The dinner table is set with a thick cotton blue and gold plaid tablecloth, cutlery shining like well polished armour, and the wafting aroma from our favourite dinner choices so that we can sense our saliva making its way to the place of contact…the mouth.
Sensing our saliva blog is to bring awareness to one of many valuable functions the body performs for our better health. All this information is to bring confidence of its importance and nothing more. Not to be a saliva obsession but just an awareness, an appreciation. This awareness taps in when you are consuming nourishment.
What is saliva? The saliva fluid comes into the mouth via the salivary glands under the tongue. It is mostly water 98-99.5% along with electrolytes, mucous, proteins and enzymes. Also, there are compounds that are antibacterial so meditate on sense our saliva for our better protection. Also, it helps to begin the digestive process with two key enzymes that break down starches/sugars and fats.
Salivating! when one is famished and the food looks and smells delicious to our visual senses along with our olfactory senses.
Fat Enzymes
For fats, it is lingual lipase. In fact, some of the salivary glands are sublingual glands that will absorb some fats, such as, the omega 3 in breast milk for the best absorption and nutrient building needed for a newborn. The omega in breastmilk is mammalian like the raw seal oil that comes from the blubber that lies just beneath the fur.
This blubber is mostly fat but not all fat. It is a storage of fat that the mammal (seal or whale) can use when needed as there are fine blood vessels that weave through the blubber. Shall we return to sense our saliva?
Enzymes are proteins that help speed up chemical reactions in our bodies. Enzymes are essential for digestion, liver function and much more. Too much or too little of a certain enzyme can cause health problems.
Sublingual Absorption
Sublingual absorption bypasses the unpredictable digestive system. Stress will hinder the digestive system. Antibiotics can also hinder our healthy microbes (bacteria) as well as hindered by processed artificial foods. Popcorn can also negatively affect the fingerlike projections called microvilli in the small intestine. The microvilli’s role is important in nutrient absorption after the enzymes break down the foods. With the many digestive conditions and dis-eases, the salivary/sublingual glands come in handy. Even some medications use the sublingual pathway to absorb quickly into the bloodstream – nitroglycerin for fast acting relief from angina. There are more such as THC, CBD, opioids, and benzodiazepines. It is written that certain proteins, vitamins and minerals can also absorb sublingually. I first got deeply familiar with sublingual absorption with the raw mammalian omegas.
Worth another mention. Sense our saliva is to gain an appreciation of yet another part of our physical body tied to digestion. What else would you like to know about saliva?
Since saliva helps to digest our foods, should we dilute it with drinking water when we consume nourishment?
Should we chew very well in order to take advantage of the saliva and to remove the burden from the stomach acid to break down large pieces of our food? That is what chewing is about. Enzymes will break down the food even more.
Does chewing and saliva go hand in hand? Yup! Yes! Oui! Sure does! Si!
Chewing Well
There is one question that I often get after I divulge the answer to the quiz. The quiz to my audience is “what four letter word is very important for good health, you can do it any where, any time, it does not cost anything, and easy to do?” Some will say ‘love’ while others will say ‘walk.’ The quiz answer is ‘CHEW.’
The question is “how many times do we need to chew Cheryl?” And the answer is “drink your food and chew your liquid.” There is not a number of chews as each food or kind of food (raw versus cooked carrots, whole apple vs apple juice) requires a different number of chews in order to break it down to liquid. This would stimulate the production of saliva so that the digestive process gets underway. Why chew the liquid (something other than water)? The mouth requires time to identify the foods in the mouth (so chew). These days many more people consume food in liquid form, such as protein shakes and smoothies. Best to know the impact and difference between whole foods and whole food smoothies and juices, and what their differences are when it comes to digesting (for another time).
The bonus in chewing is that the flavour doesn’t change (unless it is gum!). Chew the food and taste the goodness many more times. And sense our saliva with enthusiasm.
Sense Our Salvia
Full circle to appreciate what role salvia has in our body. The saliva doesn’t stay in the mouth. It mixes with the food and the coated food mash begins its journey down the throat to the esophagus into the stomach. It is the second step to break down your food after you chew! In addition, it lubricates the food so it flow down with ease and grace.
The next time a spoonful of food finds its way into our mouth, let’s ‘sense our salvia‘. Appreciate its role and chew to your heart’s content, and your digestive system will love you as well as your entire body (self care).
Quick mention…this means to consume healthy foods along with healthy portions. Healthy portions does mean eating the amount of food required to meet your nutrition needs as someone who is working out regularly would require a different intake than someone who is sitting at a desk.
Common sense just entered the mouth so speak and chew wisely!
Lack of Salvia
May this only be for educational purposes. A lack of saliva would affect digestion as you can now well imagine, but it would also negatively affect oral health. Saliva protects our teeth from decay by neutralizing the acids and washing away small food particles.
The condition is called xerostomia or hyposalivation (under salivating). Dehydration and chemotherapy can cause this as well as this condition being caused by 400 known medications. Besides digestion, to swallow may become an issue. Wet your whistle if you need to. At times, you may need to become a health detective. My nature is to have my Sherlock Holmes hat hanging on the hat rack!
Let’s eat to your good health. And Sense Our Saliva more and more.
Cheryl Millett
Champion for your better health…
Before the age of 20, it never dawned on me that what I chose to put in my mouth would have such a dramatic effect on my well being.
On my path of discovery, I learned that our eating choices directly affected how much energy we have first thing in the morning or that it would build our immune system strength during flu season. Part of it was coming to understand how gentle nutritional cleansing directly helped overcome my health challenges. People keep telling me how beautiful my skin is or how I look younger.
As my studies continued, it became obvious that there is an intrinsic connection between the mind, body, and spirit which directly affects our health and happiness. Omegas are another critical piece of the wellness puzzle. The Auum omegas alone turned on some switches in my brain in just one day.
I have developed a deep appreciation for the wonderful miracle workers our bodies are in the recovery process. Our bodies have natural intelligence. I am passionate to share the connection between nutrition and wellness in my practice and my presentations.
Book All Guts All Glory 2020 on Amazon
References
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/21532-enzymes
