<b>Digestion </b>is the mechanical and chemical breakdown of food into smaller components that are more easily absorbed into a blood stream, for instance. Digestion is a form of catabolism: a breakdown of large food molecules to smaller ones.<a href="http://jagjuice.us/wp-content/uploads/digestion-page.jpeg"><img class=" wp-image-3029 alignright" style="border: 0px none; margin: 6px;" alt="digestion-page" src="http://jagjuice.us/wp-content/uploads/digestion-page.jpeg" width="220" height="146" /></a>

Food enters the mouth, being chewed by teeth, with chemical processing beginning with chemicals in the saliva from the salivary glands. This is called mastication. Then it travels down the esophagus into the stomach, where hydrochloric acid kills most contaminating microorganisms and begins mechanical breakdown of some food (e.g., denaturation of protein), and chemical alteration of some. The hydrochloric acid also has a low pH, which allows enzymes to work more efficiently. After some time (typically an hour or two in humans, 4–6 hours in dogs, somewhat shorter duration in house cats), the resulting thick liquid is called chyme. Chyme will go through the small intestine, where 95% of absorption of nutrients occurs, through the large intestine, and are eliminated during defecation.

<b>Human Digestion Process </b>

The whole digestive system is around 30 feet long. In a healthy human adult this process can take between 24 and 72 hours. Food digestion physiology varies between individuals and upon other factors such as the characteristics of the food and size of the meal.

<b>Human Gastrointestinal Tract </b>

The human gastrointestinal tract refers to the stomach and intestine, and sometimes to all the structures from the mouth to the anus. (The "digestive system" is a broader term that includes other structures, including the accessory organs of digestion).

In an adult male human, the gastrointestinal (GI) tract is 20 feet long in a live subject, or up to 30 feet without the effect of muscle tone, and consists of the upper and lower GI tracts. The tract may also be divided into foregut, midgut, and hindgut, reflecting the embryological origin of each segment of the tract.

<b>Transit Time </b>

The time taken for food or other ingested objects to transit through the gastrointestinal tract varies depending on many factors, but roughly, it takes 2.5 to 3 hours after meal for 50% of stomach contents to empty into the intestines and total emptying of the stomach takes 4 to 5 hours. Subsequently, 50% emptying of the small intestine takes 2.5 to 3 hours. Finally, transit through the colon takes approximately 30 hours.

<b>Good digestion and reduction in meal sizes may reduce the waistline.</b>

There are three ways to improve digestion
<ol>
	<li>Increase healthy foods to your diet, like fresh fruits and vegetables, green salads,, fresh fish and seafood, fermented food and whole grains</li>
	<li>Reduce unhealthy foods from your diet, like: fast food, processed foods, sugar and confectionery, soft drinks, junk foods and heavily fried foods</li>
	<li>Add food high in probiotics or a probiotic supplement to your diet.</li>
</ol>
<b>Probiotics for health</b>

To keep your intestinal tract in optimal working order, it needs lots of good bacteria. There are only three types of basic bacteria in our digestive systems, so the "good bacteria" balances the pH of the intestinal tract and creates an undesirable environment for pathogenic bacteria.

In addition to your digestive health, probiotics have been shown in research to help in the battle against a wide variety of medical conditions and immune system during cold and flu season. Today, many of the probiotic supplements fall short on bacteria content. But with the help of a few easy-to-find foods, you can increase the number of beneficial bacteria in your digestive tract and skip the supplements altogether.

Probiotics from SCD, <strong><a href="http://jagjuice.us/product-category/human-health/" target="_blank">SCD Probiotics products</a></strong> – SCD Essential Probiotics®, SCD Herbal Probiotics® and Xtra Immunity® – offer three ways to support increased personal wellness. There do not fall short of good bacteria needed to maintain a healthy digestive system

Read the blog 13 Probiotic Filled Foods for more ways to add probiotics to your diet.