Glorify Your Guts

If we’re going to pick our Guts as our One Thing, we'll have to divide up the topic to do it justice. Oh, where to begin?!

I, of course, want to start with the abdominal region in general, as I have a thing about abs. Being a Pilates instructor, I could launch right into discussion on the sturdy container that is center of your torso. How it is so cleverly designed with its strong sheaths of fascia and muscle and the bones of the ribs, to serve as a fortress for the abdominal cavity which houses so many of the body’s most important organs.

Ooh, yes—and then there are those organs to consider. They fit together like pieces of a puzzle, all of them interdependent, yet each with a clear role. And the digestive system! The physical processing factory of all that goes in and stays in or is kicked back out of the body. The area so populated by multiple bacteria so necessary to balanced health.

It’s all fascinating physical stuff. However, equally interesting is the spirit of these guts. If you’ve ever felt bold or been called plucky, then you know the bit of proud courage that accompanies the state of being gutsy.

When it takes guts to do something, and you go for it, you can feel both the anticipation and the loftiness, right there in your tummy. Scientific studies have actually shown gut feelings to be trustworthy tools for human beings. Conclusions have been published in medical journals and newsstand magazines like Psychology Today. Trust your gut, they say, because it’s correct more often than not.

One German scientist of human cognition, Gerd Gigerenzer, calls it the Intelligence of the Unconscious. He tells us there’s an underlying rationale to gut feelings, which come into play during the course of everything from picking stocks to hitting a baseball.

How to Pick One Thing when Guts give us so much to glorify?

Well, if your gut tells you I’m going to say to myself, just pick one already!, then you are correct. I’m picking the deepest part of the guts first, and working my way out from there. From microscopic bacteria to the elimination of toxins, you’re sure to absorb something valuable out this week’s One Thing:

The Guts of the Digestive System

Here is an aspect of you which is truly miraculous, comprises a good portion of your center, and really matters to the larger aim of living a Wellness Lifestyle.

A quick overview of how it all works should convince you.
Bonus: it starts with food!

Mouth. Okay, while not technically part of your guts, your mouth begins digestion. It’s where chewing and salivating take place, to make it so what you consume can get on down to where the action really is.
Esophagus. Big downward pushing tube. Strong muscle contractions push your stuff down. You can even swallow while standing on your head. Though it is not recommended for folks to try at home. But still, that’s how strong.
Stomach. Break it down for us, tummy tum. The stomach is expandable and filled with acids and enzymes which can hold between 1 and 1.5 liters of stuff. So here is a real key to your digestive guts. It all has to be broken down into usable form.
Small Intestine. 22 feet or so of flexible muscular piping which takes in whatever the stomach puts out, mixes it with enzymes and bile from pancreas and liver, then extracts goodness from that brew and delivers nutrients to the rest of us.
Pancreas and Liver. Excellent guts, these two are. Plenty goes wrong with our bodies when they’re not working well. Insulin is processed by the pancreas along with other enzymes we need to get the good stuff out of what we eat and drink. Nutrients and toxins are processed by the liver. Many “drugs” are dispersed by the liver, and other chemicals are absorbed and detoxified. Basically it's the chemical pharmacy of the body.
Gallbladder. Makes bile, which helps absorb fat, but it’s typically not one of of our favorite organs. Painful when malfunctioning!
Large Intestine (colon): 6 feet of tubing, lined with hundreds of types of bacteria and the rest is what’s left of what’s been consumed. Everything is then turned into stool for the sake of elimination. Without a healthy process of elimination, you can become very ill!
Rectum and Anus. They are the final gatekeepers at the end of the digestive tract. We probably don’t appreciate these body parts as much as we should. They do come in handy, though, and in my business, we’re particularly concerned with the surrounding muscles, otherwise known as the pelvic floor.
Side Trip down the Urinary Tract. Kidneys, like the liver, perform invaluable housecleaning and waste management operations within the body’s digestive process. But the kidney handles the liquid portions, especially focusing on filtering products from the blood. Kidneys also keep the body's waters in balance, regulating and absorbing electrolytes. The urethra is the end point of the system, through which urine is eliminated as waste.
Gut Flora. Your inner bacteria farm is located largely in the abdomen. It’s estimated that anywhere between 500 and 1000 types of bacteria live in your guts, most of them good. There are just as many on your skin, but the ones on the inside of you have a number of special jobs vital to your health, such as vitamin synthesis and carbohydrate fermentation, as well as disease fighting and immune system protection.

For those of you with tummy troubles, replenishing bacteria can make a world of difference. So go for those probiotics, especially after a round of antibiotics, to help you fight off re-infection.

I told you it would be hard to pick only one thing, but we did it!

Check my tweets this week for quick tips on connecting with and taking good care of your digestion. (check out the 5 most recent under Quickies in the left column) In the meantime, go grab a bit of Greek yogurt to help your friendly flora flourish, and send me a comment about how you glorify your guts this week!