Water Aids in the Flow of Digestion

MOUTH

Digestion of food first begins in the mouth where the recreation of saliva is introduced into the oral cavity by the three salivary glands.

The sublingual, submandibular and parotid gland produce a combination of different mixtures of fluids for the digestive process to take place.

The roles of importance are to prepare for digestion, initiate digestion, then to aid in digestion to the stomach and lastly as a housekeeping rule to clean the mouth sanitation. Saliva produces 1 – 1.5 liters of fluid daily and contains 95.5% water the remaining 4.5% is a mixture of ions, glycoproteins, enzymes and growth factors. Saliva contains amylase which is the enzyme that initiates the breakdown process of carbohydrates.

The pH of saliva is between 6.35 – 6.85 to maintain a clean environment and reduce the amount of potential harmful bacteria that can enter the body.

When water enters the stomach it secrets a hormone neurotransmitter called motilin which aid in the stimulation of muscular waves through the digestive tract. The rhythmic contractions in the digestive process of the intestines helps move food along with the stomach acid. More water is equal to more motilin. Motilin is a satiety hormone. An Alkaline pH is absolutely essential for the initiation of gastric emptying into the intestines. Stomach acid contains between 20 – 100 mL of acidic solution and water is necessary to reach the amount needed.

STOMACH

It takes food between 4 – 8 seconds from the esophagus to enter the stomach where the pH is extremely low between 1.5 – 3.5 to break apart bonds and release nutrients for the intestines.  The stomach can take 6 – 8 hours for its digestion process.  

Once the food is broken down it becomes chyme which is a mixture of digested food, enzymes and hydrochloric acid.  Before the stomach can empty its acidic contents into the small intestines it must first neutralize the acidic load with an alkaline solution made from the pancreas other wise the acid would burn a hole in the intestines.

 Nutrients and minerals are absorbed through the intestinal walls where they then enter the bloodstream to be carried away to other parts of the body. Once again its water that acts as a transport to help deliver those nutrients to the cells.  Now whatever remaining is waste and must be past on through the colon/large intestines where the remaining amount of water left in will be squeezed out as it passes through on its way out the door.  This process can take 24 – 72 hours depending on the amount of water intake to make it a smoother transition.  The less water the more constipation problems the body will have trying to rid itself of toxic waste.