The response of the digestive system to the foods and foods that a person eats varies from one person to another. You will find some people do not have any problem digesting fatty or greasy foods, and you will find others complaining of excess acidity, for example, or stomach aches and bloating in the colon when eating meat or legumes, for example. .
Eating sugars or starches may cause a problem for some, and dairy may cause digestive disorders for others. Doctors and gastroenterologists say that these differences are in fact due to the variation in the environment of the digestive tract from one person to another, as well as the different composition of the microbiome, which means the types of microbes, bacteria, and fungi that live naturally within the digestive system and help in the digestion process.
In an unprecedented scientific experiment carried out by a team of scientists from the University of Copenhagen in Denmark, a trip was launched using a capsule inside the digestive system of a group of volunteers with the aim of drawing conclusions about the effect of the difference in the internal composition of the digestive canal on the mechanism of digestion, absorption of food, and utilization of nutrients, as well as knowing the reasons for the difference in response to… The same food items from one person to another, in order to find medical solutions for many digestive system problems and provide a set of recommendations to improve the digestive mechanism in general.
As part of the scientific experiment, 50 volunteers swallowed a small capsule while eating breakfast, which consisted of a piece of bread with jam and butter, a boiled egg, an amount of yogurt, a few nuts and berries, and a cup of water.
The capsule traveled through the stomach, passing through the small intestine and from there to the large intestine, and was excreted in the stool after a period ranging between 12 and 72 hours, depending on each person. During the trip, data was collected on temperature, pressure, and acidity levels within the digestive tract. The first thing the researchers noticed was the large differences in the environment of the digestive system from one person to another, as well as the variation in the speed of movement of the capsule within the digestive tract according to each volunteer.
“We found, for example, that it took two hours for the capsule to reach the small intestine for some, and 10 hours for others,” said researcher Henrik Rogar, assistant professor at the Department of Nutrition, Physical Training and Sports at the University of Copenhagen, and head of the study team published in the scientific journal Nature Microbiology. Statements to the website “Scitic Daily”, which specializes in scientific research: “Since we already know that most nutrients are absorbed within the small intestine, the difference in travel time in the small intestine likely affects the volume of nutrients that are absorbed.” “It is absorbed, and the amount then passes into the large intestine where the gut bacteria then begin their work.”
Stool samples
In previous scientific studies, the activity of the digestive tract was studied by analyzing stool samples and studying the nature of each patient’s diet. As for the capsule, it provides a more accurate and dynamic way to understand the effect of different variables on the digestive process.
Rogar explains, “The capsule means that we can collect information to explain why the method of digestion differs from one person to another by studying the composition of the digestive tract and bowel movement, for example, which provides a greater amount of data compared to what we obtain when analyzing stool or studying the nature of each person’s diets.” .
Upon its arrival in the stomach in the first leg of the journey, the capsule records the acidity level, because stomach acids break down food before it moves to the small intestine in the second leg, where bicarbonate is secreted, which neutralizes the acid and helps in absorbing nutrients.
At the third leg of the journey, the capsule reaches the large intestine to monitor the fermentation process using digestive bacteria. Bacteria secrete fatty acids in the upper part of the colon. The acidity level rises again as food moves through the large intestine, before the intestinal walls work to absorb fatty acids, and the activity of bacteria that aid in digestion changes.
Rogar says, “The capsule recorded all the changes that occurred in the acidity rates within the digestive tract, while determining the period that food takes in each stage of the digestion process. We have found that the acidity rate plays a major role in the growth and activity of digestive bacteria, which explains the reasons for the difference in the microbiome of a person.” “to another.”
He added, “We have always assumed that we all digest and absorb food in much the same way, but the recent journey through the intestines has proven that every human being is a unique being in terms of the digestive process, and that the digestive system reacts differently to the same foods from one person to another, and that The difference in the environment within the digestive tract plays a major role in the difference in this response,” stressing that this information can help in establishing correct controls for the feeding process in the future.