Reporter Guo Yijun/Report from Taipei
To be healthy, immunity must be taken care of, but many people may not know that the most powerful immune organ of the human body is also the body’s first immune system, which is the intestine. The intestine can be called the second brain of the human body. About 70% of the immune cells in the human body are in the intestine. If the intestine is not taken care of, many diseases will follow, except for the decline in immunity. Professor Wang Jinkun, an authority on nutrition in China, teaches everyone how to maintain gastrointestinal health. There are many mistakes that many people make. Often drinking this cup is actually the biggest killer of immunity!
Wang Jinkun is the current professor of the Department of Nutrition of Sun Yat-sen University of Medicine. He enjoys a high prestige and status in nutrition circles at home and abroad.Wang Jinkun Nutrition, white hair turns black, 15 years youngerIn “, in addition to teaching everyone to find health by eating, we must also work hard to arouse the body’s self-healing power so that diseases can be cured naturally.
Don’t underestimate the human body’s first self-healing power-the stomach and intestines
We often allow our brains to choose our favorite foods, such as crispy chicken chops and cold drinks, while the silent gastrointestinal tract can only accept digestion and may absorb harmful substances. However, the body’s first line of defense for self-healing lies in the gastrointestinal tract. Because the gastrointestinal tract is the front line of the human body in contact with food, it is responsible for functions such as digestion, absorption, hormone regulation, immunity, mucosal regeneration and repair.
Stomach: first digest protein
The digestive tract starts with the oral cavity and ends with the rectum. After the food enters the mouth, it reacts fully with saliva through chewing, and the starch is initially decomposed. The chewed food enters the stomach through the esophagus. It is compressed intermittently every 15 to 20 seconds to fully mix the food to form a “chyme”.
The protein in the chyme will be initially digested in the stomach, and different foods will stay in the stomach for different times. The time for water or juice to pass through the stomach is about 1 to 30 minutes, and for meat is about 3 to 4 hours. Carbohydrate foods pass through the stomach the fastest, followed by proteins, and lipid foods are the slowest.
People with poor gastric function or gastric diseases should avoid gulping and overeating to avoid obstruction of gastric emptying (that is, chyme leaving the stomach) or abnormal stimulation of gastric acid.
The first step in stomach digestion is the secretion of gastric acid. Protein digestion enzymes (gastrin) must be activated by gastric acid to function. Under normal conditions, gastric acid secretion will not cause harm, but when it is stimulated and secreted abnormally, it may cause damage.
In addition, stomach acid also helps the absorption of calcium and iron. If you take drugs that inhibit gastric acid for a long time, you must pay special attention to whether the intake of calcium and iron is sufficient. Ingestion of carbohydrate-containing foods (whole grain roots, milk, fruits), and drinking coffee or tea (caffeine and tannins) on an empty stomach can trigger gastric acid secretion.
Protein food can buffer the secretion of gastric acid in the early stage of digestion, but it will promote the secretion of gastric acid in the middle and late stages, and its secretion is even more than that of carbohydrate food. Although fatty foods can inhibit the secretion of gastric acid, it will increase the time that the food stays in the stomach, and the time that the stomach is exposed to gastric acid will increase.
Long-term abnormal secretion of gastric acid can cause indigestion, promote inflammation, and increase the risk of ulcers and gastric cancer. Smoked, grilled or fried foods can easily stimulate gastric acid secretion and increase the risk of stomach inflammation. It is recommended to reduce consumption.
Small intestine: digests and absorbs all nutrients
After the food is initially digested by the stomach, it will enter the small intestine, which is responsible for digestion and absorption of various nutrients. The small intestine starts from the pylorus and ends with the ileocecal valve (the junction of the end of the small intestine and the large intestine), with a total length of about 6 to 7 meters, and can be subdivided into duodenum, jejunum, and ileum.
The duodenum connects the stomach and the jejunum and has the shortest length, but many digestive enzymes are injected here to neutralize gastric acid. Therefore, the duodenum is one of the dangerous areas that are prone to ulcers. If there is insufficient carbonate responsible for neutralizing acid or excessive gastric acid secretion, it is easy to cause duodenal damage.
In the small intestine, fat is broken down into fatty acids and glycerin, protein is broken down into peptides or amino acids, and sugars are broken down into glucose or galactose. Most of the vitamins and minerals are absorbed in the jejunum, and vitamin B12 is absorbed in the ileum. The absorbed nutrients enter the lymph, blood circulation, or enter the tissues via the portal vein (the vein that flows from the small intestine to the liver).
The small intestine has a complete immune system, and the density of the lymphatic system in the ileum is several times that of the jejunum (high density means more lymph, so the immune effect is high). In addition to digestion, the intestine is also the body’s largest immune weapon. The widespread intestinal mucosa and dense intestinal epithelial cells are the most effective physical defenses. There are a large number of macrophages, dendritic cells, granulocytes and Lymphocytes can remove aggressive microorganisms or viruses.
