Metabolism, Part 3 of 3

I have explained how metabolism works, and what foods help boost metabolism.

The final piece of the puzzle is exercise. I know this is supposed to be a nutrition blog, but metabolism is a perfect example of how nutrition cannot reap its full benefits without exercise. They go hand in hand, and both are vital to a healthy life.

Remember when I went over how much ATP energy “pills” are in just one Christmas cookie? Trillions! But if you don’t exercise and release that ATP energy, your body must store it. This is what leads to things like high cholesterol, high blood pressure, high triglycerides, obesity, diabetes, and other very serious health problems.

The other benefit of exercise is the deep breathing. Metabolism absolutely needs oxygen to operate. Look back at Steps 1 and 2: tiny sugar molecules from our food are trying to break down into more basic forms. However, the process halts at Step 1 if there is no oxygen available. Instead, the sugars are temporarily turned into lactic acid. This is why we may feel soreness during and after a workout. But eventually, as our heart rate slows and we can breath more deeply and inhale more oxygen, that lactic acid slowly goes away and those sugar molecules continue to metabolize, powered by oxygen.

Breathing out carbon dioxide is also an important part of metabolism. Deep breathing activities like yoga, pilates (my personal favorite), Tai Chi, and meditation are all very beneficial to proper metabolism.

In my opinion, exercise and healthy eating go hand in hand. Some people say three times a week is enough, but I disagree. I would challenge people to try to do something active once a day. Some days that may include a 6-mile run and a yoga class. Other days, maybe just a 10-minute walk to the post office. But either way, you are getting your heart rate up, working your muscles, and helping your metabolism stay healthy.

Some ideas for getting a workout in on days you are busy:

• Wake up 10 minutes earlier and run for those 10 minutes. That one mile will make a huge difference in your day. Even if you just walk for 10 minutes, that is still so much better than avoiding a workout altogether.

• Park in the farthest corner when you’re at the mall or grocery store.

• Take the stairs instead of the elevator at work.

• Sit on a fit ball at your desk. If your coworkers make fun of you, they are just jealous that you are doing something good for your health! Guys can sit on fit balls too. A certain guy I know uses it in his home office…

• Walk more places. Whether it’s the grocery store, the pharmacy or the bank, if you can walk there, why not? It saves money and gives you a workout. I walk everywhere for these reasons (okay, well, my walking may also have something to do with the fact that my Saturn wagon is barely chugging along and I don’t want to have to buy a new car for at least another year…). Sometimes Ed and I even walk to dinner on date night, whether it’s ½ mile down the street or 4 miles across town! It’s fun, a good chance to talk, and the food and drinks taste much better if you feel like you’ve earned them!

Exercise is so important. Don’t let a day go by without it! Oh, and for those who live in colder climates, remember that you burn extra calories when you run or walk outside in the cold, because your body is working hard to stay warm!

That wraps up metabolism. If any of you want more detailed information about how it works, send me an email and I will share with you the “client handout” I made for my final exam in my class. It is helpful to know what’s going on inside of you. Also, I met a girl last weekend who is reading Jillian Michael’s book on metabolism (Master Your Metabolism). She was totally into nutrition talk (which I loved), and when we talked about metabolism she said it’s exactly what she’s reading in this book. I may be a little biased since I love watching Biggest Loser each Tuesday night (even though I don't always agree with their nutrition approach), but this book may be a good one to pick up.

Metabolism, Part 2 of 3

People often want to know which foods they can eat to give their metabolism a boost and keep it healthy. Yesterday you learned that metabolism requires certain vitamins and minerals in order to properly break down sugar molecules and create energy for your body.

B-vitamins are some of the main vitamins used in metabolism. They act as “carriers” to transport the tiny molecules of food from one step of metabolism to another. So, if you are not getting enough B-vitamins from your diet, you could be slowing down your metabolism. Two important B-vitamins are riboflavin (B-2) and niacin (B-3).

