they can do their jobs right! They’re the ones who give the probiotics their energy to keep our guts healthy.

Prebiotics and probiotics aren’t the only way to promote gut health. Here are a few other ways to improve your gut’s good bacteria so you can properly absorb nutrients when juicing:

• Increase your fiber.
• Get enough sleep.
• If possible, stay away from antibiotics.
• Incorporate the anti-inflammatory superfood to your diet: tumeric.

The Dos and Don’ts of Juicing

Juicing can get complicated, but no need to fret! We have a list of dos and don’ts so you can make sure you’re juicing your way to your health the right way.

DO: Focus on using organic, raw fruits and vegetables for maximum nutrition that’s free of pesticide residue.

DON’T: Juice raw cabbage, kale, or broccoli. These veggies are high in goitrogens which decrease thyroid function and cause gas, bloating, and stomach pain. If you choose to juice with these ingredients, cook or steam them first.

DO: Store juice in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

DON’T: Store juice for longer than 24 hours. When juice sits, it oxidizes and its nutrients begin to degrade and turn to sugar.

DO: Switch it up! Use as many different ingredients as you can to get the most diverse range of nutrients.

Juicing With Prebiotics

Since you need a healthy gut in order to get the most out of juicing, it’s fun to add prebiotics into your juices to get the perks from prebiotic benefits, feed your gut’s probiotics, and promote a balanced, healthy microbiome.

Here are 6 prebiotics that make awesome juicing ingredients:

• Apples
• Leeks
• Chicory
• Jicama
• Garlic
• Grapefruit

Not sure how to incorporate ingredients like jicama and garlic into your daily juices? Let’s look at some recipes to get you started.

Fresh Garlic Herb Juice

6 carrots

2 stalks celery

1 handful parsley

2 cloves garlic

Feed all ingredients through a juicer. Pour in 2 glasses and enjoy!

Celery Juice For Leaky Gut

1 head of organic celery

A splash of filtered water

Feed all ingredients through a juicer. Make sure there are not celery guts hanging around–you only want pure juice! Pour into a glass and heal your gut.

Jicama Root Juice

1 cup jicama, peeled

1/2 ripe pear

2 carrots

1 knob fresh ginger, peeled

Sprinkle of cayenne pepper on top

Feed all ingredients through a juicer. Pour in 2 glasses, top with cayenne pepper, and enjoy!

Green Grapefruit Juice

1 cup baby spinach

1 cup fresh mint

1 knob fresh ginger, peeled

2 grapefruit, peeled

1 cucumber, peeled

Feed all ingredients through a juicer. Pour in 2 glasses and enjoy!

Happy juicing from us at Rowdy! 

Juicing Recipes to Reset Your Digestive System

Do you feel like you need a digestive reset now we’re hitting Autumn? After the excess of the summer – boozy barbeques and garden parties, plus the all-inclusive holiday to top it all off – now is the time to refresh your system and boost your immunity before the winter comes. But have you considered juicing recipes to reset your digestive system?

As we are all busy, busy, whizzing around here, there and everywhere, we sometimes fall foul to the garage-lunch-grab.

So what is simple and quick to make?  A nutritious raw juice or smoothie that will boost your digestive system, liver and immune system to boot!

What are the benefits of juicing?

Juicing can be a handy supplement to your daily diet. Think about how many vegetables you eat with your meals daily – experts recommend 10 portions. Do you eat that many? With juicing, you can easily add them to your daily intake of juice.

A raw juice is very different from a glass of orange juice from a carton. Raw, cold-pressed fruit and vegetables can give you a whole host of vitamins, antioxidants, and prebiotics while being low in sugar (if you choose low sugar fruit).

Raw veggie juice goes to work on your digestive system and helps scrub your cells squeaky clean from toxins that have built up in there like soap does for us externally. It helps to loosen all the waste that has accumulated in there too, which is another added bonus

Which vegetables should I choose?

To enable juicing to reset our digestive system, they need to nourish our gut bacteria. We should add in seasonal foods, as those foods are plentiful, which means they have higher levels of nutrients.

If you can use these fruit and veg in your autumn juices, then you are already off to an amazing start, although choosing ones that you like will help you drink them! And don’t forget to choose organic, so that your body doesn’t have to deal with processing the pesticides too.

A good ratio would be 80% vegetables and 20% fruit. It might taste a bit different, but think of the benefits!

Are smoothies good for our digestive system too?

Smoothies, if prepared and taken in the correct portion size, can be a nutritious meal in a glass. The benefits of fruit and vegetables are still there, but there are a few things to watch.

Beware of the fruit you put in them. Pack them full and you’ll be taking on sugar and calories that you don’t need. Don’t be fooled into thinking they are healthy sugar either, as once blended, their benefits change.

When you blend fruit, it releases the sugar from the cell walls of the fruit that become “free sugars”. These sugars are the same as any other added sugar that you are trying to cut down. Would you drink a massive cup of a fizzy sugary drink in the morning? Probably not.

Still, even as a sugary drink, a smoothie is a better choice than a Mars bar, so just try and choose the ingredients sensibly.

How much juice should I drink?

You only need a small glass (approx. 150ml) instead of a giant blender tub! Three to five small glasses of raw juice a day equals approximately 1000 calories, so be mindful how many you add into your diet.

For a juice detox to reset your digestive system, you should only drink juices and water for 2-3 days to give your liver and digestive system time to detox. Aim to drink a glass of juice every 2-3 hours to be consistent and not let your blood sugar levels fall too much.

Before coming for a colonic, I recommend doing a juice reset for 2-3 days too – all the instructions and the recipe are here. This helps loosen the waste build up in your bowel and allow the colonic to work more effectively.

Alternatively, replace just one meal (most people choose breakfast) for a while to aid weight loss and give your digestive system a rest.

