When food leaves the stomach, it goes into the small intestinal, an important part of the gastrointestinal tract. It is made up of the duodenum, jejunum, and ileum. Most of the digestion of food takes place here. Nutrients filter through the villi, which are projections from the walls of the small intestine and from there enter the blood stream.

By the time we are five years old, this organ is full-size, about 23 feet long, although it can be as short as 13 and as long as 23 feet. The small intestine empties into the large intestine, which is not as long, but much larger in diameter. The duodenum receives the food first and uses a muscular structure to push it on through to the jejunum and then on to the ileum. Meanwhile, nutrients are being absorbed into the blood stream. Most of this absorption takes place in the jejunum except the following:

• Iron – duodenum
• Vitamin B12 and bile salts – ileum
• Water and lipids – all three
• Sodium – via transport
• Fructose – diffusion

The stomach changes proteins into peptides and amino acids although some of that occurs in the small intestine. It's in the small intestine that most chemical digestion happens:

• Peptides become amino acids.
• Lipids become fatty acids and glycerol.
• Carbohydrates become simple sugars.

It's not a good thing when the small intestine gets sick or does not function normally. Some of the bad things that can happen to this organ:

• Cancer
• Obstruction
• Paralytic ileus – all or a portion of the small intestine is paralyzed. May be caused by surgery, drugs, injury, or illness.
• Crohn's disease – inflammatory bowel disease
• Celiac disease – intolerance to gluten, which results in damage to the small intestine
• Meckel's diverticulum – small sac in ileum due to birth defect
• Gastric dumping syndrome – jejunum fills too quickly resulting in weakness, sweating, and dizziness
• Infectious disease
• Mesenteric ischemia – interruption of blood flow to small intestine
• Short bowel syndrome – malabsorption caused usually by surgical removal of small intestine
• Inguinal hernia – protruding of soft tissue from small intestine through the lower abdominal wall. Usually due to birth defect.

Quality of life is severely impacted when any of these diseases or ailments occurs. Movement is restricted. It's very difficult to go out in public when you can't depend on the functioning of the small intestine. These diseases are on the rise. Modern life styles, and particularly modern dietary habits are not friendly to the digestive system, especially the small intestine, the organ that is so vital to good health.

As with all intestinal and digestive functions, there are things you can do to keep it healthy. One of the most positive actions is to change your diet from over-processed, overcooked foods to living and raw ones. The change is not difficult to make, and your small intestine will thank you.

Eating raw foods means that the enzymes that are so vital to digestion will be increased in the food that moves from the mouth to the duodenum. Once the duodenum receives the food, it goes to work on it, and if that food does not contain enough enzymes, its work is hampered. It is being called upon to do work that should already be done before the food presents itself to the duodenum.

In Intuitive Eating by Humbart Santillo, M.D., we read the following: “Every food must be broken down by enzymes to simpler building blocks. Enzymes may be divided into 2 groups, exogenous (found in raw food) and endogenous (produced within our bodies.) The more one gets of the exogenous enzymes, the less will have to be borrowed from other metabolic processes and supplied by the pancreas. The enzymes contained in raw food actually aid in the digestion of that same food when it is chewed. One can live many years on a cooked food diet, but eventually this will cause cellular enzyme exhaustion which lays the foundation for a weak immune system and ultimately disease.”

By TTS Cofounder Botanical Chef Omid Jaffari