The Ayvalotis’ are doing better， but it isn’t time to celebrate yet. They are missing key ingredients【成分】 in their diet. They still need 2 to 4 servings of fruit， and 2 to 3 servings of dairy【奶製品】 products such as milk， cheese and yoghurt【酸奶】.
Along with giving the Ayvalotis’ tips for better eating， Keith also needs to teach them about their digestive system. Like millions of Americans， the Ayvalotis’ don’t realize how important digestion is to their overall health.
Ayoob： If our digestive tract【消化道】 is on track【走上正軌】， oftentimes it’s a good sign that we’re eating a lot better and that our overall health is improving as well.
The digestive process gets a boost【推進】 from healthy eating. The process can start with the brain. Just thinking about food， along with the sight and smell of it， gets our salivary glands【唾液腺】 going. Sevalee loves ketchup and fries. As she chews， the saliva【唾液】 in her mouth breaks down the complex carbohydrates of the fries into simple sugars. After she swallows， the food travels into her esophagus【食道】 on its way to her stomach.
Inside the stomach， strong layers of muscle contract and create a churning【攪動】 motion. The churning mixes food with digestive juices， which are very acidic【酸性的】. The food soon becomes a liquefied mixture called “chyme【食糜】.”After the chyme leaves the stomach， it enters the small intestine【腸】. Covering the surface of the small intestines are hundreds of microscopic【極小的】， finger-like structures called “villi【單數為villus，絨毛】.” Villi absorb nutrients. Absorption is key to the digestive process. Unless the nutrients are absorbed through the walls of your intestines， you’re not getting any nutritional benefit from the food you eat.
It takes between 12 and 24 hours for your body to digest a meal. That means last night’s dinner might not be fully digested when you wake up in the morning.
The large intestine is the last part of the digestive system. As the digested food moves through the large intestine， water is absorbed into the blood stream and the remaining material is eliminated【排泄】 from the body.
One of the biggest obstacles【障礙】 to good digestion and health is our diet. Far too often we choose our foods by taste preference【偏愛】 rather than by nutritional value.
Ayoob： Often， many of our chronic【慢性的】 diseases that we have later in life are really just score cards【記分卡】 for how we’ve been eating for the prior【在前的】 several decades. So even though they’re not necessarily consequences that are gonna be felt immediately， it’s still worth eating a good diet， a good balanced diet for our entire lives.