Free juicing recipes for your Autumn reset.

There are so many recipes out there on juicing that it’s hard to know where to start. So I have created a free download (or click on the image) with my favourite four recipes – two juice recipes and two smoothie recipes to reset your digestive system.

I hope that you give them a go. Let me know how you get on! I’d love to hear if you feel it’s given you a healthy boost. If you’d like to take your reset one step further, feel free to book in for a Colonic to helpfully reset your digestive system and recover from all the Pina Coladas….or is that just me?!

Happy juicing!

90,000 Digestion time for various foods

In this article, we’ll take a look at the digestion times of various foods. I think many will be interested in this and everyone should have an idea about it. Knowing when to digest foods is very important to maintain your health. Knowing when to digest food will help you prepare meals that will normally be digested in your stomach and will not poison your body with toxins from undigested food debris.

Speaking about the time of food digestion, we will understand the full cycle, that is, the period of time that is necessary for the food to be completely broken down into useful substances.Many gastroenterologists will tell you that the digestion time of even heavy meat products does not exceed 4-5 hours. But they talk about the digestion time of food in the stomach. In fact, food is not in the stomach for more than 4 hours. After that, it enters the small intestine first, where the assimilation process takes place, and then into the large intestine for excretion.

The figures below are average values. The time of digestion and assimilation also depends on the individual characteristics of the body, on the diet, the composition of the food, the amount of food eaten and on the compatibility of foods with each other.So friends, let’s look at which foods go through our stomach almost instantly, and which ones stay there for long hours.

Water – If your stomach is empty, then water goes directly to the intestines

Fruits and vegetables

Fruits are digested on average for 30-60 minutes. Almost no energy and enzymes are spent on the digestion of fruit.
Fruit and vegetable juices and vegetable broths – 20-30 minutes.
Semi-liquid juices , such as pureed vegetable or fruit salad – 20-30 minutes.For example, a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice will leave our stomach in 20 minutes after you drink it.

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Juicy fruits : oranges, apples, pears, plums, etc. For example, a couple of juicy and fragrant oranges eaten will leave the stomach in 30-40 minutes. Grapefruits, grapes – 30 minutes. Apples, pears, peaches, cherries, etc. – 40 minutes
Fleshy fruits and dried fruits : bananas, figs, dates will go through the stomach in a longer time than juicy fruits, but still very quickly compared to the products that follow.Watermelon – 20 minutes Melons – 30 minutes
Raw mixed vegetable salads – tomatoes, lettuce, cucumber, celery, green or red peppers, other juicy vegetables – 30-40 minutes
Boiled, steamed or steamed vegetables
Leafy vegetables – spinach, chicory, collard greens – 40 minutes
Zucchini, broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, pumpkin, corn on the cob – 45 minutes
Root vegetables – carrots, beets, parsnips, turnips, etc. – 50 minutes

Cereals, cereals and legumes

Concentrated carbohydrates – cereals and cereals. The time for digestion of cereals and cereals in the stomach increases sharply. Therefore, it is recommended to eat fruits on an empty stomach, separately from cereals and cereals. A plate of ordinary porridge leaves the stomach only after 4-5 hours!

Brown rice, millet, buckwheat, corn flour, oats, pellet – 90 minutes

Durum wheat pasta: 3 hours
Semi-concentrated carbohydrates – starches
Jerusalem artichoke, acorns, corn, potatoes, Jerusalem artichoke, yams, chestnuts – 60 minutes

Beans and legumes. Plain peas and chickpeas, lentils, beans (white, red, black) – are digested in an hour and a half. Soybeans – 2 hours

Cereals or legumes of the same type: 2.5-3 h.

Mixture of cereals and / or legumes (no more than two types): 3-3.5 h.
Mixture of cereals and / or legumes (more than two types): more than 4-5 hours

Nuts and seeds

Seeds – sunflower, pumpkin, sesame – about 2 hours
Nuts – almonds, peanuts (raw), cashews, Brazil nuts, walnuts, pecans, Brazil nuts are digested – 2.5-3 hours.
Tip: if seeds and nuts are soaked in water overnight and then crushed, they will be absorbed faster.
Soaked nuts: 1.5 h.

Dairy products

Raw milk slowly leaves the stomach, pasteurized even more slowly and boiled even more slowly. Milk with a high fat content passes through the stomach more slowly than milk with a low fat content.

Skim milk, ricotta, low-fat cottage cheese, feta cheese, homemade cheese – digested for about 90 minutes.
Milk is completely assimilated in 12 hours.Tea or coffee with milk: 24 h.

Whole milk cottage cheese – 2 hours
Hard cheese made from whole milk, such as Dutch and Swiss, will take 4 to 5 hours to digest.
Fermented milk drinks – 1 hour

Animal proteins

Boiled eggs stay in the stomach longer than raw eggs. Scrambled eggs remain there for the same long time.
Egg yolk – 30 minutes
Egg (whole) – 45 minutes.
Fish – 45-60 minutes
Chicken – 1-2 hours (without skin)
Turkey – 2 hours (without skin)
Beef, lamb – 3-4 hours
Pork – 4-5 hours
On average, meat is digested in the stomach for 4-5 hours, and absorbed by the body for a very long time.Bacon is digested slowly, because of the fat it lowers stomach acidity. It is difficult for most people to digest. Fat noticeably interferes with the secretion of gastric juice after a meal, reduces absorption and delays the digestion process.

Fatty foods . It can be either pure fat, for example, lard, or simply fatty meat or fish, ice cream, and so on. Fat strongly inhibits gastric digestion. It is fatty foods that are digested the longest. By the way, fatty fried meat, such as a shish kebab, is digested for up to 72 hours, while our body spends a lot of energy on digesting such food.A person who regularly eats meat carries several kilograms of feces in himself, which turn into toxins and release toxins that poison the body.

