Posted on Jul 4, 2009 11:50 AM
I have only read one article and I have found more mistakes in his statements than someone else who is spouting about the same topic.
http://www.oprah.com/slideshow/oprahshow/slideshow1_ss_yourbody_embarrassing#login_link
I posted comments on his mistakes, but they're not up yet. So I will go through them again.
1) He says the stomach digests food. This is wrong. The only thing that the stomach digests is protein and it only partially digests protein into amino acids. The small intestine is what digests and absorbs food. The only function of the stomach is to churn food with the gastric acids to form a paste called chyme. Chyme enters the first of 3 parts of the small intestines. This part is called the duodenum. Food is digested HERE. Fats become fatty acids, proteins become amino acids, starchs become simple sugars.
2) Then he says this:
[quote]Then greenish brown bile produced in the liver is added to help the breakdown of these fats. By the time the food leaves your stomach and passes into the small intestine, it's unrecognizable.[/quote]
He must have failed anatomy because the gallbladder (the organ that stores the bile created by the liver) is attached to the duodenum of the small intestines. The food is turned into an unrecognizable paste in the stomach and then the bile is released to help digest fats into fatty acids. the mid part of the small intestines is called the jejunum, this part absorbs the macronutrients. The third part called the ileum is where most of the immune system of the digestion system is (called peyer's patches) and the function of this part of the small intestines is to take care of the rest. Then the left over waste is then moved into the large intestine where the main function of this organ is for water absorption.
3) He says it takes 2-3 days for steak to digest. There are more important factors that he didn't discuss and therefore makes him wrong. It can take 2-3 days if you are deficient in fiber. What he says contradicts himself:
[quote]A steak dinner can take you two, maybe three days to get out of your intestine. What that means is the way you digest it is basically to rot it in your intestines[/quote]
Which contradicts this:
[quote] In the stomach, the food is broken down into easily absorbable ingredients: proteins, sugars and fats.[/quote]
When someone says food is broken down, it's leymen terms for digestion.
This guy is not a doctor. I have met premed students that were rejected from many medical schools know more than this quack does. He should be embarrassed to even be on TV. He takes advantage of people's lack of knowledge in biochemistry and throws the word "doctor" in front of his name to make people think that he knows what he's talking about. He's not fooling this medical student. He does NOT have an MD or DO. If someone will show me his liscence then I will believe it, but then I would report him to the AMA.
The Oprah Winfrey Show
Oprah's Best Life Series
Harpo Films
For One More Day
The Great Debaters
O, The Oprah Magazine
Subscribe Today
Oprah Radio
Oprah's Angel Network
Oprah's Book Club
