Grapefruit juice can help you meet your vitamin C requirement, since a 1-cup serving provides 160 percent of the recommended daily value. Grapefruit juice also contains small amounts of thiamine, magnesium, folate, vitamin B-6, phosphorus, iron,...
As many as 300,000 Americans die prematurely each year from obesity and its complications, according to the Merck Manual. Only cigarette smoking causes more preventable deaths each year. Morbidly obese patients -- those who weigh at least 100...
Pepsin is a key ingredient for a healthy digestive process. Its effectiveness in breaking down food in the stomach relies on a precise system of environmental controls preserving optimal pH levels. Barring certain medical conditions, this system...
No matter how nutritious, your favorite foods won't do you any good in their natural, whole state. The nutrients your body gets from food must be small enough to absorb easily into your bloodstream. Through the use of specialized chemicals, your...
The purpose of digestion is to reduce the size of the food you eat until the component nutrients are small enough for your body to absorb. Chewing your food is the first step of the process, functioning to decrease the size of your food particles...
Gastroespohageal reflux disease, or GERD, occurs when digestive juices from the stomach enter the esophagus, causing pain commonly referred to as heartburn. A valve called the lower esophageal sphincter, or LES, separates the stomach and...
Enzymes are protein molecules that function in your body as catalysts; that is, they speed up the rate of a biological reaction while they themselves remain unchanged. They are active at a pH, or level of acidity, specific to each individual...
Your stomach is part of your digestive system and is the first organ to receive food that travels down your esophagus. Your stomach has three main tasks, the National Digestive Diseases Information Clearinghouse explains. First, it receives...
Digestion is the process that breaks food down into particles that the body can absorb and use. The break-down uses both mechanical force --- like chewing and the muscle action that moves food through the digestive tract --- as well as enzymes...
The gastric juices within your stomach are primarily composed of hydrochloric acid. Gastric juices serve a variety of functions, including digestion. The amount of acid in your stomach may be altered by certain foods, medications or diseases....
When you see, smell or think of food, the salivary glands in your mouth produce saliva, which in turn stimulates the secretion of gastric juices by your stomach. One of the components of gastric juice is hydrochloric acid, which is important for...
Our bodies continually undergo change as we age. Unfortunately, these changes can cause our bodies to function less efficiently. The elderly population is often at risk for the development of hypochlorhydria, or low gastric acid production. This...
Stomach acid, or gastric juice, is secreted by the stomach and plays crucial roles in health and disease. Stomach acid helps with the breakdown of food directly, and also makes an enzyme which breaks food down further. An often overlooked function...
Amino acids are the building blocks of protein. When you consume proteins, your stomach acid and other components of your digestive juices react with the protein, rendering it inactive and eventually breaking it into its constituent amino acids....
When food arrives in your stomach, it plunges into a warm bath of hydrochloric acid. This corrosive stew accelerates digestion and provides the right conditions to activate an important digestive enzyme also found in your stomach. Chemists measure...
Whey is the liquid that remains after milk is processed into cheese. Sweet whey results when the cheese manufacturing process uses enzymes to coagulate the milk, and acid whey stems from acid coagulation of milk to produce cheese. Although the...
Whey is a nutritional supplement that adds high-quality protein to your diet. In order to reap its nutritional benefits, your body must first digest it. Your stomach is vital to the process of protein digestion because of its gastric juice and...
Aloe vera is a plant with multiple nutritional and medicinal uses. It can be taken orally as juice or pill, or applied topically in its gel form. The plant is valuable as an anti-inflammatory agent, astringent, cell-growth stimulator, pain...
A peptic ulcer is a small hole or sore in the lining of the stomach or in the top of the intestine. Ulcers also can develop in the mouth and esophagus. The corrosive affect of acid and gastric juices irritate an ulcer and cause it to worsen....
Your digestive juices are secretions in your gastrointestinal system that help your body to break down the nutrients in food for absorption in your small intestine. The active component of digestive juices in your stomach is hydrochloric acid,...
Almonds are a versatile nut that you can blanch or dry roast, as well as enjoy raw. You digest almonds slightly differently, depending on how you prepare or purchase them. Almonds have a mild flavor, make a great addition to any salad or entree...
Stomach acids are needed to break down the food you eat. The gastric secretions do not stay in your stomach all the time, but instead wait for the signals it needs to prepare for digestion. Gastric secretions may be increased when you ingest...
Heartburn is such a common ailment that over-the-counter remedies take up a lot of space in the grocery store aisle. You don't have to resort to these expensive treatments when a simple, time-tested remedy is probably already on your kitchen...
Developed by the Japanese in 1969, Green Magma is a brand of powdered barley grass juice extract resulting from the research of pharmacologist Yoshihide Hagiwara. Young barley grass extracts contain abundant amounts of nutrients and plant-derived...
Hydrochloric acid (HCL) is the primary digestive juice responsible for breaking down proteins in the stomach. Furthermore, it creates a protective barrier, killing many potentially harmful micro-organisms in food, according to Dr. Baroody in his...
Enzymes are actually protein molecules that facilitate chemical reactions. Food must be metabolized into smaller molecules for the body to gain nourishment and energy. Digestive enzymes break down food into smaller components so the body can...
High concentrations of ascorbic acid, or vitamin C, in your stomach juices may suppress the bacteria that cause peptic ulcers. Taking therapeutic doses of vitamin C along with antibiotics and acid-reducing medications may help you manage peptic...
According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) omeprazole (prilosec) is used alone or in conjunction with other therapies to treat ulcers and a number of conditions that result in a excess of acid in the stomach. Prilosec is often prescribed...
Pepsin and trypsin are both proteolytic enzymes, meaning that they digest protein. Specifically, they're both secreted into the digestive tract to help break down the proteins that you consume in food. This allows you to absorb the protein...