It is important not how long the food is in the stomach, but in what form assimilated or not assimilated (digested or undigested form) it will pass into the intestines, and what happens to it next.

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90,000 how is the digestion process going and how to improve the absorption of food?

The fact that food must be well absorbed by the body so that no health problems arise, most of us have known since kindergarten.But what exactly needs to be done to improve the process of digesting food, not everyone knows, and if they do, they often break the rules, motivating it for a number of reasons. In our article, we will remind you what digestion is, how to improve it and what is fraught with neglect of the rules of a healthy diet.

Digestion of food is a complex process

Digestion of food, or digestion, is a complex process of chemical and mechanical processing of food and its assimilation by the human body.This task is performed by the entire gastrointestinal tract, and not just the stomach, as many mistakenly think. The direct participants in digestion that break down the biopolymers of the incoming food into monomers are special digestive enzymes that are produced by various parts of the gastrointestinal tract.

Digestion helps our body absorb essential nutrients and get rid of foreign ones, neutralizing them and preventing them from entering the bloodstream. In addition, various microorganisms are also exposed to the effects of digestion: under the influence of enzymes, pathogenic microbes die and cannot harm human health.

The whole process of digestion can be divided into several main stages.

1. Mechanical and partial enzymatic processing of food in the oral cavity . It is here that the incoming food is crushed by chewing, moistened with saliva and mixed. This preliminary preparation greatly facilitates the further processing of food in the digestive tract. Moreover, the better the food is chewed, the easier it will be for the body to digest it. Firstly, small fragments are easier to process, and secondly, saliva also contains a small amount of enzymes and with a sufficiently long stay in the mouth, complex carbohydrates in food begin to break down little by little.Nevertheless, the food is in the mouth for only 15–20 seconds – this is more of a preparation for full-fledged digestion.

This is interesting

Saliva contains alpha-amylase, which is capable of breaking down starch into separate soluble sugars such as maltose, dextrin, maltriose.

2. Digestive process in the stomach. Begins after a lump of chewed food is swallowed and enters the stomach through the esophagus.This is the first stage of intensive chemical processing of the incoming food and the breakdown of its large molecules. In the stomach, digestion is under the influence of gastric juice – a complex compound with high acidity, containing several enzymes. The main gastric enzyme is pepsin, which breaks down proteins into simple peptides. In the process of digestion, hydrochloric acid is also involved, which is produced in special cells of the gastric mucosa. It stimulates motility and secretion of the stomach itself and the upper intestine, activates enzymes, and kills bacteria.In addition to pepsin, gelatinase , which breaks down collagen and gelatin, is involved in the digestion. Nevertheless, the compounds formed at this stage cannot yet be assimilated by the body, since peptic digestion occurs mainly in the surface layer of the food bolus.
3. Next the digestion process takes place in the small intestine , where the food masses are exposed to pancreatic juice , bile and enzymes produced by the glands of the intestinal wall .It is here that food is finally digested, and nutrients are absorbed by the body through the intestinal wall. Undigested compounds and water are sent to the large intestine, which is responsible for the absorption of water, certain minerals and vitamins, as well as for the formation and excretion of feces.
   The main gland in the digestive system is the pancreas. It is she who secretes digestive enzymes into the lumen of the duodenum. The digestive juice of the pancreas contains proteases (trypsin, chymotrypsin, elastases and carboxypeptidase) , amyalase, nucleases and lipases (lipase, phospholipase, cholesterolipase, lecithinase) .Each of these enzymes has a different function, for example: proteases break down proteins, lipases break down fats, and nucleases break down nucleic acids. The production of pancreatic juice begins about two to three minutes after a meal, and continues as long as the food is in the duodenum.

In addition to pancreatic enzymes, enzymes of the small intestine also participate in digestion: peptidases , which break down peptides formed from proteins, sucrase, maltase, isomaltase and lactase , which convert disaccharides into liposaccharides (into simple monosyllabic sugars) , “Crushing” the remaining fats.

Disruption of the production of enzymes involved in the process of digestion leads to indigestion. This condition is called enzymatic, or enzymatic, deficiency. It is not an independent disease, but it is always caused by concomitant pathology. Gastroenterologists name several main causes of enzyme deficiency.

Absolute enzyme deficiency is caused by a decrease in the volume of functioning of the pancreas with:

• chronic pancreatitis, pancreatic stones;
• subtotal pancreatectomy;
• pancreatic cancer;
• pancreatic fistulas;
• cystic fibrosis;
• kwashiorkore.

Relative pancreatic insufficiency can develop as a result of:

1. decrease in enterokinase activity and inactivation of pancreatic enzymes in the intestine with:
   • Zollinger-Ellison syndrome;
   • duodenal ulcer;
   • duodenitis;
   • small intestine dysbiosis;
2. disturbances in the transit of intestinal contents and disturbances in the mixing of enzymes with food chyme at:
   • duodeno- and gastrostasis;
   • intestinal pseudo-obstruction;
   • irritable bowel syndrome;
   • condition after vagotomy and drainage operations;
3. decrease in the concentration of enzymes at:
   • postgastrectomy syndrome;
   • small intestine dysbiosis;
   • condition after cholecystectomy;
4. disorders of production of cholecystokinin (pancreozymin), secretin – deficiency of bile acids in the small intestine, congenital or at:
   • biliary obstruction;
   • severe hepatitis;
   • primary biliary cirrhosis;
   • pathology of the terminal section of the small intestine;
   • small intestine dysbiosis;
   • treatment with cholestyramine;
5. gastrogenic insufficiency at:
   • gastric resection, gastrectomy;
   • atrophic gastritis.

