Autonomic Nervous System

Important Part of Digestion

An Illustration of Autonomic Nervous System ( ANS )

Can you imagine using a food processor without wire? Of course not! The wire connects to electricity which is essential to activate the grinding mechanism. I would say ANS is the wiring system* for the "grinder" in our body.

Overview of the Nervous System

The nervous system inside you is divided into two main parts:

1. Central Nervous System - consists of the brain and spinal cord.

2. Peripheral Nervous System - nerves branching out of brain and spinal cord. These nerves are divided into three types:

a. Voluntary Nervous System - cranial nerves and lower spinal nerves.

b. Involuntary Nervous System - also called ANS since it regulates body functions which are not under conscious control. For example, you don't have to think about digesting your food as the body takes care of that automatically.

3. Enteric Nervous System.

ANS and Digestion

As food enters the stomach, signals are relayed by ANS between respective digestive organs and the brain to digest, absorb and finally eliminate wastes in the form of feces.

ANS is further divided into two sets of nerves which have opposite effects on the organs they serve, namely:

Parasympathetic Nerves - its main job is to relax the body. It is most active when your body is calm in which it makes the digestive system more active. Can you see why it is also called "rest and digest system"?

Sympathetic Nerves - its main job is to prepare the body for stress. For instance, it increases the rate of your heartbeat and slows down the digestive system. Its other name, " fight or flight system". So if you trigger the sympathetic nerves more often, how to let go in the toilet...?

Don't Take For Granted

Being blessed with reasonable measure of health, I hardly notice the existence of the autonomic nervous system, while it transmits vital signals that activate my digestion. Just as we don't rough handle the wire of food processor, I should take regular meals and sufficient rest, so that I do not cause my ANS to "short-circuit".

* The most basic unit of the nervous system, neurons or nerve cells, are separated by tiny spaces less than one millionth of an inch. These tiny spaces are bridged by chemicals called neurotransmitters. Signals transmitted between two neurons are chemical but within the neurons the signals are electrical. Thus transmission of nerve signals is electrochemical, the frequency of impulses maybe as high as one thousand a second!

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