The digestive system has two main functions in the body:
1) To convert food into nutrients your body needs
2) To get rid of body waste
There are various steps in the digestive system till the food is completely broken and is ready to be absorbed by the body
1) The Mouth Starts Moving Everything
Even before you start eating, the mouth produces saliva when you smell the scent of tasty food. When you eat the food, the salivary amylase secretes saliva which breaks down the starch into maltose. The food then goes down to the oesophagus whose function is to only transport food to your stomach.
2) See You In The Stomach
The stomach is a J shaped organ attached to one end of the oesophagus. It is like a mixer, churning and mashing the food into a semi solid mixture called chyme. It also contains gastric juices such as pepsin- which is a protein digesting enzyme,hydrochloric acid(hcl) -which makes the stomach acidic for killing germs and converts the inactive pepsinogen to pepsin which helps to digest proteins and lastly it contains mucus- which will protect the stomach from the harmful effects of hydrochloric acid.
3) 22 Feet Isn't Small At All
The small intestine is a long convoluted tube that is about 22 feet long. It is the place where all the important nutrients are absorbed and the food turns into a watery mixture. When the food reached the first part of the small intestine- duodenum the food is digested with a little help from pancreas, liver and the gall bladder . The pancreas make pancreatic amylase which helps in the digestion of fats, a juice from liver helps in the absorption of fats and the gall bladder stores fat as a warehouse. The second part of the small intestine jejunum where the chemical breakdown of food is completed. Starch is broken down into glucose, fats into fatty acids and glycerol and proteins not amino acids and they are ready for absorption. The last part of the small intestine, the ileum is where the absorption of nutrients takes place. The walls of the small intestine are line with villi reach in blood vessels to increase the surface area for absorption of food.
4) That's One Large Intestine
The large intestine is the same length as the small intestine, only fatter. Now since all the nutrients are absorbed, only the waste products are left which need to be removed from the body. But before passing out, they go through the colon where the body gets a dial chance to absorb all the water and minerals. Now, only the faeces are left which are stored in the rectum and then passed out through the anus.
1) To convert food into nutrients your body needs
2) To get rid of body waste
There are various steps in the digestive system till the food is completely broken and is ready to be absorbed by the body
1) The Mouth Starts Moving Everything
Even before you start eating, the mouth produces saliva when you smell the scent of tasty food. When you eat the food, the salivary amylase secretes saliva which breaks down the starch into maltose. The food then goes down to the oesophagus whose function is to only transport food to your stomach.
2) See You In The Stomach
The stomach is a J shaped organ attached to one end of the oesophagus. It is like a mixer, churning and mashing the food into a semi solid mixture called chyme. It also contains gastric juices such as pepsin- which is a protein digesting enzyme,hydrochloric acid(hcl) -which makes the stomach acidic for killing germs and converts the inactive pepsinogen to pepsin which helps to digest proteins and lastly it contains mucus- which will protect the stomach from the harmful effects of hydrochloric acid.
3) 22 Feet Isn't Small At All
The small intestine is a long convoluted tube that is about 22 feet long. It is the place where all the important nutrients are absorbed and the food turns into a watery mixture. When the food reached the first part of the small intestine- duodenum the food is digested with a little help from pancreas, liver and the gall bladder . The pancreas make pancreatic amylase which helps in the digestion of fats, a juice from liver helps in the absorption of fats and the gall bladder stores fat as a warehouse. The second part of the small intestine jejunum where the chemical breakdown of food is completed. Starch is broken down into glucose, fats into fatty acids and glycerol and proteins not amino acids and they are ready for absorption. The last part of the small intestine, the ileum is where the absorption of nutrients takes place. The walls of the small intestine are line with villi reach in blood vessels to increase the surface area for absorption of food.
4) That's One Large Intestine
The large intestine is the same length as the small intestine, only fatter. Now since all the nutrients are absorbed, only the waste products are left which need to be removed from the body. But before passing out, they go through the colon where the body gets a dial chance to absorb all the water and minerals. Now, only the faeces are left which are stored in the rectum and then passed out through the anus.