When enzyme deficiency occurs, appetite disorders, epigastric pain, nausea, vomiting, dyspepsia, constipation, flatulence, headaches may appear. Due to poor digestion of food, and therefore, poor absorption of it, vitamin deficiency and anemia may occur.

Food assimilation: what is “good” and what is “bad”?

We will not dwell on the diseases that cause enzyme deficiency – this is a topic for a separate article.Let’s talk about how you can help your body better manage the digestion of food.

Nutritionists recommend taking into account the following indicators when drawing up a diet: the time of digestion of foods and the degree of their assimilation by the body. The latter depends on the quality and type of food. For example, foods high in fiber are absorbed slowly, and dense unsaturated animal fats are absorbed much faster than saturated vegetable fats. The process of assimilation is also influenced by the microelements contained in food, while the absorption of proteins, fats and carbohydrates can vary depending on the time of day and even the season.Another factor affecting absorption is the combination of foods.

Specialists divide foods into groups depending on how quickly and well they are absorbed by the body.

Highly digestible foods are broths, juices, fresh fruits and vegetables with a low fiber content, white chicken meat, lean fish, chicken eggs. On average, their digestion takes no more than two to three hours.

Poorly digestible foods high in starch, fat, complex carbohydrates and fiber.Traditionally, these include potatoes, nuts, legumes, pork, beef, fresh bread and pastries, hard cheeses, mushrooms, pasta, canned meat and fish, and sausages. Of course, this does not mean that a person who does not suffer from diseases of the gastrointestinal tract should completely exclude such foods from the diet, but a reasonable restriction still will not hurt anyone. To make food easier to digest, you can follow very simple guidelines:

• Chew food thoroughly. We have already said that chewing is a preparatory step in digestion. The smaller the food particles are, the easier it will be for the stomach to cope with its task.
• Eat regularly , avoiding large gaps between meals. Optimally, eat small meals five to six times a day.
• Refuse fast food and too fatty foods.
• Do not overeat. Too much food will inevitably lead to digestive problems – the body simply cannot handle large amounts of food.

In addition, a healthy person should include in their diet foods that stimulate digestive activity . These are various spices, pepper, garlic, mustard, horseradish and other “hot” root vegetables (radish, radish, turnip). Note: they can be consumed only during the main meal and only for those who do not have problems with the stomach or other organs of the gastrointestinal tract.

About what else you can help the body and how to speed up the digestion and assimilation of food, we will tell below.

Is it possible to speed up the absorption of food?

Food is one of the greatest pleasures for humans. It can be very difficult to resist the temptation, especially during the holidays. The result is overeating, because you want to try salads and the main course, for example, fried meat, and cake for dessert, and in general everything that is on the table. If a person has clearly eaten more than they should, do not resort to radical actions, such as induce vomiting, take laxatives, or go on a starvation diet.If there are no dysfunctions of the gastrointestinal tract, when unpleasant symptoms appear (heaviness in the abdomen, bloating, belching, nausea) due to inaccuracies in nutrition, it is recommended to take enzyme preparations that improve digestion.

Preparations are divided into several groups [1], each of which is responsible for the correction of various types of disorders:

• Extracts of the gastric mucosa, as the main active ingredient of which is pepsin. This group is mainly aimed at correcting gastrogenic enzyme deficiency.
• Preparations with pancreatin, which may contain proteases, amylase and lipase. They are used to treat pancreatic enzyme deficiency. Such drugs help the pancreas to digest food, maintaining the required level of enzymes, and provide the organ with peace, since a high concentration of enzymes in the lumen of the duodenum reduces the activity of the pancreas.
• Combined preparations based on pancreatin, hemicellulase and bile components.They are shown to stimulate the pancreas, intestinal and gallbladder motility.
• Plant enzymes, represented by papain, fungal amylase, protease, lipase.
• Combined enzymes, containing pancreatin in combination with plant enzymes, vitamins.
• Disaccharidases (tylactase) .

The action of enzyme-containing preparations is aimed at improving the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract and eliminating the symptoms of overeating, such as heaviness in the stomach, nausea, and bloating.

The effectiveness of treatment, in addition to the type of the main active ingredient, is also influenced by the form of release of the drug – tablets, drops or capsules containing microgranules. The disadvantage of tablets and drops is that when they enter the stomach, they are inactivated by the action of gastric juice. The capsule is destroyed by the acidic environment of the gastric juice, and the shell of the microgranules, on the contrary, dissolves in the alkaline medium of the small intestine. The active substance thus reaches the upper intestine unchanged, where a sufficient concentration of digestive enzymes is especially necessary.

The approach to normalizing digestion should be comprehensive. It is advisable to combine adherence to the principles of a healthy diet with optimal physical activity, which also contributes to the normal functioning of the digestive system. And if you experience symptoms of digestive disorders such as dyspepsia, flatulence, diarrhea caused by enzyme deficiency, you should take an enzyme preparation recommended by your doctor.

How long does it take for food to be digested in the stomach?

What happens to food after we have swallowed it? In order for food to benefit a person and give the necessary energy, it must turn into chemical elements, which the body will then absorb into itself.This process begins in the mouth as the saliva dissolves and the teeth grind the food. Later, in the stomach, it is attacked by acid and gastric juices. After leaving the stomach, food enters the intestines, where it continues to interact with gastric juice. Then it is absorbed through the capillaries into the blood passing through the liver – thousands of enzymes located there neutralize any poison (such as alcohol, for example), while preserving useful iron, vitamins and glucose.

Digestive system

Food categories by time of digestion in the stomach

More specifically, all food can be roughly divided into 4 categories according to the time of its digestion in our stomach:

1. those foods that pass quickly (these are mainly carbohydrate foods)
2. average absorption time (this is mainly protein food)
3. food for long-term assimilation (this includes fatty food and a combination of fatty with protein)
4. Excessively long food to digest and practically indigestible.