Foods that contain niacin and riboflavin include yogurt, broccoli, almonds, wild and brown rice, brie, roquefort, ricotta and Swiss cheeses, tuna, white meat chicken, swordfish, salmon, halibut, peanuts, beef, cod, sunflower seeds, whole wheat flour, and eggs. Animal organs also contain high levels of these B-vitamins, so those people in your family who volunteer to eat the turkey organs on Thanksgiving each year (that would be you, Ed) are actually doing their health a huge favor!

Certain minerals are also necessary for proper metabolism. These include phosphorous, magnesium, iron, copper and zinc. All of these minerals work with the B-vitamins to transport and break down food. Foods you can eat to obtain each of these minerals include:

Phosphorous: Swiss, American and cheddar cheeses, ham, tofu, beans, milk, raw almonds, oatmeal and lentils.

Magnesium: buckwheat and whole wheat flour, tofu, dried figs, Swiss chard, raw almonds, roasted cashews, halibut, pecans, walnuts, bananas, avocado, watermelon, baked squash, black strap molasses, sweet potatoes (with skins), kiwi and garbanzo beans.

Iron: Blackstrap molasses, amaranth, quinoa, teff (see recipe using these grains here) lentils, beef, beans, leeks, apricots, kale, pumpkin, squash, raw spinach, almonds and figs.

Copper: Cashews, peas, blackstrap molasses, sunflower seeds, mushrooms, almonds, whole wheat flour, prunes, white meat chicken, pecans, halibut.

Zinc: Oysters, beef, turkey, Swiss and cheddar cheeses, lima beans, rolled oats, pumpkin seeds, tuna, ginger, lentils, cashews and peas.

As you can see, it is very important to vary your diet to get all of these vitamins and minerals. Try keeping only whole wheat flour and brown rice in your kitchen, so whenever you bake or cook these are your only options. White rice and white flour are not helping metabolism (or your overall health) one bit, so why buy them? Another tip is to eat many different types of nuts and seeds either as a snack, on a salad, in the form of nut butter, or in things you bake or cook. You can see above that nuts and seeds contain many vitamins and minerals. Finally, try to buy new fruits and vegetables each time you grocery shop. Sometimes people get into the habit of buying the same things each week. This limits your diet and may prevent you from getting all the vitamins and minerals your body needs.

Other quick, easy tips to incorporate the above foods into your diet: Bake with blackstrap molasses as a sweetener (read more about it here); make homemade nut butter not only from almonds but with cashews and walnuts as well (find out how to do it here); whenever you prepare potatoes, always keep skins on for full health benefits; add some of the fruits and veggies above into a smoothie.

It is important to focus on healthy foods to keep your metabolism moving. Low-fat or low-calorie diets may prevent you from getting all the vitamins and minerals your body requires, which ultimately slows metabolism and prevents further weight loss. The best diet, whether you’re trying to lose or maintain weight, is a diet rich in whole foods and one that limits or completely eliminates processed foods and refined sugars. This will ensure your metabolism and other cellular processes are functioning properly, allowing for healthy cells and prevention of sickness and disease.

Metabolism, Part 1 of 3

Ever wonder how metabolism works inside your body? Which foods aid metabolism and which ones inhibit it? Why certain foods metabolize more quickly than others?

All of these questions will be answered between now and Friday at PWN blog. We just finished our metabolism unit at school and I am completely fascinated with everything I have learned. So, I want to share it with you. I am sure that once you understand metabolism a bit better, and how certain diets and lifestyles can actually help or hurt metabolism, you will be motivated to make small changes!

Part 1: Science

I’ve been called a “mathlete” many times in my life (I majored in math at Marquette). But is there a term for the science geek? Because that’s what I’ve felt like this past week. I have been completely captivated by YouTube videos on cellular respiration and spent hours sketching diagrams of glucose molecules. I’ll try to simplify it here so I don’t bore you too much, but I do think it’s important to have an idea of the science behind the nutrition.

Everything we do requires energy, from sleeping to sprinting. This energy is called ATP. Metabolism is the process that changes food energy into body energy, or ATP. A body with no food, or a body with the wrong foods, will have a tough time producing ATP. This is why you may feel run down when you are hungry; eating a diet that restricts calories, fats or carbs; or eating a diet high in things like potato chips, baked goods and white bread.

Food Energy In Body Energy Out

But only with proper metabolism!

