Signs of Healthy Digestion

Signs of Healthy Digestion - Every food and drink that you consume on a daily basis will be digested for nutrients and then used by the body. That's why the digestive organs are one of the most important foundations for maintaining a healthy body. Then, what are the characteristics of a healthy digestive system? How do you maintain the health of the organs and digestive function of the body?

♦ Understand the digestive process in the body
Many think that the process of digesting new food will occur in the stomach. In fact, the process has actually been started since the first time the food entered the mouth.

The food that goes into your mouth will be crushed by your teeth every time you chew, then crushed with the help of saliva. Saliva contains enzymes that work to smooth the texture of food to make it easier for the digestive organs in the stomach to work.

After leaving the mouth, the food is swallowed and flows through the esophagus to the stomach. In the stomach, the food fragments will be refined again with the help of stomach acid and other enzymes until they become very small matter which is then sent to the small intestine.

In the small intestine, food is still digested with the help of digestive enzymes produced by the pancreas and liver. The purpose of this process is to take and absorb the nutrients, which will then be distributed throughout the body.

Once most of the nutrients have been absorbed, the rest will be absorbed by the liver. In the liver, bile will filter waste substances that are not needed. This residual substance will then flow back into the large intestine. In the large intestine, these waste substances will be processed with the rest of the food to be compacted into feces.

Stool will be stored in the large intestine until your digestive muscles contract and are finally expelled through the anus.

♦ Signs that your digestive system is healthy and normal
We generally know immediately that digestion is in trouble if we suddenly have a stomachache, experience diarrhea, or constipation (difficulty defecating). Well, sometimes these problems can also appear without obvious symptoms, so we feel fine.

So, how do you know how healthy your digestive system works? The working health of the digestive organs is usually indicated in eight general signs as below:

➢ 1. Defecate regularly

The normal frequency of bowel movements varies from person to person. But generally, a healthy bowel routine is around 3-4 times a week. There are also some people who are used to defecating every day. This is classified as normal because everyone has a different metabolism in their body.

A regular, painless bowel pattern indicates that your digestion is working well. A regular pattern here means that it does not suddenly change, in the sense that it is not getting rarer or even more frequent than usual.

If you suddenly have trouble having a bowel movement or the frequency less than 3 times a week, this tends to be considered constipation. Meanwhile, if the pattern of your bowel movements suddenly more and more often it can be considered as diarrhea.

➢ 2. The stool is brown and not hard

Regular bowel movements alone are not enough to describe your digestive system as truly healthy. To be sure more, look at the shape and color of the stool that comes out during bowel movements. Stool condition can represent how healthy you are.

Stool is made of 75% water and 25% combination of solid matter consisting of food scraps, dead bacteria, toxins and waste products from body metabolism, and so on. The process of making feces in the intestine usually takes 3 days. How fast or how long this process takes place can determine the shape, size, color and texture of your stool.

Stool resulting from a healthy digestive system is generally soft and soft, with a long oval shape similar to a sausage, and is brown in color. Healthy stool should not contain undigested bits of food and have a mild odor.

Healthy stools are also easy to pass and will generally remain intact when you water them.

➢ 3. Fart and burp several times a day

Farting is often seen as a shame, while burping is considered rude. In fact, these two body reactions are considered normal and even indicate that your digestion is healthy, you know!

Burping and farting are the body's way of expelling the gases that are produced during the digestion of food. This gas is produced when bacteria that live in the large intestine work to break down food waste that comes from the small intestine.

In addition, certain foods, such as wheat, broccoli, sprouts, cauliflower, and peas, can make digestive bacteria difficult to digest and eventually produce gas in the stomach. Gas may also build up in your stomach because you swallow air when you eat or drink.

Quoted from Everyday Health, dr. Svetang Desai, a gastroenterologist from Duke University Medical Center in Durham, humans can pass gas (from farting or belching) up to 14 times a day. This is normal.