The cells responsible for the defense of the small intestine will constantly regenerate, rotate and repair. Proper rest (not eating before going to bed allows the intestine to rest) is the best way to maintain the function of the small intestine.
Large intestine: exercise three to five times a day
After digestion and absorption in the small intestine, the residual material will enter the large intestine through the ileocecal valve, which can be divided into the cecum, colon (ascending colon, transverse colon, descending colon, sigmoid colon) and rectum.
The main function of the large intestine is to absorb water and residual minerals, and the large intestine has no villi and the intestinal wall is thin, so the frequency of exercise is slower. There are about three to five “mass movements” a day, which can push the contents of the large intestine toward the rectum.
If the frequency of colonic peristalsis increases or stool moisture increases, diarrhea can result. Diarrhea is actually one of the body’s defense mechanisms, especially acute diarrhea. When the human body ingests harmful substances or microorganisms (such as viruses, bacteria, fungi, etc.), in order to prevent harmful substances from being retained in the body and microorganisms from growing in the body, the large intestine will quickly excrete them from the body immediately.
Acute diarrhea, if the harmful substances are discharged smoothly, the recovery time will usually be shorter. Antidiarrheal drugs are not recommended, so as not to hinder the excretion of abnormal harmful substances. The cause of chronic diarrhea is very complicated, but whether it is acute or chronic diarrhea, you must see a doctor in a timely manner to avoid losing too much water and electrolytes, causing dehydration or other discomfort.
Another relative problem of diarrhea is constipation. The causes of constipation are more complex. The main reasons include poor eating habits, irregular bowel movements, irregular work and rest, insufficient water intake, disease, nervousness, drugs (such as painkillers, gastric acid inhibitors, etc.) and lack Exercise, etc., may cause constipation.
Constipation is mostly caused by dietary intake deviation or insufficient water intake. People may become constipated due to emotional stress and abnormal work and rest under pressure, resulting in abnormal colonic peristalsis.
Long-term constipation may be caused by lowered colonic peristalsis performance or insufficient daily activity. It is more suitable to eat foods rich in water-soluble fiber (such as beans, oats, pectin); short-term constipation can eat fiber-rich foods, especially non- Water-soluble fiber foods (such as vegetable and fruit fiber). In addition, supplementing with proper amounts of probiotics can also effectively relieve constipation.
Every bite of food not only provides nutrition, but also changes our immune response. So think before eating food: Does my stomach really like it? Am I suitable for eating these foods without affecting the immune function of the body?
Food life journey, to create two detoxification of the human body
I often tell students that they must eat breakfast. The importance of breakfast is not only to provide energy for the day, but also to activate the body’s detoxification mechanism. Normally, after food enters the human body, the residue after digestion and absorption will be excreted within 24 hours. Breakfast at 8 am will complete digestion and absorption at about 12 noon, and will transfer from the ileum to the large intestine. After eating lunch at 1 p.m., lunch chyme will catch up with the residue after breakfast absorption at 5 p.m. and begin to enter the large intestine.
After eating dinner at 6 pm, the absorbed residue from the dinner between 9 pm and 10 pm begins to enter the large intestine and catch up with the absorbed residue from lunch. At this time, the unabsorbed residue from breakfast will be excreted due to intestinal peristalsis, so 9 to 10 in the evening is the best time for defecation.
In the morning of the next day, the unabsorbed residues from the lunch and dinner of the previous day have been moved to the rectum. Peristalsis in the intestines 10 to 20 minutes after breakfast can promote excretion, that is, 7 to 8 in the morning, it is a bowel movement. good time. It is recommended to have a bowel movement at least once a day, and ideally once in the morning and once in the evening.
A glass of ice drink at your fingertips?The biggest killer of immunity
The intestine is not only the body’s first immune system, but also the body’s second brain and most powerful immune organ. More and more research reports have pointed out that if the intestines are not good, it will cause illnesses, leading to crises such as diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, mental illness and various cancers.
But many people don’t care about bowel maintenance. For example: When the weather is hot, you must hold ice or cold drinks in your hands. This seems to be a kind of act of reconciling cold and heat and balancing the temperature, but in fact it is a chronic injury to the intestines and the body.
The human body is at a constant temperature. When the temperature of the intestine drops instantly, its peristalsis, digestion, absorption and immune functions will be reduced, and the human immunity will naturally be affected. In contrast, overheated or overly spicy foods can also directly affect intestinal function.
In addition, even if it is a micro-sugar beverage, the added fructose is metabolized quickly in the human body and is easily converted into fat accumulation, so you should not be careful.
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