Video

Transcript

let’s talk about the unique difference

between the small intestine and the

large intestine or the colon over here

we have the small intestine so you have

the stomach small intestine it connects

with through a valve ileocecal valve and

then the food goes through the large

intestine one thing to know about the

small intestine it’s a lot longer

there’s three parts the first part is

about a little more than a foot it’s

between 10 and 15 inches the next part

is about eight feet and the last part is

between 8 feet and 13 feet so it’s quite

long

now the colon or the large intestine is

about five feet so let’s start with

these small intestine 90% of all the

digestion occurs in the small intestine

now you have enzymes that are generated

from the pancreas and you also have

enzymes that are generated from the

small intestine itself to help break

down proteins carbohydrates and fat -

the fiber our bodies do not have the

capacity to break down fiber we just

don’t have the enzymes however we have a

lot of microbes in the large bowel that

can ferment the fiber and break it down

and that’s converted to some really

healthy things which we’ll get to now in

the first part of the small intestine

you have the contents of the stomach and

also some of the juices from the

pancreas coming out to help neutralize

all the acid from the stomach so we have

a lot of digestion happening right here

we also have the absorption of iron when

someone gets surgery as in a gastric

bypass they may have difficulty

absorbing iron now this next part is

where you’re gonna absorb the calcium

the magnesium some B vitamins vitamin C

folate and there’s other nutrients as

well like trace minerals and in the last

part you’re gonna absorb and recycle

bile salts so 90% of all the bile salts

will be reabsorbed you’re also going to

absorb b12 you can absorb fat and the

fat soluble vitamins as well as certain

electrolytes so 90% of all the digestion

occurs in the small intestine now it’s

alkaline which actually triggers certain

enzymes now if you have inflammation in

the colon or let’s say you have celiac

which is

within the lining right through here

because you’ve consumed gluten which

you’re sensitive to you’re not going to

be able to absorb certain nutrients also

most of the friendly bacteria are in the

large intestine not the small but when

the microbes from the large intestine

back up and get into the small that’s

called SIBO small intestinal bacterial

overgrowth in that situation these

microbes are going to pretty much

compete with these nutrients they’re

going to eat up these nutrients eat up

your fuel and you’re gonna have

nutritional deficiency you have a lot of

bloating and that’s called SIBO I put a

video down below if you want more data

on that so let’s move to the large

intestine so the contents from the small

intestine now are going to enter through

a little valve right here and you’ll see

coal it’s going to start going through

this larger space which is a colon and

the fiber is gonna start to ferment

you’re also going to get water

absorption fluid absorption absorption

of electrolytes salts potassium which is

an electrolyte but we have a lot more

bacteria going on in the large intestine

you also have a large mucous layer so if

the surface of the Cole’s right here we

have a layer of mucus and the microbes

are on top of that now the pH of the

colon is going to be more acidic from

certain bacteria that are making lactic

acid and the purpose of that acid is to

kill pathogens that should not be there

and but not affect our good bacteria now

when this fiber is fermented where you

have these microbes releasing enzymes to

break down this carbohydrate it’s gonna

turn into small chain fatty acids and

one is called butyrate and butyrate

actually has a preferred fuel for the

colon cells even over glucose butyrate

also helps stabilize your blood sugars

it will give you energy and it will

improve insulin resistance alright

thanks for watching and definitely watch

the next video on this page that goes

more in depth on the entire cycle of

digestion