It is found in nearly all living animal cells: liver, skin, and brain cells; nerve tissue, intestines, and adrenal glands; blood, bile, and many hormones, but it is not found in fruits or vegetables.

It is essential for physical health, and since our body can manufacture it in the liver, intestines, adrenal glands, and sex glands, it is not required in our food supply although we do consume it in our daily diet. (About 40% from our diet and 60% we produce as needed).

In fact, the more of it we eat, the less the body has to make, and the less of it we eat, the more our body needs to make.

Without it, one could become nervously irritable and depressed.

It is important to cell structure, hormone production, and metabolism. It, and some of its running mates, keeps internal fluids from leaking out and external fluids from seeping in. In the skin, it helps prevent evaporation of too much fluid from the inside and penetration by liquid substances from the outside.

The steroid hormones are made from it. The male and female steroid hormones (testosterone (male) estrogen and progesterone (female)), develop and maintain the delightful differences between the genders. (In fact, reducing it may mean lowering sexual activity).

During pregnancy, the placenta also makes it, and from it manufactures progesterone, which keeps the pregnancy from being terminated.

Vitamin D, the sunshine vitamin, required for the metabolism of calcium and phosphorus, also comes from it.

The bile acids, which break up (emulsify) food fats into small droplets in our intestines to make them easier to digest and absorb, are derived from it.

It is one of the substances secreted by the glands in the skin, which cover and protect the skin against dehydration, cracking, and the wear and tear of sun, wind, and water. In its capacity as skin covering, it also aids in the healing of skin tissue and prevents foreign organisms from infecting the skin.

It keeps the membranes of our cells functioning properly. If the membrane has too little of it, it becomes too fluid and falls apart. If there is too much in it, the membrane becomes stiff and breaks.

What is this important and integral part of our bodily need?

A clue:

An excellent source of it is the egg, that is, if the chickens are home grown or range free. That’s because an egg also contains lecithin which is a fat emulsifier.

Digestion, continued from January’s newsletter.

Merely eating the right foods does not necessarily insure adequate nutrition. Once the food is in the digestive tract, it may or may not be absorbed. A vast number of factors are involved in the digestion and absorption of food: for example, how it is chewed, the secretion of enzymes and even the condition of the lining of the digestive tract.

So where does digestion begin? Most say, in the stomach, but in reality, it starts with our senses. For example, you look at the clock and see that it is twenty minutes before noon, twenty long minutes before you can eat. It might seem like an eternity, but your expectation of eating starts the process of digestion through the production of bodily enzymes.

How many times have you seen the picture of, say fried chicken on a billboard, a TV screen, in the window of a restaurant or your own kitchen. Sight, seeing food is another process of digestion.

Ah the aroma of food, especially popcorn, the frying of bacon, a hamburger being grilled, or Thanksgiving turkey in the oven. Yes, the sense of smell is another factor which really gets the juices going. Perhaps you’re salivating by now.

Although not one of the senses, what about imagination? Imagining you’re biting into a delicious whatever and its juices dripping down your chin.

Finally, all of these senses become reality through the tasting of the food. All of these factors play a role in the digestion of food, and each one, in their own way, starts the digestive juices working in lieu of receiving the food.

Unless, of course, you are under stress, pressure, or in a worried state any of which affects their natural production. Even depression has a negative affect on digestion. Because of these variables, two people eating the same diet may end up with dramatically different intakes of protein, carbohydrate or other nutrients. And just because the food is in the digestive tract doesn’t mean all of the nutrients will be able to penetrate the intestinal lining and enter the blood stream. Some may travel the full length of the digestive tract without being absorbed.

We’re going to finish up with this newsletter by at least, putting some of the food into our mouth and see what happens there.

The mouth is more than just an opening into the alimentary canal. Incidentally, the alimentary canal is a tube about 30 feet long that starts at the mouth, it’s the throat or esophagus and then it becomes the stomach, the small and large intestines and exits at the anus. All nutrients which are taken in from the mouth must somehow cross the intestinal lining of the small intestines where most absorption of nutrients takes place. But let’s get back to the mouth.

The mouth is where the food is chewed, or supposed to be. Remember what mom said about chewing 28, or so, times? The digestive juices will only be able to work on the surface of these chunks of un-chewed or improperly chewed foods and the remainder will be left undigested. Proper chewing of food would cause the food to be in a paste-like condition and ready for swallowing. It also enables the digestive juices to easily attack it and decrease the likelihood of having digestive problems. You might have experienced the feeling of heaviness and discomfort which follows a meal that is improperly chewed.

Have you ever experienced the buildup of saliva in your mouth upon thinking, seeing, smelling, or tasting food? Saliva contains an enzyme, called ptyalin, which is important in the digestion of starch or carbohydrate foods. By properly chewing these foods, ptyalin is able to begin the process of digesting and continues for a short while in the stomach although there are no starch-digesting enzymes in the stomach. The ptyalin continues working until the body’s production of hydrochloric acid is fully underway, which takes up to 20 minutes. The total digestion of carbohydrates is completed in the small intestine with the release of enzymes from the pancreas.

Salivary digestion is helpful in another way. These enzymes break down the starch particles that stick to teeth after eating. This helps dislodge and dissolve them. Your dentist will advise you as to what happens if the starch remains in the mouth, but I’ll give you a hint. Bacteria will begin to grow in the mouth and between the teeth.

Of course you knew that pasta is a carbohydrate, but how many of you chew your spaghetti? My granddaughter once said, "You put one end of the spaghetti in your mouth and whistle backwards." Now that she is a mother herself, she knows better. Does anyone chew their fruit juices, soda, or any other carbohydrate liquid? It would help the digestive process if you did, you’d be mixing the liquid with the saliva and the ptyalin, the carbohydrate enzyme. Can’t very well do that if you use a straw.

We will continue with digestion in the March newsletter. The food will be entering the stomach where many of the other digestive problems begin.

The answer to the quiz? - Cholesterol