5 Ways Your Intestines Keep You Alive and Well

Your intestines are an important part of your body that you don't give much thought to until something goes wrong. Although you can live without your intestines, they have many functions that help keep you alive and well. Here are some of the ways your intestines keep you alive and well.

1) They absorb water

Water is an essential part of life; without it, we die. The intestines are responsible for absorbing water from food into the bloodstream. If a person has a disease or some other issue with their intestines, they cannot absorb as much water as they need to live. There are five functions of the intestines:

- They absorb water

- They secrete enzymes and hormones

- They synthesize vitamin K

- They store fecal matter (a.k.a poop) until it is ready to be eliminated by the body

- They produce intestinal gas. Waste products from your digestive system include toxic substances like carbon dioxide and methane. Getting these out of your body is important, so you fart! The intestines release intestinal gases to cleanse themselves before eating new food.- They regulate our blood sugar: 

A healthy balance in the bloodstream's sugar level is necessary for survival. But when someone has too much sugar in their bloodstream, they could go into diabetic shock and die quickly. 

On the flip side, if someone doesn't have enough sugar in their bloodstream because they're on a diet that doesn't provide them with enough energy sources like sugars or carbohydrates, they'll likely experience hypoglycemia which can lead to coma or death. What are the functions of the intestines?

 The intestines regulate glucose levels in your bloodstream, absorb water and create intestinal gas. These three things allow us to stay alive and well. The intestines also serve another four purposes:

- Secreting enzymes and hormones, synthesizing Vitamin K, storing feces (poop), and producing intestinal gas. -Intestinal gas is released to cleanse before a new food is eaten.

-The intestines are extremely important because they control the sugar levels in your blood and help you digest food by breaking down its nutrients so your body can use them.

2) They absorb nutrients

The small intestine is a tube-shaped organ that absorbs nutrients from food. It starts at the stomach, continues to the large intestine, and ends at the rectum. The small intestine has three layers:

 An outer layer of connective tissue (called serosa), a middle layer that contains blood vessels, lymphatic vessels, glands, cells that help produce digestive enzymes, and muscle fibers (called mucosa), and an inner layer that is lined with epithelial cells that absorb digested food into your bloodstream.

The walls of the small intestine are covered with tiny finger-like protrusions called villi. Villi increase the surface area of the intestines so that more nutrients can be absorbed by the body. Villi are what give healthy bowel movements their smooth appearance. They secrete mucus:

 Mucus is a sticky fluid produced by goblet cells in the small intestine's lining. Mucus aids digestion by trapping bacteria and other substances as they pass through our intestines, preventing them from entering our bodies. They have bacteria inside them:

 Our intestines contain trillions of helpful bacteria or good bugs, such as Lactobacillus acidophilus and Bifidobacterium long, which live symbiotically on or within us without causing any harm. These organisms help digest some of our food, crowd out dangerous microbes, and teach our immune system to tolerate friendly organisms. When we take antibiotics, these good bacteria are killed off along with the bad ones, allowing harmful bacteria like Clostridium difficile to grow unchecked. Antibiotics are also very damaging to healthy intestinal flora because they kill off all bacteria indiscriminately; 

it is estimated that half of all antibiotic treatments lead to diarrhea caused by changes in the balance of gut flora.

3) They protect you from infection

Your intestines are the long, tube-like organ that is about 9 meters in length. The function of the intestines is to extract nutrients from food for use by your body. In addition, the intestines serve as protection from infection. The large intestine absorbs water from the undigested material, creating feces (poop) that exits the body through the anus (butt). Along with protecting you from infection, the intestines also help fight against cancer cells because some cancer cells cannot survive in an environment with high levels of bile acids. 

The intestines play an important role in digestion: digestion is when your stomach breaks down the food you eat into smaller particles to be absorbed by the small intestine. Without proper digestion, malnutrition would occur. The intestines control blood sugar levels:

 Blood sugar spikes can cause diabetes, so they must be regulated so they don't get too high or too low. Insulin controls this process; when insulin production slows down or stops completely, hypoglycemia occurs - low blood sugar - which can lead to confusion and loss of consciousness. When the intestines become damaged, this can interfere with their ability to regulate blood sugar levels. Cancerous tissue will only grow if all five parts of your digestive system are healthy. As we've already seen, one important part is your intestines. When something goes wrong in any part of the digestive tract, such as a hole that allows bacteria to leak out and collect around tissues nearby, cancerous tissue will only grow if all five parts of your digestive system are healthy.

4) They produce hormones

The intestines produce various hormones, including gastrin, secretin, cholecystokinin (CCK), vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP), neurotensin, and ghrelin. These can regulate the release of other hormones in the body. They also help control appetite by releasing hormones such as CCK when food enters your stomach. The intestines process proteins that stimulate the pancreas to release insulin when we eat carbohydrates. The intestines are also home to bacteria called probiotics that have been linked to weight loss in obese people with metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes. 

It is believed that the intestine is an important site for triggering changes in metabolism which lead to improved health outcomes. In fact, mounting evidence suggests that diet-induced alterations to gut microbiota may be one mechanism linking obesity and associated diseases. What are the functions of the intestines? 

The intestines produce various hormones, including gastrin, secretin, cholecystokinin (CCK), vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP), neurotensin, and ghrelin. These can regulate the release of other hormones in the body. They also help control appetite by releasing hormones such as CCK when food enters your stomach. The intestines process proteins that stimulate the pancreas to release insulin when we eat carbohydrates. The intestines are also home to bacteria called probiotics that have been linked to weight loss in obese people with metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes. It is believed that the intestine is an important site for triggering changes in metabolism which lead to improved health outcomes. In fact, mounting evidence suggests that diet-induced alterations to gut microbiota may be one mechanism linking obesity and associated diseases.

 Many studies point towards dietary factors as key in determining gut microbiota composition. For instance, obese patients consuming high-fat diets were found to have greater proportions of Firmicutes bacteria. In contrast, lean individuals consuming low-fat diets had more Bacteroidetes in their guts. Additionally, both overweight/obese children and their mothers showed increased levels of bifidobacteria during lactation, presumably from breast milk containing bifidobacteria, compared to levels at birth or during childhood (HMP study).

5) They store waste

The intestines are a long, coiled tube that absorbs nutrients from what we eat, store waste until it is ready to be excreted, and produce digestive enzymes. The small intestine is the longest part of the intestinal tract, where most nutrient absorption occurs. The large intestine is the last stop before exiting the rectum. It stores waste until it is ready to be excreted and produces digestive enzymes like amylase, which helps break down carbohydrates. What are the functions of the intestines? 

They absorb what you eat, store waste until it's ready to be excreted, and produce digestive enzymes like amylase, which help break down carbs. Without your intestines, all food would pass through your body undigested! Digestion begins in your mouth as you chew food, mix it with saliva, and break down carbohydrates into simple sugars. From there, things move into your stomach, where acid and bile break proteins into amino acids to be absorbed by the gut lining. When digestion is complete, whatever remains moves to the colon or large intestine, where bacteria break them down further to finally be eliminated from the body. No matter how much fiber you consume or how well-intentioned a diet might seem at first glance - if digestion doesn't occur in the intestines, nothing will be absorbed!