About the digestive system

What does the digestive system consist of?

In order to function, the human body needs to be regularly fed with nutrients, vitamins and energy. We get these through the food we eat, and they are absorbed during the digestive process. The digestive system is a long tract through the body – a tract that extends all the way from the mouth to the rectum and includes the oesophagus, the stomach, the duodenum, the small intestine and the large intestine. The liver, gallbladder and pancreas also play a role in our ability to digest our food. So, the various parts work together to break down food into smaller elements that can be absorbed in the small intestine.

How do we digest?

The actual absorption of nutrients and vitamins takes place in the small intestine. However, digestion starts as soon as we start chewing the food. It is broken down in the mouth and mixed with saliva, which not only softens the food but also contains enzymes that break down starch. It is then pushed through the oesophagus down to the stomach where stomach acid breaks it down even more. The next step in the digestion process takes place in the duodenum, where the bile produced by the liver and then stored in the gallbladder is released.

Bile helps the fat in food to dissolve. Digestive enzymes are also released by the pancreas. This way, the food is broken down into small particles which pass through into the small intestine where they are absorbed. Anything not absorbed here is considered waste by the body and pushed into the large intestine by contractions in the muscle wall. In the large intestine, residual fluid is absorbed through the intestinal wall, and the waste, or stool, is compressed before being pushed out into the rectum. It remains here until the brain signals that it’s time to go to the toilet. A process that takes around 1–2 days.

How nutrients and vitamins are absorbed

Nutrients and vitamins from food are absorbed in the small intestine. The small intestine is around 6.5m long but has a much larger surface area. The reason for this is that it has a mucous membrane on the inside, which is folded many times, with small “fingers” on it. The job of the fingers is to capture nutrients and vitamins and transfer them into the bloodstream through minute holes. If something is too big to get through the holes, it will not be absorbed. Any nutrients that are insufficiently digested will therefore be considered waste and transported to the rectum.

Dandelion

supports normal digestion and liver function

Dandelion assists normal gastric and liver function. It also contributes to the well-being of the gastrointestinal system due to its prebiotic effect.

Among other things, dandelion contains the bitter substances taraxin and taraxsterol. As the name suggests, bitter substances have a bitter taste and can thus help stimulate the secretion of bile. Fermented Dandelion Extract also contains live lactic acid bacteria due to the fermentation. Another benefit of fermentation is that the extract is unpasteurised, which preserves the live lactic acid bacteria, allowing it to colonise the intestinal system.

Even if you have had your gallbladder removed, you can drink REGOPUR, as the gallbladder only acts as a storage vessel for the bile already produced. So, dandelion can still have an effect on gastrointestinal and renal function, and the live lactic acid bacteria can colonise the intestinal system.

By: Michael Mohr Jensen, producer of dietary supplements
Updated 18th March 2020

In order to function, the human body needs to be regularly fed with nutrients, vitamins and energy. We get these through the food we eat, and they are absorbed during the digestive process.

What does the digestive system consist of?

How do we digest?

How nutrients and vitamins are absorbed

Dandelion

supports normal digestion and liver function

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