The role of the oesophagus in digestion

Our oesophagus is the tube that connects our mouth to our stomach and its job is to deliver food and fluids from one to the other. It produces lots of mucus which helps to make sure the food has a smooth ride down into our stomach but there is no absorption of nutrients in our oesophagus. There are valves at the top and bottom, called sphincters, which open and close very quickly, and these, with the help of some downward muscular movements in our oesophagus, help to make sure nothing goes the wrong way! Typically, it only takes about 6-15 seconds for food to travel down our oesophagus.

Issues with our oesophagus?

Reflux is a common problem with our oesophagus and causes heartburn and a burning sensation in the back of our throat. This can happen when we have a hiatus hernia, H pylori bacterial infection (bacteria that can live in our stomach and cause problems for some people), eat spicy food, when we have too much acid in our stomach, when we don’t have enough acid in our stomach, or when we have eaten a very large meal which overstretches our stomach and can cause the lower valve in our oesophagus to open and allow acid from our stomach to creep up. Unlike our stomach, the lining of our oesophagus isn’t built to withstand that strong acid and thats why we experience that burning feeling when acid escapes up there. Ideally, we don’t want this to happen to much as it can cause inflammation and damage to the lining of our oesophagus a condition called gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (GORD).

There are other issues that can occur with our oesophagus including Barrett’s oesophagus and oesophageal cancer, but I am not going to go into these here. 

Can IBD impact our oesophagus?

Again, it is possible to have Crohn’s of our oesophagus, but this is not very common. Research published in 2017 found that heartburn in Crohn's disease is associated with increased disease activity, poor sleep quality and is more common if you have had an ileocecectomy. 

I have written a free e-book to help you find a way forward for your everyday life with Inflammatory Bowel Disease. Whether you are right at the beginning of your journey with IBD or have been living with your condition for years and feel like you have tried almost everything, there are things you can do everyday, beyond the medication you are taking, to help you take back control.

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We are all wonderfully unique and what works for one person may not work for another so please seek help and advice before changing your diet to work out the right way forward for you.