Читать книгу Gluten Exposed: The Science Behind the Hype and How to Navigate to a Healthy, Symptom-free Life - Rory Jones, Dr. Green Peter - Страница 41

The human body is a machine which winds its own springs.

—JULIEN OFFROY DE LA METTRIE, 18TH-CENTURY PHYSICIAN AND PHILOSOPHER

I don’t digest things with my mind.

—MARILYN MONROE

In many ways, the digestive system is an extension of the environment—a long tube, open at both ends, that is designed to supply the body with all the nutrients and fluids it needs to function. And everything we consume—food, liquids, drugs, supplements, Play-Doh—ultimately affects the entire body as it travels through the tract.

Digestion is an amazingly effective and efficient process. The concept is simple, the design and execution quite remarkable and, as scientists are discovering, intriguingly complex. There is a constant interaction of organs, muscles, nerves, hormones, enzymes, microbes, and blood vessels, every one doing tasks that monitor, regulate, and control the job of nourishing the body. As you will see, our gut goes well beyond simply processing the food we eat. It engages in a constant conversation with other parts of the body. And the volume is often deafening.

Problems in the digestive tract are one of the most common reasons people seek medical help—or self-medicate with restrictive diets, over-the-counter remedies, supplements, and/or pre-and probiotics. The list is long, and the discomfort and inconvenience of gastrointestinal distress a source of pain as well as embarrassment.

To understand what goes wrong, and the real basis of GI problems, it is important to understand first how digestion actually occurs. It is an essential foundation for comprehending how what we ingest affects both body and brain, and why going gluten-free or lactose-free or carbohydrate-free works for some and not for others. And why we were not meant to simply eliminate one category of nutrients without ample cause.

I spend a great deal of time on the toilet. In fact, I do some of my best work in the bathroom.

(ED, 44, CROHN’S DISEASE)