Metabolism breaks apart 3 things inside of us: carbohydrates, proteins and fats. When you eat a banana, glucose sugar molecules enter our cells to begin metabolism.

In Step 1, they are broken apart in a 10-part process to a simpler type of sugar, pyruvate sugars. Step 1 produces 2 ATPs, or 2 “energy pills”.

In Step 2, the pyruvate sugars are further broken down into a new type of sugar called Acetyl CoA sugars. This produces no ATP energy.

In Step 3, the sugars finally complete their breakdown. Step 3 is powered by carbohydrates (and sometimes proteins). So if you are eating a low-carbohydrate diet, your metabolism will eventually slow. This explains why some may experience weight loss initially on a low-carb diet, but eventually that will taper off. Step 3 produces 2 more ATP energy pills.

In the final step, tiny atoms from your food are transferred through certain vitamins and minerals, all lined up in a row. As the atoms travel through, they create more and more ATP energy (34 ATP energy pills total for step 4). This step requires certain vitamins and minerals to operate. Those who are consuming foods that are not nutrient-rich, such as processed or packaged foods, may not have the vitamins and minerals they need to complete Step 4 properly. This will explain why some people go on a low-calorie diet and still have trouble jump-starting their metabolism. If your calories are not coming from the right foods, your body is not going to operate effectively.

The entire metabolism process, Steps 1-4, creates about 38 ATP energy pills. We use each energy pill to power our daily lives. However, any excess energy can be turned into stored fat.

A good example we talked about in class: 1 cookie has trillions of glucose molecules. If each glucose molecule produces 38 ATP energy pills, think about how much energy you are producing with just that 1 cookie! Chances are you will not use up all this energy, which can result in fat storage.

Check back tomorrow and Friday for more information on what types of food power metabolism, what types slow it down, and specific lifestyle changes you can make to help your body run more efficiently!

By the way, I'm thinking of ordering myself one of these t-shirts. Anyone else want one?

Masala Chai Tea

It’s 6 degrees in Denver, and our heat has been broken since Friday morning. I’ll spare you the details, but let’s just say I’ve learned a lot over the past four days. The wood-burning fireplace in our living room has been our heat source, and it’s wonderful. Even though my clothes and hair smell like campfire, and my butt is sore from doing all my homework on the ground next to the fireplace, and my chest hurt on my 3-mile run today (probably from smoke inhalation), there is no one who can dispute that real fireplaces are the best – especially around Christmastime. I'm really going to miss the constant fire once our heat is up and running again tomorrow!

In addition to non-stop fires, Ed and I have been drinking tea to stay warm. We drink mainly herbal teas, but I found a recipe from the chefs at Nutrition Therapy Institute that I want to share. It’s festive enough without being over the top – perfect for this time of year.

Recipe

5 tsp Darjeeling Tea

4 cups water

1 cup milk

5 green cardamon pods

1 cinnamon stick

5 whole cloves

Raw honey

Bring water to a boil, then simmer with spices for 5-10 minutes. Turn off heat and add tea. Let steep for 5-10 minutes. Warm milk in separate pot. Mix tea and milk together. Add honey to taste.

Cardamon pods look like this:

Cardamon is a seedpod that is high in antioxidents. It is a good source of potassium, calcium, magnesium, manganese and iron. They were traditionally used for medicinal purposes because they contain so many health-promoting nutrients. You can find them at a local health food store. You can also buy ground cardamon seeds as a spice.

Cardamon is a good flavor to add to other things too, such as brown rice, soups or chicken dishes. In school we talk a lot about the importance of a varied diet. So, now I pick up something new to try every time I am at the grocery store. Cardamon pods are something I will definitely be buying again.

So, you can overpay for a sugary chai latte at the coffee shop, or you can make your own nutritious tea at home... what will it be?

Fruits & Veggies: What to Buy, and Why

Many of you probably read Haute Apple Pie, a blog attempting (and wildly succeeding) to redefine what it means to be a homemaker. I can’t get enough of these girls, which is apparent by my new Dash & Albert rugs at every door in my home, my success (finally!) in making edible sweet potato fries, and my newfound awareness of my decorating feng shui (pretty sure I’m wood and metal…).

