The miracle of the tube

By Richard P. Holm, M.D.

By the 16th day after conception, the human embryo has grown into a hollow ball of cells. Then a fold develops on the underside of the sphere, and it pushes inward until the sides wrap around the bend and become a cylinder that starts at a primitive head and extends down to what looks like a tail.

The resulting pipe is called the primitive gut, and it is evolving into what later will become the mouth, esophagus, stomach, and both the small and large intestines. Eventually this tube will extend about 26 feet from lips to anus. During development, pouches budding out from this food tube will also form the lungs, liver, gallbladder, and pancreas.

Once the embryo fully develops and is born, the gastrointestinal (or GI) tract begins performing the marvelous act of digestion. When food is shoved into the mouth, it is gummed or chewed until the tongue pushes it down. Food is swallowed as a small ball – doctors call it a bolus – and it passes the entrance to the lungs where a fleshy a trapdoor called the epiglottis protects the lungs and helps move the food into the esophagus.

The esophagus is a toothpaste-tube-type apparatus that moves the bolus into the stomach. There, acid not only helps break down the food, but it also kills most of the microorganisms that enter with food. Now liquefied, food then moves into the small intestine where tiny, shag-carpet-like fingers provide a surface area that’s about the same size as a football field. All that space is needed, and those tiny fingers work together to absorb nutrients.

The leftover liquid material finally moves to the large intestine, or colon, and this organ works mainly to reclaim water. The colon also harbors colonies of good bacteria that work on the leftover material and produce an important vitamin. That vitamin subsequently is absorbed and the body uses it to prevent bleeding.

The tube from lips to anus may not receive the respect it deserves, but it is an engineering masterpiece that humbly nourishes our lives.

Slow Food

By Richard P. Holm
Why does food satisfy the appetite? If we could understand what tells us when to stop eating, then maybe we could understand the cause for obesity.

We know that a hormone called ghrelin delivers feelings of hunger to the brain and that two hormones called cholecystokinin and leptin bring feelings of satiation. So far, however, scientists, and especially those of the pharmaceutical industry, have failed in efforts to safely manipulate these natural signals to stimulate or suppress hunger.

Another direction of research comes with understanding how certain foods like oatmeal, boiled potatoes, or fresh fruit fill you up, and others like donuts, French fries, or even dried fruit do not. It is interesting to note that drinks of any kind seem very poor in providing feelings of fullness or satiety. It makes perfect sense then that if one is struggling with obesity, foods that do not satisfy hunger, especially those that are highly caloric, should be avoided.

And what about eating too fast? We know it takes time for the food we eat to stimulate our satiety hormones. We all know it is not very satisfying when we shove fast food into our mouths and swallow it down with a big gulp. No one can argue that the obesity epidemic could be related to oh-so-convenient fast food, which seems to match the fast-paced, unsatisfying rush of modern life.

In contrast, there is the Slow Food movement founded in Italy in the 1980s. Slow Food asks us to preserve regional cuisine and local flavors, and to promote local gardens and local family farmers. Slow Food asks us to shop the farmer’s markets, raise our own gardens, teach our children to cook, take time around the supper table to eat slowly, savor the food, and enjoy the company of family.

Bottom line, and the pun is intended: all the rush, with our busy frenetic modern lives, and especially with all that fast-fast food, has left us weighing more and satisfied less. It is time to slow down and savor our food and our lives. to slow down.