Now let’s describe everything in more detail and structure the information received a little.

The first category includes: practically all fruits (with the exception of bananas, avocados and the like), vegetable and fruit juices (not mixed), berries, kefir.

All of the above products do not stay in our stomach for more than 1 hour. For example, fruits enter the intestines from the stomach after 40 to 45 minutes. In some situations, it can take 35 – 40 minutes. The second category includes: vegetables, herbs, dairy products with the exception of cottage cheese and hard cheese, sprouts, soaked nuts and seeds, all dried fruits. All of them enter our intestines in about 1.5 – 2 hours. The third category includes: cereals and cereals, nuts and seeds that are not previously soaked in water, cottage cheese and hard cheese, all types of mushrooms, legumes (if boiled), bakery products made from high-grade flour. Their residence time in the stomach is 2 – 3 hours from the moment of their arrival. And, finally, group 4 includes: tea with milk, coffee with milk, meat (including poultry, as well as fish), pasta (except made from whole grain flour or flour from durum wheat), all types of canned food. All products from group 4 are very problematic to digest, or practically not digested at all. What conclusion can we draw now, guided by the information about how much food is digested in the stomach? It’s very simple:

• If you want health for yourself, you need to eat as many foods as possible that are assimilated in a short period of time.Thus, you save your digestive system, and the body spends less energy on its processing.
• Avoid or eat to a minimum food that belongs to category 4.
• It is not recommended to combine foods and foods that have different digestion times in the stomach.
• If you have stomach or intestinal problems, eat only food from categories 1 and 2.
• In the evening, you can also eat products from categories 1 and 2.

How much cottage cheese is digested

First, you need to understand that at lunchtime digestion is stronger.Accordingly, in order to fully understand how much cottage cheese is digested, it is also necessary to take into account the time of its use. For example, if you eat it at lunchtime, it will go to the intestines in 2 hours. If you ate it in the morning or in the evening, then the time increases to 3 hours or even more (for example, if you ate it before bedtime).

How long is a banana digested

Banana, as we all know, is a fruit. Accordingly, it is very simple to answer the question of how much a banana is digested.Like a fruit, it is completely ready for further processing in 45 – 50 minutes. If the banana is green, it will take 10 minutes longer to digest than a well-ripened one. Time of food digestion in the stomach After dinner, food is digested in the stomach for two to four hours, after which it enters the small intestine, where the digestion process lasts another four to six hours, after which the food passes into the large intestine, where it can be about fifteen more hours. The numbers below show how long foods spend in the stomach and relate to people with a healthy digestive system when they eat only one specified product at a time.

Water

• If you drink water on an empty stomach, the water immediately passes into the intestines.

Juices and salads

• Fruit juices, vegetable juices and broths are digested for 15-20 minutes
• Semi-liquid (mashed salad, vegetables or fruits) 20-30 minutes

Fruit

• Watermelon absorbed in 20 minutes
• Melons – 30 minutes
• Oranges, grapefruits, grapes – 30 minutes
• Apples, pears, peaches, cherries and other semi-sweet fruits – 40 minutes

Vegetables

• Mixed salads (vegetables and fruits) are digested for 20 – 30 minutes

• Raw mixed vegetable salads – tomatoes, lettuce (Roman, Boston, red, leafy, garden), cucumber, celery, green or red pepper, other juicy vegetables are digested within 30-40 minutes
• If vegetable oil is added to the salad, then the time increases to more than an hour
• Boiled, stewed or steamed vegetables
• Leafy vegetables – spinach, chicory, collard greens – 40 minutes
• Zucchini, broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, pumpkin, corn on the cob – 45 minutes
• Root vegetables – turnips, carrots, beets, parsnips, turnips, etc.p. – 50 minutes

Semi-concentrated carbohydrates – starches

• Artichoke, acorns, corn, potatoes, Jerusalem artichoke, yams, chestnuts – 60 minutes
• Starchy foods, such as hulled rice, buckwheat, millet, corn flour, oatmeal, quinoa, Abyssinian tea, barley are digested on average 60-90 minutes

Concentrated carbohydrates – cereals

• Brown rice, millet, buckwheat, cornflakes, oats (the first 3 are best) – 90 minutes

Beans and legumes (Concentrated carbohydrates and protein, starches and proteins)

• Lentils, lima beans, chickpeas, peas, beans and beans – 90 minutes
• Soybeans – 120 minutes

Nuts and Seeds

• Seeds – sunflower, pumpkin, pepita, sesame – about 2 hours
• Nuts – almonds, filberts, peanuts (raw), cashews, brazil nuts, walnuts, pecans – 2.5-3 hours
• If seeds and nuts are soaked in water overnight and then crushed, they will be absorbed faster

Dairy products

• Skimmed milk, low-fat cottage cheese, ricotta, low-fat cottage cheese or cream cheese about 90 minutes
• Whole milk cottage cheese – 120 minutes
• Whole milk hard cheese – 4-5 hours

Animal proteins

Crude animal proteins are digested in a shorter time than indicated above for cooked / heated animal fats.

• Egg yolk – 30 minutes
• Egg (whole) – 45 minutes
• Fish – cod, scrod, flounder, sole seafood – 30 minutes
• Fish – salmon, trout, herring, more fatty fish – 45-60 minutes
• Chicken – 1-2 hours (without skin)
• Turkey – 2 hours (without skin)
• Beef, lamb – 3-4 hours
• Pork – 4-5 hours

Warm food in the stomach is digested for about 2-3 hours and only after that it enters the small intestine, where the stage of breaking down nutrients from food continues.Two to three hours is the optimal time for digesting food in the stomach and breaking down proteins. This is the norm, since when undigested proteins enter the small intestine, the fermentation process begins.