Who knows, I may even pull off a birthday party as chic as this one for my future kid some day (calm down Ed… I am only kidding… we can stick to backyard BBQs, I promise).

But when they wrote about the Dirty Dozen and the Clean 15, I got really excited. Of course buying 100% fresh, organic, local foods is best. But that is not always affordable and practical. So these tips about which fruits and vegetables should be bought organic and which are okay to buy non-organic are very helpful and relevant.

I had a great question recently: Why has there been a decrease of vitamins and minerals in our fruits and vegetables? Why was an apple grown and picked in 1900 much, much healthier than the apples we find in our grocery stores today?

Non-organic fruits and veggies can be treated with things like pesticides, additives, antibiotics and nitrates. Pesticides are used to protect crops, and have been around for 4,500 years. In the 15th century, toxic chemicals such as mercury and lead were used to protect crops. Pesticides really took off in the 1940s when synthetic forms were introduced, and pesticide use has increased significantly since then.

These synthetic materials can be very harmful to us in large quantities, or even in small quantities over a long period of time. Sure, the EPA, FDA and USDA are all regulating pesticide use among farmers. But these pesticides are very toxic by nature (which is why they must be regulated) and although “safe” and acceptable limits have been defined, there is no consideration as to the dangers of these chemicals once they are ingested and thrown into our delicate cells. Our bodies were not made to tolerate pesticides.

In addition, the soil in which non-organic produce is grown is often treated to increase fertility of plants. These treatments can reduce nutrient density in plants, such as decreasing levels of vitamin C in tomatoes and increasing nitrates (harmful substances) in spinach.

Organic fruits and veggies have significantly higher levels of vitamins A, C and E; B vitamins; zinc; calcium; and other minerals. The organic soil fertility methods improve efficiency of nutrient uptake in plants, creating fruits and veggies packed with nutrients that promote plant health and therefore human health.

And let’s not forget about the importance of buying local. As soon as an apple is picked, it begins to lose nutrients. Most US produce is picked 4-7 days before it reaches the grocery store shelves; produce from other countries is even older by the time we get our hands on it.

The fresher the fruits and veggies are, the bolder the flavors. Not to mention the peace of mind associated with knowing what farm your produce came from, and the specific growing practices they use. Try to buy local whenever possible. Stickers on fruits and vegetables should tell you the country or state of origin, and the closer to your hometown the better. For some, buying local means stepping outside and picking a few things from their own backyard. For others, it’s the neighborhood farmer’s market.

To sum it up, local and organic fruits and vegetables contain higher levels of nutrients, giving our bodies more power and health and reducing the amount of toxins we ingest. They may cost a bit more, but we are also getting more bang for our buck. Since most of us are on a budget, the Dirty Dozen and Clean 15 lists can help when choosing which items to buy organic. Just make sure to get a good produce brush to properly clean fruits and vegetables before you eat them.

Thanks to the lovely ladies at HAP blog for helping to make our homes (and our health!) more haute, one day at a time!

Airport Eating

We’ve all done it: You are at the airport, and STARVING. Or maybe you’re just bored and dreading your two hour layover, and feel like eating something. So you head to Pizza Hut for a personal pizza, or McDonald’s, or TCBY for some “healthy” frozen yogurt (topped with Oreo cookie and gummy bears – Ed’s favorite combo).

Really, did you need that slice of pizza at 3:15 in the afternoon? Did you tell yourself that there are no healthy options so you were forced to eat McDonald’s?

Since many of us will be traveling in the next few weeks, I thought I'd give you some tips for keeping your airport visits healthy. We'll be getting plenty of worthy calories at our final destinations where someone is most likely busy in the kitchen creating all sorts of homemeade Christmas treats. Don't waste them on stale airport food!

Here are my suggestions for eating at airports:

The past few times we've traveled, I've packed us snacks. We've had quinoa with chicken, hummus with apples and veggies for dipping, sandwiches, and bags of nuts. It's easy, healthy, saves money, and tastes better than anything you can buy at an airport. This is your best option, especially if you have kids. Christmas is exciting enough for little kids - the very least you can do is give them healthy food to help balance out all of the stimulation Christmas brings!

