Stomach: Storing and Mixing

Stomach Storage: Your Food Is Still Outside Your Body

The food you chew and swallow makes its way to the stomach via the esophagus. Although the stomach is still in the form of a tube, here the tube widens and elongates to store the contents of a meal, as well as to begin the internal transformation of what you eat into nutritional particles.

Anatomy of the Stomach

The stomach is a J-shaped, muscular sack that performs both mechanical and chemical functions. It’s designed to be a holding area for food before it enters the intestines. It can also change size and shape according to the amount of food inside.

The average-sized stomach is estimated to hold from 1-1.5 quarts. The muscular walls of the stomach function like a washing machine rolling over, mixing and combining its contents. Food is typically churned in the stomach for two to three hours before being passed on to the next station of the small intestine.

In addition, the walls of the stomach secrete enzymes such as hydrochloric acid. Enzymes are powerful chemicals that continue the microscopic breakdown of food that began in the mouth.

As the stomach churns its contents, it now becomes what scientists call “chyme.” Chyme is what the chewed bolus becomes after it is thoroughly mixed with the acid and digestive enzymes secreted by the walls of the stomach.

The walls of the healthy stomach are well suited to mix and integrate these chemical enzymes into the mixture. The powerful enzymes do not digest the inside surface of the stomach because the nervous system is monitoring the secretion of protective mucous and managing the stomach’s internal environment overall.

Typical Symptoms of Your Stomach

Typical stomach symptoms occur directly after eating. In fact, if you are paying close attention, you will find they may start during your meal.

As you practice Digestive Awareness, you will learn to pay close attention to what’s causing your stomach symptoms because your health depends on it.

The classic stomach symptoms are typically: 

Gas or wind that begins soon after you start eating

Burping

Acid reflux

Feeling very full even though you’ve eaten hardly anything

Sharp jabbing pains around the stomach

Shooting chest pain or pseudo “heart attack” symptoms

If you are experiencing any of these types of symptoms, your stomach is speaking out to you.

Brain Management For Your Stomach

Now we are going to start with some “real world” practical tips, that you can use to start helping your digestive functions right away. If you think you might be having “stomach problems” here are some easy ways to help yourself.

Stop Taking Anti-Acids

The function of the stomach, as a digestive organ, is typically misrepresented in television ads. One classic misconception used by advertisers is to suggest that the reason you are having symptoms of digestive upset is because you have “too much” stomach acid.

The truth is that most people don’t have enough stomach acid and this is the reason they are suffering “acid-like” symptoms. Therefore, the first failed attempt for most people with stomach symptoms is to take anti-acids or acid blockers.

These products contain chemicals that are claimed to reduce the stomach’s supposed excess acid. Basically, these preparations contain overpriced baking soda, which neutralizes acid in test tubes.

The reality is that very few people feel truly better after taking these. However, because people have been programmed by television commercials to believe this helps, they might be susceptible to the “placebo effect” and thus do feel better after taking something that commercials say is going to help.

The problem is that these pills actually interfere with the normal digestive function of the stomach. The weak stomach, which is typically low on acid as it is (thus creating the stomach symptoms in the first place), now has to struggle to produce more acid to counteract the pills.

Any relief you feel will be a result of your body secreting more acid (working overtime) to fight the anti-acids. When your next meal arrives you can look forward to the return of these same symptoms. It gets worse.

Some of you are taking stronger medicines to help with these common stomach symptoms. Now you are ingesting powerful drugs that further damage your weak digestion even more and place an additional stress on your immune system.

If you truly want to help your stomach, you need to treat it with respect and use your intelligence. Don’t bulldoze your stomach with powerful chemicals out of ignorance. Following the procedures of the Digestive Awareness Diet will help provide you with the information you need for a life-long healthy stomach.

Don’t Eat Too Much

Putting too much food into your stomach is like putting too many clothes in the washing machine. If you fill the washing machine to the top with clothes, how is the laundry powder going to mix and distribute? How are the clothes going to separate and get thoroughly clean?

Your stomach typically secretes about three liters of enzymatic juices a day. This means you already have liquid contents in an empty stomach. Start thinking of the inside of your stomach as about the size of your two hands held together. The total of what you could hold in both hands cupped together, that’s about what you should be putting in your stomach. You don’t want to stress the stomach’s function by filling it to the maximum.

The technique here is simply being aware enough to stop eating before you feel full. See if you can determine the point where, if you had two more bites, you would be full. This is a great time to stop eating.

Later, when your stomach finishes communicating with your brain, you will probably realize that you were full right about then. The next two bites would have made your feel “stuffed” and then you would have felt uncomfortably full.

Drink Diluted Apple Cider Vinegar Before Each Meal

If you need to take something because your stomach is not digesting there is a solution.

The best thing you can do for your stomach to help it to digest properly is to drink diluted apple cider vinegar before each meal. Drinking diluted apple cider vinegar before or with a meal is the easiest and cheapest treatment for gas, reflux, and other associated gastric problems.

It’s amazing how much difference a five-dollar bottle of apple cider vinegar can make in your life. This simple remedy has been very effective for 99% of my patients and has been a well-known natural remedy for decades. You may have a bit of trouble getting used to the taste, but once you do, it will be well worth it and your stomach will thank you.

How Apple Cider Vinegar Works

Put two measured tablespoons of apple cider vinegar (not wine vinegar) into a six-ounce glass or a teacup. (The grocery store brands typically have clear apple cider vinegar where the health food brands typically have a natural residue called “the mother”). If you do choose a health store brand, check to see if it is labeled “double strength.” If so, then use only one tablespoon per cup of juice. Either type of apple cider vinegar will work the same.

Next, fill the rest of the glass with apple juice (preferably a natural brand so it tastes better). Any type of apple juice will mask the taste of the vinegar, but typically the concentrated or reconstituted brands of juice don’t have the best flavor. Freshly squeezed brands of apple juice from whole apples can often be found in the refrigerated section of the grocery store.

If you are having a small meal, drink the full glass just before eating. This is recommended anytime you are having a meal that includes protein, such as the typical sandwich. If you’re having a larger “meat and potatoes” type meal, you may want to have a second glass to sip during the meal.

This will help your stomach digest the gas created from having too little acid. The acetic acid in the vinegar is the exact support your stomach cells need to stimulate the action of hydrochloric acid in the stomach.

Some people find the taste of apple cider vinegar daunting. Actually, more typically the smell is what puts people off. Don’t let the smell of apple cider vinegar bother you. The smell is worse than the actual taste, so be brave. If two tablespoons are too strong in the beginning, try one tablespoon at first. You can also hold your nose before drinking, and you won’t smell the vinegar part.

Take Digestive Enzymes

If your stomach has been neglected for a long time, I believe it’s a good idea to take digestive enzymes in pill form. This is particularly helpful if you have a long-term digestive history, or your stomach has been damaged in other ways and needs more repair.

The typical brands that you might find in a health food store contain betaine Hcl acid, lactase, pancreatin, ox bile extract, etc. These are the ones I’ve found to be most effective.

Typically, I don’t recommend herbal or vegetarian formulas of digestive products. In general, apple cider vinegar will be much more effective for vegetarians than any plant source enzyme.