Cold food in the stomach is digested much faster: proteins do not have time to digest normally and are sent straight to the small intestine, whose function is based on the breakdown and absorption of carbohydrates, since it is in it that the bacteria responsible for this “action” are located. As a result of the ingestion of undigested food in the stomach (proteins) into the small intestine, proteins, of course, are not normally absorbed.In addition, the bacteria that live in meat products (proteins) begin to multiply, leading to various types of gastrointestinal discomfort (bloating, gas, constipation, etc.).

And another piece of information came across – the time of food digestion differs from the above:

1-2 hours – tea, coffee, cocoa, broth, milk, soft-boiled eggs, rice, boiled river fish.

2-3 hours – hard-boiled eggs, omelet, boiled sea fish, boiled potatoes, bread. 3-4 hours – chicken and beef (boiled), rye bread, apples, carrots, radishes, spinach, cucumbers, fried potatoes, ham. 4-5 hours – beans (beans, peas), game, herring, fried meat. 5-6 hours – mushrooms, bacon.

90,000 Digestion and Absorption of Macronutrients | Tervisliku toitumise informatsioon

Digestion and absorption of proteins

Proteins are macromolecules composed of amino acids.No proteins are digested in the mouth. Hydrochloric acid in the stomach coagulates food proteins. This means that large molecules of food proteins unfold and the enzyme pepsin formed in the stomach can begin partial digestion (hydrolysis) of proteins.

The enzymes necessary for the final digestion of proteins are released by the pancreas into the upper part of the small intestine – the duodenum. Pepsin working in the stomach, together with trypsin and other enzymes working in the duodenum, break down most dietary proteins into amino acids.A small amount of short peptides is also formed, which are degraded to amino acids under the influence of enzymes of the limb enterocytes of the small intestine.

While the digested food mass is in the jejunum, the middle section of the small intestine, the absorption of free amino acids formed from proteins or present in food occurs. The resulting substances are absorbed directly into the bloodstream or lymphatic system. Blood delivers nutrients primarily to the liver, where amino acids are recruited.

Digestion and absorption of lipids

Fats (triglycerides – composed of three fatty acids and glycerol) make up 95–98% of dietary lipids. The main lipids present in food are just fats. There is no significant breakdown of fats in the mouth. However, there is an enzyme called lipase under the tongue in the mouth that breaks down small amounts of fat.

The stomach contains an enzyme called gastric lipase. It has a mild effect, but since it is relatively resistant to acid, there is a moderate breakdown of some triglycerides in the stomach.

Triglycerides must first be converted in the upper part of the small intestine – in the duodenum – into a fine emulsion, and only then the corresponding enzymes (lipases) will be able to break them down into glycerol and fatty acids.

Bile juices and their salts play an extremely important role in the formation of the emulsion. Milk proteins (caseins) are also very good fine food emulsifiers. The formation of a thin emulsion is also facilitated by the fact that the bicarbonates emitted by the pancreas react with the acidic food mass coming from the stomach, as a result of which the gases necessary for digestion are formed, thoroughly mixing this food mass.The intestinal wall peristalsis also helps to mix its contents.

From the pancreas into the duodenum comes the main enzyme of the process of digestion of fats – pancreatic lipase. Together with other enzymes, it breaks down food lipids into simple compounds (triglycerides, glycerol, free fatty acids), and phospholipids into their primary components.

While the digestible food mass is in the middle section of the small intestine, the glycerol and fatty acids formed from dietary fats are absorbed.The resulting substances are absorbed directly into the bloodstream or lymphatic system.

Starch digestion and absorption

From the point of view of the digestion of complex carbohydrates, the most important thing is the breakdown of starch.

Of all dietary carbohydrates, only starch begins to be digested in the mouth. This is done by the amylase enzyme in saliva. Under its influence, part of the starch is split into smaller components. If you chew starch-rich food for a long time (and this is very useful), then a small part of the starch will be split into glycosin (this is how it becomes sweet when you chew bread for a long time).Other carbohydrates in food (such as sucrose and lactose) are not broken down in the mouth.

Since the environment in the stomach is highly acidic due to hydrochloric acid, there is practically no further digestion of carbohydrates. Hydrochloric acid is needed primarily for the conversion of the protein-breaking enzyme pepsinogen into pepsin and the release of many hormones that ensure the functioning of gastric juice. Hydrochloric acid also kills bacteria.

Pancreatic amylase is released from the pancreas into the upper part of the small intestine, the duodenum.It is the most important enzyme for the digestion of carbohydrates and breaks down most of the starch. Pancreatic amylase, together with the small intestine’s own enzymes, completes the process of breaking down starch into glucose. Under the influence of enzymes of the limb enterocytes of the small intestine (sucrase, lactase and others), sucrose and lactose are also split into components.

While the digested food mass is in the jejunum, the middle part of the small intestine, the absorption of free glucose and fructose formed from complex carbohydrates or present in food, which are absorbed directly into the bloodstream or the lymphatic system, occurs.The blood delivers nutrients primarily to the liver, where they are used.

Microorganisms that live in the colon break down fiber, which the digestive enzymes are unable to break down. During this process, short fatty acids are formed, which are absorbed into the bloodstream and which the body can use for energy, as well as activating peristalsis. The microflora of the colon helps to break down a significant portion of cellulose, resulting in short fatty acids as well.A significant part of these fatty acids is absorbed into the cells of the colon mucosa, in which their breakdown covers part of the energy requirements of these cells.

Digestive diseases

Digestion is the process by which the food consumed is converted into a form that is suitable for the body to consume. As a result of a complex of chemical, physical and physiological reactions that occur under the influence of digestive juices, nutrients are broken down into monomers – simple chemical compounds.

Let’s take a closer look at how the human digestive organs are arranged.