Quiznos can be healthy if you order a small turkey on wheat with veggies – no cheese or mayo or oil. But that isn’t really an option at most airports. They have a set menu of six subs, each loaded with sauces, oils and cheeses.

Some airports (JFK, for example) have the Cibo Market, which has some natural food bars, fresh fruit and even oatmeal. This is an okay option. However, you will pay $7.50 for that organic food bar, so just be prepared.

Try The Grove. They have nuts and snacks available in bulk. This not only allows you to get a basic whole food that is a key part of your daily diet, but also allows for portion control. Only buy one or two servings of nuts, and eat them as a snack. Once I stopped at McDonald’s and just asked for a honey pack, then dipped my walnuts into it. Delicious! Although I'm pretty sure McDonald's doesn't sell raw honey...

You’ll feel better when you arrive, because you avoided a 1,200 calorie disaster and instead had a 300 calorie snack!

One last thing: Ed & I once had cheesesteaks in the Philly airport during our 7-hour delay. I do not regret this; it was the most delicious sandwich ever and we are still talking about it!!! So if you get stuck in PHL this holiday season, disregard everything I've said in this blog post...

Nuts for the Holidays

I use Twitter. Some people think it’s worthless but it’s not. I try to only “tweet” (or “twit” as my brother-in-law calls it) things that are useful to others. But the best part is following other tweeters. For example, I follow a few of my favorite restaurants in Denver so I know the scoop on happy hour deals and seasonal menu changes. Another example: I got all the latest updates on the Tiger & Elin saga (very important gossip) all weekend long because I could follow the tweets about it. Do you tweet? If so, let me know! I am always looking for good people to follow. You can follow me (@annpierce) here.

I also follow some great people who blog about food and recipes, and this is often where I get my inspiration for the things I cook at home. Today I found a recipe for Maple & Spice Glazed Nuts. And even though I just told guest blogger Jessica that I am addicted to dipping almonds in raw honey and I should really cut back, I went ahead and made these anyway because they looked too easy and too wonderful to pass up. I added a couple of my own ingredients and in 20 minutes I had delicious nuts and a house that smelled like Christmastime.

The recipe is at Jamie Living blog, found here. Jamie has great recipes and usually a good story to go along with it! I’ve copied the recipe below and added my own personal touches.

Recipe

2 cups nuts (I used pecans, walnuts, almonds and cashews)

2 tbsp 100% maple syrup

1 tbsp raw honey

1 tsp lemon zest (Jamie lists this as optional, however I am listing it as mandatory! The lemon flavor makes these nuts unique and not too sugary tasting)

1 tsp sea salt

½ tsp cayenne pepper (I love the spiciness, but feel free to reduce)

½ tsp cinnamon

Mix all ingredients and bake on a cookie sheet at 300 degrees for 15 minutes.

And as a refresher, here are the all the healthy things you’ll find in this recipe:

Pecans: full of antioxidents, help lower cholesterol, high in vitamins A, E & B1, calcium, potassium, zinc, magnesium and protein.

Cashews: lower in fat than other nuts (contain the same healthy fats found in olive oil), high in copper and magnesium, known to help prevent gallstones.

Almonds: rich in protein, iron, calcium and vitamin B2, help relieve coughing and asthma symptoms, can help lower cholesterol and protect against diabetes, rich in manganese and copper.

Walnuts: can reduce inflammation and alleviate pain associated with arthritis, high in omega-3 fatty acids (good for bones), help with coughing and chest pain, good for cardiovascular health.

Remember, a serving size of nuts is the equivalent of about one small handful.

The spiced nuts are a great holiday snack that contain so many more nutrients and health benefits than your typical sugary treats, and they just as good!

Kale

Since Ed and I both have cancer history in our family (go dads!), I try to find ways for us to eat cruciferous vegetables 2-3 times per week (key word: TRY). One of my favorites is kale. Anyone who has tried kale knows that it’s not the type of veggie you just munch on raw. Here are some of the ways I have prepared it:

• Kale Sausage Soup (recipe to come!)

