Since the 2008 economic downturn, the number of Polish people in Ireland has declined, with some reports suggesting that 30,000 were leaving Ireland per year, and the Central Statistics Office reporting a decrease in the number of Polish people applying for PPS numbers.
Fiber in the Diet: Dietary fiber is the component in food not broken down by digestive enzymes and secretions of the gastrointestinal tract. This fiber includes hemicelluloses, pectins, gums, mucilages, cellulose, (all carbohydrates) and lignin, the only non-carbohydrate component of dietary fiber.
Let's follow the route of a piece of toast, to take a look at the digestive tract. After putting the toast into our mouth we chew it with our teeth. Not only is the toast ground into small pieces, but it is also mixed with saliva. Saliva contains enzymes. These enzymes break down molecules into smaller particles. A piece of toast is made of wheat and this contains starch. Starch is made up of long chains of carbohydrates. These chains are too small for the teeth to grind but the enzymes break these into smaller pieces. In other words, digestion starts in the mouth! So it is very important to chew your food well and not to rush it. After swallowing, the toast will go past the back of the throat, down the gullet to the stomach. The stomach contains very acid fluid and enzymes to break down the chain of molecules into even smaller pieces. The stomach's contents are so acid that, if you could put your finger in there, it would be broken down as well! Because of the acidity, most of the bacteria will be killed. The stomach can survive this acidity because it has a special lining.