Human digestive organs

In general, the human digestive organs include:

1. Mouth and oral cavity – this is where the primary processing of food takes place – grinding food, breaking down sugar, etc.
2. Tongue and salivary glands – Moisturizes food, makes it easier to chew and swallow.
3. Esophagus – organizes the delivery of food to the stomach, but is not directly involved in digestion.
4. Stomach – Analyzes the composition of incoming food and produces gastric juice, which ensures the digestion of food when it enters the intestines.
5. Intestine:
   • small intestine – processes food with enzymes and acids;
   • middle intestine – absorption of the main components;
   • large intestine – absorption of water;
   • appendix – produces antibodies and almost does not participate in digestion.
6. Liver – produces bile to break down fats and detoxify dangerous food components.
7. Pancreas – produces various hormones and enzymes for digestion and ensures the subsequent metabolism.

The above diagram only describes the digestion process in a very generalized way. All organs listed here are complex and consist of many parts.However, this is sufficient for a general understanding.

Digestive diseases

There are a large number of diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, but the most common today are:

1. Peptic ulcer of the stomach or duodenum is the occurrence of ulcers in the stomach or duodenum that cause significant digestive problems.

   Main symptoms:

   • pain in the upper abdomen;
   • heartburn 2-3 hours after eating;
   • nausea and vomiting;
   • constipation;
   • “Sour” belching.

2. Chronic gastritis – inflammation of the gastric mucosa, which leads to dysfunction of this organ.

   Main symptoms:

   • cramping pain in the abdomen;
   • feeling of fullness and heaviness in the abdomen;
   • nausea and vomiting;
   • constipation;
   • “Sour” belching.

3. Chronic colitis – inflammation of the mucous membrane of the large intestine.

   Main symptoms:

   • abdominal pain that may accompany bloating and rumbling;
   • diarrhea with blood and mucus, or vice versa, constipation;
   • painful urge to defecate;
   • high temperature;
   • general malaise;

4. Dysbiosis (dysbiosis) – violation of the intestinal microflora, which leads to a general disruption of the gastrointestinal tract.

   Main symptoms:

   • stomach ache;
   • bloating;
   • unstable stool – alternating diarrhea and constipation;
   • weight loss and anemia.

In the absence of treatment, diseases of the digestive tract lead to serious complications that are dangerous to your life. So, a peptic ulcer leads to the formation of a through hole in the wall of the abdomen or intestine, which causes bleeding and death.

That is why, at the very first symptoms that are indicated above, contact a gastroenterologist. Only a doctor will compile a complete clinical picture of the disease and prescribe an effective treatment.

Prevention of diseases of the digestive system

Prevention of digestive diseases is especially relevant for people with sensitive digestion. It includes:

• adherence to the daily routine and diet;
• exclusion of smoking and drinking alcohol;
• elimination of occupational diseases;
• timely detection and treatment of diseases that cause gastritis.

In the event that you suffer from diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, the doctor will prescribe you secondary prevention. It is compiled individually, based on the characteristics of your condition. This allows you to stop the development of the disease and contributes to the absence of disease-causing symptoms.

See also:

90,000 Medical myths. Does milk improve digestion?

• Claudia Hammond
• BBC Future

November 17, 2014

Photo by Thinkstock

Will a glass of milk help with stomach discomfort? As the correspondent found out

BBC Future , quite the opposite – milk can make you feel worse.

What could be better than a glass of milk for indigestion or nausea? Milk has a calming effect on the stomach; in addition, it is high in calories, so even if you cannot look at food, it will provide you with some amount of nutrients. Until the 1980s. Doctors often advised patients with duodenal ulcers to drink milk to relieve discomfort.

Milk is a weakly acidic product, but its acidity is much lower than that of gastric juice produced by the body.Therefore, milk has long been thought to relieve stomach pain by neutralizing stomach acid. Indeed, the milky film on the stomach walls delays the action of the acid, but studies show that milk stimulates the secretion of gastric juice, so that after a short relief, the discomfort may recur.

In 1976, an experiment was carried out on ten volunteers who had their stomachs washed and then milk was introduced through the nose through a tube. An hour later, the contents of the stomachs were pumped out, after which the volume of gastric juice produced was measured every five minutes.The researchers recorded an increased secretion of gastric juice within three hours from the moment milk entered the stomach. This probably explains the pain that ulcers experience a few hours after eating.

However, not only milk stimulates the secretion of gastric juice. Comparative studies of the effects of coffee, tea, beer and milk show that all of these foods have this effect. It is most pronounced in beer and milk. In other words, the acidity of the fluid consumed in this case does not play a role.

What is the ingredient in milk that causes increased gastric secretion? In 1976, scientists conducted a comparative study of the effects of whole milk, low-fat and skim milk. It turned out that in all three cases, milk increases the secretion of gastric juice, that is, fats have nothing to do with it. How about calcium?

Experiments were carried out with milk with a low calcium content. It turned out that the production of gastric juice is really less, but with one exception – in patients diagnosed with duodenal ulcer, who at the time of the experiment did not experience symptoms of the disease, the secretion was increased.

Another milk ingredient that may affect the secretion of juice is the protein casein. It is thought to either stimulate the production of the hormone gastrin, which is responsible for the secretion of gastric juice, or directly affect the cells of the stomach lining, known as parietal cells.

Photo author, Thinkstock

Photo caption,

Does milk consumption slow down ulcer healing?

However, milk is no longer recommended for ulcers, as its consumption can aggravate the symptoms of the disease.In a controlled clinical trial in 1986, several patients with duodenal ulcers were divided into two groups and admitted to a hospital for four weeks of medication.