• Put on sandwiches in place of lettuce – taste blends right in

• Chop into small pieces and sauté with other veggies (I recently used shitake mushrooms), grated ginger, fresh garlic, sesame seeds and olive oil and serve as a side dish

• Chop into small pieces and mix into scrambled eggs

• Mix 1-2 cups into a smoothie – I swear you won’t even taste it, you’ll just see the green!

• Use in a mixed greens salad – when mixed with spinach and romaine, the salad will not have the overpowering kale taste

Try it! Kale provides more nutritional value for fewer calories than almost any other food. That alone should motivate you to try it! Among its many nutrients are large amounts of Vitamins K, A, and C; manganese; fiber; and Vitamin B6. The phytonutrients in kale are what help prevent or fight cancer by suppressing tumor growth and blocking cancer-causing subjects from getting to their targets.

Kale is my favorite cruciferous vegetable, but some others to try are cabbage, collard greens, broccoli, cauliflower, radish and watercress. Cruciferous vegetables are detoxifying and do not allow free radicals to harm our DNA and cell membranes. They are also full of vitamins and minerals and good for things like vision and heart health. So whether you have cancer history in your family or not, I strongly recommend incorporating cruciferous vegetables into your diet. These are especially important and helpful this month to balance out all those sugary delicious sweets we encounter at every turn!

Kale & Kids: Since kale has a tough, chewy texture, it may be difficult to find a way for kids to enjoy it. I think your best option would be a smoothie, or incorporating it into some type of lasagna or pasta dish. If any of the moms out there have any good ideas, please share!

Now back to my banana kale smoothie…

Coffee

Coffee drinkers come in all shapes and sizes.

There are those who are perfectly content picking up their $0.59 cup at the local gas station on their way to work, and there are those who are positively snobbish about it and order not just one but TWO fancy cappuccino machines from Italy (in case one breaks, obviously) and are even known to bring their cappuccino machines and freshly ground beans on vacation with them (that would be you guys, mom & dad).

There are women who love it sweetened in every way imaginable, from amaretto syrup to honey to cinnamon……and men who will drink whatever is available, even if it’s just yesterday’s leftovers sitting in the cup holder when they get into their car in the morning.

Some treat it more as a hobby or lifestyle, drinking only fair trade coffee and frequenting coffee shops for their local art and music.

And then of course, there are the Starbucks moms, popping in each morning with their post-yoga glow, baristas already preparing the made-to-order latte before they even step foot inside the shop.

Since over a dozen of you have asked me about coffee, I am going to do my best to help you understand the “nutrition” behind our favorite morning beverage, whether you go for a grande extra-hot double-shot sugar-free vanilla skim latte no foam, or just a black coffee.

Let’s start simple. Coffee contains lots of caffeine. Caffeine binds with receptors in your brain that are normally reserved for chemicals that cause drowsiness. This is why caffeine keeps us awake and alert. Our heart rate increases, sugar is released into the bloodstream for energy, and our muscles start receiving more blood flow.

You may have noticed that drinking coffee makes you have to go to the bathroom often. This is because coffee is a diuretic, meaning it increases the amount of urine produced. This can dehydrate the body if you are not drinking extra amounts of water for each cup of coffee you drink (read about the effects of dehydration here).

Caffeine also causes potassium to be excreted from your body, which can cause an increase in blood pressure. Symptoms associated with excess caffeine intake include anxiety, tension, stomach ulcers, reflux and inability to concentrate.

But in moderation, coffee is not all bad. The way one of my teachers described it was that caffeine is okay “as long as you are not a slave to it.”

Are you a slave to coffee? Are you dysfunctional in the morning until you get your first two cups? Then maybe you should try to cut back a little. Because once you are a “slave” to your morning (or afternoon) coffee, it means your body is addicted to the caffeine. And that is what leads to all the problems you hear about. You may get headaches until you get your next cup. You may be irritable or tense with your kids or coworkers. Falling asleep each night could be stressful and difficult. All of these things indicate that caffeine addiction is beginning to affect your daily life in a negative way. You should recognize these warning signs and begin to take steps to reduce your dependency on caffeine.

