GUT - PART 2
Fat digestion and transportation, allergies, lactose intolerance, fructose intolerance
Fats are not transported in our blood, they are transported in our lymphatic system, which accompanies every single blood vessel and even every capillary. Lymphatic system vessels are transparent and have no muscles of their own, lymph transportation is usually done via gravity.
It is the muscles in our legs that squeeze lymph back up with every step, so no accumulation will occur.
Fat passes into its main duct from the small intestine, and goes straight to the heart. Fat detoxification happens as the fat droplets slowly happen to pass through the liver from the body - but as the liver contains a lot of blood at any given time, the fat droplets will end up there sooner or later. But, before that happens, all the undetoxified blood is in our body.
Cold-pressed virgin olive oil is good against:
- Arteriosclerosis, cellular stress, Alzheimer's disease, eye diseases, inflammatory diseases, cancer
- It also blocks an enzyme in fatty tissue, that creates fat out of spare carbohydrates
- Olive oil is damaged by heat, so it is not suggested to be used in cooking.
- It also tends to capture free radicals fro the air. The free radicals can latch onto anything, causing inflammation of blood vessels, skin ageing, nerve disease. So olive oil should be kept in a well-closed container in the fridge.
- It also contains oleocanthal, a fat that works in a similar way to aspirin but in smaller doses. So regular use of olive oil can help those who suffer from inflammatory disease, regular headaches or menstrual pain.
What is an allergy?
If we fail to break down a protein, then it will not make it into our bloodstream. But, it may find itself in our lymphatic system, embedded in fat droplets. The immune cells can detect it there, and attack the piece of peanut for example, as a foreign body. The next time they see the peanut, they re more ready and can attack it more aggressively.
- This is why most allergies come from foods that are both fatty, and rich in protein such as milk, eggs, peanuts.
- We aren't allergy to greasy bacon: we are made up of meat ourselves and have few problems digesting it.
If the gut is too porous, substances can get to where they shouldn't be, and cause an immune reaction. Stress or a heavy bout of alcohol drinking can cause the gut to become porous, after which it is good to avoid gluten for some days.
Lactose Intolerance
It is more of a deficiency. Lactose needs to be broken down into ints constituent sugars for it to be absorbed into the body. The enzyme for this doesn't come from the paella, it should be made by the cells of the villi themselves, which must in turn digest the lactose when they come into contact with it. Sometimes they can't produce this enzyme, so lactose doesn't get broken down or absorbed.
This lactose travels on, into the large intestine. There, it becomes food for the many bacteria, resulting in fatulence and many other symptoms, due to overfed large intestinal microbes.
Fructose Intolerance
Occurs in people that have fewer fructose-processing enzymes. Fructose may therefore accumulate int heir cells, interfering with other processes. It also can appear later in life when the gut has a reduced ability to absorb fruit sugars so the majority of their fructose ends up in the large intestine.
Fructose intolerance can affect your mood.
- Sugar helps the body absorb many other nutrients too. The amino acid tryptophan latches onto fructose during digestion. So if we have too much fructose, most of it will not be absorbed, so we will lose a lot of tryptophan with it too. But tryptophan is needed to produce serotonin. So too much fructose can lead to symptoms of depression.
- Furthermore, fructose is not absorbed by all our body cells like glucose, it is only processed in the liver, where it is converted into triglycerides. Also, unlike fructose, it doesn't stimulate the release of leptin, which signals station, so we end up eating more.
How much fructose is too much?
You should consume less than 50g of fructose a day, which translates to about 5 pears or 8 bananas or six apples. More than that can lead to an upset gut, fatulence and depressive disorders.
Cigarette smoking stimulates areas of the brain which are stimulated by eating. But it therefore causes gastric acid production for no reason, and causes the sphincter between the oesophagus and stomach to relax, causing heartburn. Stopping smoking relieves heartburn.