The experimental group drank only milk – two liters per person per day. If desired, patients could add sugar to the milk. The control group was given regular hospital meals. Both groups were also offered fruit in addition to the diet so that the total calories consumed per day were comparable.At the end of the experiment, all patients underwent endoscopy.

It was found that a significant number of patients on the usual hospital diet were cured. In the “milk” group, however, fewer patients improved than originally expected. Milk intake appears to slow the ulcer healing process.

A healthy person should not give up milk as a source of protein and calcium. But can milk abuse lead to problems? In 1980 g.in the Norwegian city of Tromsø, a seven-year population health study was launched, involving 21,000 adults. Over the years, 328 people have developed peptic ulcers (a generic term for stomach and duodenal ulcers). As it turned out, the risk of ulcers increases with the consumption of four or more glasses of milk per day, especially in men. At the same time, the fat content in milk does not matter.

But was it milk that led to the development of ulcers in the inhabitants of Tromsø? It is difficult to say, since some people drink milk precisely in order to alleviate the symptoms of an already onset disease.On the other hand, the risk of developing ulcers was increased in the case of those experimental who drank a lot of milk before the onset of symptoms.

So, although milk temporarily envelops the gastric mucosa, softening the action of gastric juice and slightly alleviating discomfort, this effect lasts only about 20 minutes. Milk is a healthy product, but it does not improve digestion.

Legal information. This article is for general information only and should not be construed as a substitute for the advice of a physician or other healthcare professional.The BBC is not responsible for any diagnosis made by the reader based on the materials of the site. The BBC is not responsible for the content of other sites, links to which are present on this page, and also does not recommend commercial products or services mentioned on these sites. If you are concerned about your health condition, see your doctor.

Medical myths. Is chewing gum indigestible?

• Claudia Hammond
• BBC Future

November 7, 2014

Photo author, Thinkstock

Remember how we were scared as a child? Do not swallow chewing gum, otherwise it will remain in your stomach forever! Correspondent

BBC Future decided to digest the testimony to find out if this is true.

Just imagine swallowing a piece of chewing gum in the summer of 2006. The owner of the White House was also George W. Bush. The social network “Twitter” was just waiting in the wings. Pirates of the Caribbean II topped the movie ratings. It seems that all this was a long time ago, but if, according to the prevailing myth, you swallowed chewing gum then, your body would have completed the process of digesting it only now, in 2014.

When we were children, we were told not to dare to swallow chewing gum because it takes seven years to digest.And even earlier, we believed that it would lie in the stomach, invulnerable to the usual processes of digestion and processing of food. This statement has been repeated with unshakable conviction from generation to generation on school playgrounds in many countries. However, is it justified from the point of view of medical science?

Chewing gum consists of a polymer or rubber base, sweeteners, flavorings, preservatives, softeners. Sugar and flavoring ingredients such as peppermint oils break down easily and are quickly eliminated from the body.Likewise, emollients such as vegetable oils or glycerin also do not pose a problem to the human digestive system. The only ingredient that can resist stomach acid and intestinal digestive enzymes is gum base.

Traditionally, many manufacturers use the gum or resinous sap of the evergreen sapodilla tree, which grows in southern Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean islands, as a gum base.However, since American soldiers brought rationed chewing gum with them to theaters around the world during World War II, sapodilla trees have been unable to keep up with the growing demand.

Photo author, Thinkstock

Photo caption,

Synthetic materials are used in modern chewing gum

Today, most chewing gum uses other natural or synthetic polymer bases. The FDA approves the use of a variety of substances, including butyl rubber, which is used, among other things, in the inner tubes of automobile and bicycle wheels and self-tightening elastic films.Each manufacturer has their own recipe for achieving superior gum elasticity.

But even if the rubber base does not degrade, this does not mean that it lasts in your gut for seven years.

And it also doesn’t wrap itself around the heart, as some claim. Because chewing gum is just a small lump, it eventually leaves the body through the digestive tract.

Foreign bodies, such as coins, usually come out of the stomach on their own – provided that their size does not exceed two centimeters.Chewing gum has one distinct advantage over many other objects that a person might accidentally swallow – it is soft.

The only reason chewing gum can stay in the body for seven years is because it has a significant amount of it. And even symptoms such as constipation do not always allow it to be detected in time.

A report was published in 1998 describing alarming incidents involving three children.They had bowel obstruction caused by the habit of swallowing chewing gum.

One of these children was a four-year-old boy who suffered from constipation for two years. It was so difficult for him to go to the toilet that his parents started giving him chewing gum as a reward to help him empty himself. The child was given five to seven plates a day, and he always swallowed them instead of spitting them out.

Photo author, Thinkstock

Photo caption,

Chewing gum is not easy to get rid of…

For four days we tried fiber, oils and enemas. Nothing worked. Then the doctors, under anesthesia, removed from the boy’s rectum a mass resembling toffee candy in consistency. The mass consisted mainly of rubber. Although the substance was not up to seven years old, it posed a lot of problems for the boy.

In the body of another patient, a girl also four years old, doctors discovered a multi-colored mass, which in fact also turned out to be chewing gum.According to the doctors, the patient used to swallow the gum quickly so that she could be given more.

The third case occurred with a one and a half year old girl. The doctors found four coins in her stomach, stuck together with some sticky substance that resembled wax. It turned out that she regularly swallowed chewing gum, as well as small coins. The families of the two children were aware of the fact that their children swallowed chewing gum, considering this habit a manifestation of frivolity, the authors of the report say.

Swallowing large quantities of gum is not a good idea. However, if you happen to suddenly swallow a lump, it is unlikely that it will harm you in any way. At least, there is no evidence in favor of this version.

And if you swallow chewing gum now, it won’t get stuck in your stomach and will come out well before the 2020 Olympics kicks off.

Legal information. This article is for general information only and should not be construed as a substitute for the advice of a physician or other healthcare professional.