If you aren’t sure if you are a slave to caffeine or not, try going without it for 4 days. If this is easy for you, you may not be addicted and you should cut back while you can. If this is difficult and you feel withdrawal symptoms, it might be time to face the caffeine addiction. I have never had to go through the process of eliminating caffeine because I typically only drink caffeinated coffee or tea about 2-3 times per week (and I rarely, if ever, drink soda). But I know people who have given up coffee, and slow and steady seems to be the way to go. I have heard of diluting coffee with water each morning, starting with just 25% water and 75% coffee, and eventually ending up with 75% water and 25% coffee. You could also try switching to decaf coffee or herbal teas. Traditional Medicinals makes some great herbal teas.

Another point to keep in mind: one cup of coffee is the equivalent of 8 oz., so when you order the “small” size at most coffee shops, you are usually getting 12 oz. or 1 ½ cups of coffee.

The creamy and sugary additions that people add to their Starbucks drinks are a whole separate topic, and I believe some people may be addicted to their morning “sugar”, not necessarily the morning caffeine… let’s just focus on tackling the caffeine for now!

Enzymes, Part Two: Digestion

(Read Part One here).

It’s a few days after Thanksgiving, and you’re hungry. You make yourself a simple turkey sandwich with the leftovers. Bread, turkey, lettuce, maybe a little mayo or mustard. You sit down and take a bite…

Before the turkey sandwich even hits your lips, your digestive enzymes start working. Just the thought of a juicy, leftover-turkey sandwich begins to activate the enzymes in your saliva, called amylase. Amylase is contained in everyone’s saliva and is the first enzyme utilized in digestion. It breaks down carbohydrates while you chew. The more you chew your food, the easier it will be to digest your meal, because you are allowing the amylase to get a good start on digestion before the food even hits your stomach. Occasionally you may take a bite and swallow it with only a few chews. This bite will be difficult to digest because the amylase did not get a chance to begin the process in your mouth.

You may notice that when you eat a cracker or a slice of bread and chew it thoroughly, it begins to taste sweet. This is because the amylase in your saliva is breaking down the carbohydrates into their component sugars inside of your mouth. Try it! If you taste the sweetness, you know you are chewing your food thoroughly, which is a good thing.

Now back to your turkey sandwich…

Your bite travels down your esophagus into your stomach. It lands in the hydrochloric acid that should be in everyone’s stomach (Why? Read about it here). Your stomach releases protease enzymes that, along with the hydrochloric acid and your stomach muscles, further break down the protein from your bite of turkey sandwich. Lipase is another enzyme found here that works to break down fats. If you have plant enzymes in your stomach (from a fresh veggie or from an enzyme supplement you’ve taken before your meal), these will also begin breaking down that bite of turkey sandwich. All of these enzymes work hard to break down your food for about an hour before the food travels on to your small intestine.

Once inside your 20-25 foot small intestine (it lies right behind your belly button), additional enzymes are enlisted to further aid in digestion. Your intestine lining and your pancreas will excrete some enzymes that begin to work on that turkey sandwich. If you have digestive issues such as yeast, food allergies or inflammation, the enzymes in your small intestine can be affected and you may start to experience discomfort (gas, bloating, cramping, etc.) at this point in the digestion process.

Once the small intestine enzymes complete the breakdown of your food, the nutrients are absorbed into your body. This includes vitamins, minerals, proteins, carbohydrates and fats. Anything that is undigested will then enter your large intestine (which is actually shorter at only 5 feet long, but is much wider than the small intestine). Here, water is removed from the undigested food, turning it into solid waste. This solid waste is then excreted appropriately.

Without sufficient enzymes in each step of this process, you will experience digestion problems. Pain or discomfort after a meal could mean you do not have proper enzymes to break down your food, or a healthy stomach or intestinal environment in which these enzymes can work. This is where supplementation comes in. For some people it is helpful and even necessary to take enzyme supplements with each meal.

So next time you dig into a turkey sandwich or juicy burger, chew slowly and thoroughly. It could be the difference between a stomach stuck doing somersaults and a stomach that is calm, full and satisfied!

Can't you just see the amylase enzymes activating in Teddy's mouth as he is about to bite into this bacon cheeseburger??!!