How Does The Digestive System Works?

Digestive System

*How does the digestive system work?*

I just thought of discussing this also. Really! Before moving to another topic. I know we did learn this thing when we were young, in the primary and likewise the secondary school.

Don’t be bored please, just see it as some sort of revision. Smiles…

Food moves through the digestive system in four main progressive stages.

1) Mouth – In the mouth, the teeth begin the digestive process by tearing and grinding solid food into sizeable pieces. Saliva then begins to break down carbohydrates such as starch.

2) Stomach - The soft mass of chewed food in the mouth is then swallowed. The eosophagus (tube leading to the stomach) squeezes the partly digested food to the stomach by contracting in a wave like motion known as peristalsis. This process takes less than 6 seconds. In the stomach, glands secrete hydrochloric acid and digestive enzymes. These digestive juices break down the proteins, sugars and fats found in food.

3) Small Intestine - The partly digested food is then squeezed from the stomach through the duodenum and into the small intestine. In the small intestine, bile from the liver begins to emulsify fat and digestive juices from the pancreas continue to digest nutrients. Villi on the wall of the small intestine increase the surface area and aid the absorption of smaller molecules into the bloodstream.

4) Large intestine - By the time the food leaves the small intestine, most of the nutrients will already have been absorbed. Next, the resulting lump of mostly digested food moves slowly through the colon. This is the last stage of absorption, leaving only a mass of fibre and bacteria. Because this mass of waste cannot be used by the body, it is finally excreted through the anus.

This time you’ve read to know, cause you don’t have an exam to write on it.

Thanks so much for reading!
Article By: Immanuel Rottex

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