From Mouth to Esophagus to Stomach
food is chewed in the mouth and saliva is mixed with
this food. Saliva is made up of an alkaline electrolyte
solution that moistens the food, mucus that serves as a
lubricant, amylase, an enzyme that initiates the
digestion of starch, lipase, an enzyme that begins the
digestion of fat, and protease, which digests protean,
Most carbohydrates are broken down by the process of
chewing the food and mixing it with enzymes. Hopefully
that food had viable enzymes to mix with the enzymes
supplied by the mouth.
Pre-digestion in the Stomach
After swallowing the food, it moves down the esophagus,
which is 18 to 24 inches long. The esophagus moves
through the warm core of the body and is responsible for
warming the food to close to body temperature, which is
ideally 98.6. This is very important as enzymes digest
food best at between 94 and 104 degrees. So, if the
ideal situation exists in the esophagus (ice water is
not added to the food) the food is warmed to somewhere
between 96 and 98 degrees before it enters the stomach.
This food enters the stomach through the cardiac
sphincter, which is where the esophagus and the stomach
meet. An empty stomach is like a flattened balloon
until food enters it. As the food enters upper part of
the stomach, it stretches and enlarges to accommodate
the food. In fact, the stomach will enlarge beyond the
size of the meal until it is fully inflated. While the
stomach is inflating to its full size which takes
somewhere between 40 to 60 minutes, pre-digestion takes
place. Pre-digestion, is the food sitting in the
stomach being digested by the enzymes that came with
it. The ideal ph here is about seven, very alkaline.
This pre-digestion is considered by many nutritionists
to be the most important stage of digestion. This is
where the enzymes from our food and mouth digest and
prepare the food for absorption.
Once the stomach completes the pre-digestive process,
the food than undergoes chemical and mechanical
digestion. Herein the lower part of the stomach,
peristaltic contractions (mechanical digestion) churn
the bolus, which mixes with strong digestive juices.
These juices include powerful hydrochloric acid, which
helps break down the bolus into a liquid called chyme.
In addition, enzymes called pepsin and cathepsin are
added to the juice in the stomach to brake down most of
the protein in the food. This process can take several
hours depending on the meal eaten. The ideal ph here
is about three, very acidic.
Hydrochloric acid has three purposes. First, to break
down mineral bonds from our diet. Now as they pass
through our intestines they are small enough to pass
through the wall to be used by the body. Second, clean
the food of pathogens by creating an acidic environment
that will clean the food of these pathogens. Third,
change pepsinogen into pepsin, which breaks down the
long protein strings that are the essential and
non-essential amino acids in the food. These are
broken down by pepsin into polypeptides, peptides and
tri-peptides so they can be utilized by our body.
Once the food is broken down, it has the consistency of
cake batter. This is called chime and is released into
the duodenum by the pyloric sphincter.
Prescription for Nutritional Healing, James Balch, M.D.
and Phyllis Balch, CNC, Avery Books 2000
Enzymes The Fountain of Life, D.A. Lopez, MD, R.M.
Williams, MD PhD, K. Miehlke, MD,
The Neville Press, Inc 1994
Understanding Digestion, Elaine Newkirk ND, New Life
Nutrition Inc. 2007, www.makeripples.com