Digestive System Journey

The digestive system absorbs the minerals and nutrients from the foods that have been eaten. The break down of food beings in the mouth, where the

Trace and discuss the complete movement of a bolus of food entering and exiting the human via the digestive system.

The Gastrointestinal system is how our body processes energy. The system starts in the mouth where food is broken down. Next, the stomach breaks down the food for digestion. Energy is absorbed in the intestines and waste is removed and excreted from the body. This system is important because it is vital to our survival; without energy we would die.

As you can see, it is a tubelike structure made of muscle and lined with mucous membrane. The pharynx functions as part of the respiratory and digestive system because it is located behind the nasal cavities and the mouth. It is the structure that we refer to as the throat. It is about twelve and a half centimeters long and consists of three parts; the nasopharynx, oropharynx and the laryngopharynx. (Anatomy.tv, n.d.) The esophagus branches off of the pharynx which carries food to the stomach. Swallowing takes place in the pharynx partly as a reflex and partly under voluntary control. The tongue and soft palate pushes food into the pharynx, which closes off the trachea. The food then enters the esophagus. The esophagus is a muscular tube extending from the pharynx to the stomach. . (Mohan, 2010). It is about 25 centimeters long. The production of mucus by glands in the mucosal lining as you can see lubricates the tube to permit easier passage of food moving toward the stomach. (Thibodeau & Patton, 2008). Food is pushed through the esophagus and into the stomach by a series of contractions called peristalsis. The lower esophageal sphincter is just before the opening to the stomach. It opens to let food pass into the stomach and closes to keep it there. (Mohan, 2010).

Food is digested by being broken down, by a variety of enzymes, into useful nutrients, which are transported around the body to places where they can be of use, and into waste products, which are excreted from the body. The digestive system is made up of a number of organs, oesophagus, stomach, liver, pancreas, gallbladder, and small and large intestines, these are then separated into the digestive tract and the digestive organs. The digestive tract is, essentially, a single continuous tube that begins at the mouth and ends at the anus, in a fully grown adult it is approximately seven metres long. Food travels through the digestive tract and the digestive organs produce the enzymes and chemicals that are responsible for

The digestive system is the process that involves the mouth, esophagus, stomach, small intestine, large intestine and rectum. For the body to function, the body`s cells needs energy and that energy will come from the food we eat. All the food we eat contains nutrients, carbohydrates, glucose, lipids, protein and many more other substances. The only way the body can absorb and convert these nutrients into energy to our cells is through breaking down the large molecules into smaller pieces and moist by the action of enzymes.

The digestive system has many functions that allow people to live out their daily lives including the production of energy through nutrients in a functioning digestive system. The first function of the digestive system is the ingestion process. Ingestion is the intake of food performed by the mouth. Then, the mouth and stomach are responsible for storing the food until digestion. After ingestion, the digestive system secretes fluids, in order to soften the food and protect and lubricate internal organs, through a means called secretion. The food is then sent through a procedure of mixing and movement. Mixing and movement move the food to the intestines for digestion. Digestion is the most known function of the digestive system. Food is turned into chemicals and broken down into building blocks. When the digestive system has its building blocks, absorption takes place in the small intestines. The small intestine contains microscopic blood and lymphatic cells which carry the chemicals all over the human body. Once the chemicals are dispersed, the final process of the digestive system takes place. The overall progression is called excretion. Defecation is the process within excretion. Defecation takes indigestible substances from the body, so it

In what form are potatoes easiest to digest, raw, cooked, or cooked and cooled? If a potato has been cooked, then it will break down more starch molecules making it easier to digest. The body starts digesting food as soon as it enters the mouth.

The major stages of the digestive system are ingestion, digestion, absorption, and elimination. Ingestion is the process of taking in food and water into the form of swallowing, and digestions is when the food that was consumed begins to breakdown into smaller pieces so it’s easy to be absorbed into the body. Digestion can happen with two phases, when the food is breakdown by teeth and the second phase which is the chemical breakdown, which is the breakdown of food by enzymes. The next stage of the digestive system is absorption, which absorbs the food of the digestions. The nutrients such as amino acids and simple sugars travel in the blood when then goes to the body cells, that can be broken down more or used to build a cell’s large molecule.

The digestive system starts with the mouth and goes all the way down to the rectum. Along the way, your digestive system breaks down the food you eat so you can absorb the nutrients and use them for energy.

This is a tube that connects the throat to the stomach and is the tunnel in which moves food from the mouth to the stomach. Through contracting and relaxing of the esophagus muscles, know as peristalsis your food is welcomed into the lower part of the esophagus, known as the esophageal sphincter. Here there is a valve that is normally closed but once food comes into contact with it, it opens and lets food into the stomach.

It is here that these nutrients are transported throughout the body and also rid itself of unwanted substances such as waste. As extensive as the relationship between the circulatory system and the digestive system rely heavily on each other in two crucial ways.

Your digestive system is distinctively designed to transform the food you eat into nutrients, which the body uses for cell repair, energy, and growth. It includes the organs associated with the alimentary canal and several accessory structures. Here's how it works.

The mouth contains a watery substance called saliva. Saliva is important to the whole process of food digestion, because not only does it help with sensing taste, but it is also made up of enzymes that break down the fats and starches in food at a molecular level. The esophagus is a tube where swallowed food travels down to the stomach. The stomach is a muscular sac that acts as a blender and mixes food with acid, hydrochloric acid, which breaks down the swallowed chum and flushes the nutrients into the small intestine (Columbia University, 2010). The hydrochloric acid in the stomach is so powerful it can eat through a leather shoe. However, the stomach contains other chemicals, such as gastric acid, mucus and enzymes that also soften food (Sullivan, 2008). The result thus far in the process of digestion in the stomach is now called chime (Sullivan, 2008). Once the stomach has done its job digesting the food, your dinner, now chime, travels to the small intestine where the final stage of digestion takes place. The remaining food is separated as either waste or nutrients. The nutrients are absorbed and taken in as fuel for the body (will explain in next paragraph) while the waste enters the large intestine and passed through the rectum and anus to leave the body. It’s fascinating to know that your dinner gets chemically broken down in your own body without you knowing it. In the digestive system each organ has a specific role that is carried out through

In a way, the esophagus is kind of like a stretchy and muscular highway that is about 10 inches long but rather than transporting people from destination to destination it transports food from the back of your throat and into your stomach. Besides your esophagus, also located at the back of your throat is what is known as your windpipe, which is connected to your lungs and allows air to enter and leave your body. When you swallow a small bit of bolus, a special