On the way to the stomach: the oesophagus - After being chewed and swallowed, the food enters the oesophagus. The oesophagus is a long tube that runs from the mouth to the stomach. It uses rhythmic, wave-like muscle movements (called peristalsis) to force food from the throat into the stomach. This muscle movement gives us the ability to eat or drink even when we're upside-down.
In the stomach - The stomach is a large, sack-like organ that churns the food and bathes it in a very strong acid (gastric acid). Food in the stomach that is partly digested and mixed with stomach acids is called chyme.
In the small intestine - After being in the stomach, food enters the duodenum, the first part of the small intestine. It then enters the jejunum and then the ileum (the final part of the small intestine). In the small intestine, bile (produced in the liver and stored in the gall bladder), pancreatic enzymes, and other digestive enzymes produced by the inner wall of the small intestine help in the breakdown of food.
In the large intestine - After passing through the small intestine, food passes into the large intestine. In the large intestine, some of the water and electrolytes are removed from the food. Microbes are used in the large intestine to help in the digestion process. The first part of the large intestine is called the cecum (the appendix is connected to the cecum). Food then travels upward in the ascending colon. The food travels across the abdomen in the transverse colon, goes back down the other side of the body in the descending colon, and then through the sigmoid colon.
The end of the process - Solid waste is then stored in the rectum until it is excreted out of the anus.
You May Also Find These Documents Helpful
-
The beginning of the digestive process starts with the smell and sight of food which activate the salivary glands. The mouth is the point at which food enters the digestive tract and continues the digestive process by chewing food. The food is then broken down into pieces and moistened by salivary glands which turn food into a bolus. The bolus goes down the pharynx into the esophagus which connects the pharynx to the stomach. The stomach is an organ that mixes food and secretes gastric juice. The bolus, once in the stomach, is mixed into a semiliquid mass called chime. The stomach is close together with the liver and pancreas but does not get assistance from these organs. The chime then enters…
- 251 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
One of the final portions of the digestive system. Includes the anal canal, rectum, colon, and cecum. Takes care of absorbing any water left in the food that hasn't been digested yet, and then passing any unused waste from the body…
- 660 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
When we vomit, the acidic nature of our stomach contents becomes immediately apparent both from the taste and from the burning sensation in our throats. The purpose of this acidity is to kill any bacteria we swallow with our food. In the stomach, digestive enzymes and a muscular churning action combine to reduce our food to a thick liquid called chyme. Chyme exits the stomach through a second sphincter and enters the small intestine. Typically, it takes the stomach about 4 hours to process a meal. The small intestine is about 20 feet long. In the duodenum, the first foot of the small intestine, digestion continues with the breakdown of proteins, fats, carbohydrates, and nucleic acids. Some of the digestive enzymes at work in the duodenum are made by the small intestine itself. Others are made by the pancreas. Pancreatic enzymes play an important role in neutralizing food, which arrives from the stomach in a highly acidic condition. In addition, the small intestine receives bile, a substance that is produced in the liver and stored in the gall bladder. Bile is an emulsifier?it breaks fats into tiny droplets that are more easily attacked by enzymes. Beyond the duodenum, the rest of the small intestine functions primarily in absorbing nutrients into the body. In order to be able to do this efficiently?that is, rapidly?the small intestine has a huge surface area. It is covered with numerous fingerlike projections called villi, each of which is in turn covered with tiny little projections called microvilli. Flattened, the small intestine would fill the area of a tennis court! Digested nutrients are absorbed across the surface of the small intestine into capillaries found inside each villus.…
- 4740 Words
- 19 Pages
Better Essays -
When a human sees or smells food the salivary glands are the first thing to react in the digestive system. Once the food is placed into the mouth, it is then taken over by the teeth, tongue, and saliva. These three are what help make the food moist and small enough to be swallowed. At this point the food then becomes what is called bolus. The bolus is then traveled through the pharynx then esophagus, and into the stomach. When the food travels through the pharynx, the epiglottis makes sure that the food paces by the without interring the lungs. Once the bolus enters the stomach, it is then broken down even further by the acids within the stomach. The bolus becomes a little more digested before leaving the stomach. Once the food is at this stage, it is then called Chyme. Chyme is a semiliquid food. It normally leaves the stomach within two to six hours. The small intestine is what does most of the digesting and takes the nutrients from the food. It has help from the liver, pancreas, and gallbladder. The small intestine is made up of three parts, these parts are called, the jejunum, the ileum, and the duodenum. Anything that is not taken for nutrients in the small intestine goes to the large intestine. At this time it travels through what is called the sphincter. The sphincter prevents any of the food to go back into the small…
- 483 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
The gastrointestinal tract starts with the mouth, which leads to the gullet via the stomach, small intestine, large intestine, and ends at the anus. In due course of the journey, the ingested food is broken down by both physical and chemical means to release nutrients which are absorbed into the blood stream. The ingested food is physically broken down in the mouth by chewing so as to reduce its size for increased surface area over which enzymatic reaction will take place. Enzymatic reaction is known as digestion and this is defined as the chemical breakdown of the ingested complex food molecules by the action of biological enzymes, into simplest form that can be absorbed into the blood stream and assimilated into living cells. In human beings, various components of the ingested food are digested and absorbed at various sections of the alimentary canal .…
- 1938 Words
- 8 Pages
Better Essays -
It receives partially digested food (known as chyme) from the stomach and plays a vital role in the chemical digestion of chyme in preparation for absorption in the small intestine.…
- 664 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
This process is called digestion. It takes place in your digestive tract or gut, which is a long tube with muscly walls that runs from your mouth to your bottom which is called your anus. Some parts of your digestive system mash up food physically, just like a food processor. Your mouth breaks down food into tiny junks. Your stomach then churns these around until they form a slushy liquid.…
- 1610 Words
- 7 Pages
Powerful Essays -
Digestion first begins with the mouth. When you put food into your mouth your teeth and saliva helps to break down food into small molecules that absorbs into your bloodstream, your tongue finishes this process off by pushing the food into your throat in order for you to swallow. Food then goes through the esophagus and the esophagus muscles pushes the food into the stomach. While in the stomach digestive juices such as enzymes and acids assists in breaking down the food into paste. The food and digestive juices mixes and remains in the stomach for at least two hours. After departing the stomach food then goes through the small intestine. This is the most important part of digestion. The food paste travels through the small intestine and nutrients such as carbohydrates, minerals, proteins, fats, and vitamins are absorbed by villi and then goes through the bloodstream. The food which is undigested then goes through the large intestine as paste. Water is taken from the paste and it then becomes solid waste. The solid waste gathers inside the rectum which is at the end of the large intestine. Lastly, the waste goes through the anus (Hillendale Health, 2013).…
- 689 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
The digestive system works like an assembly line in reverse. Carbohydrates, fats and proteins are progressively broken down into smaller molecules that can be used by the body. This system extracts needed nutrients and gets rid of any unnecessary wastes. Structurally, the digestive system consists of the long tube, the gastrointestinal (GI) tract that serves as the direct pathway for what you eat and excrete. Along the way, various accessory organs help with the mechanical breakdown and the chemical digestion of food. Mechanical digestion involves physically mashing or tearing the bites of food we put in our mouths. We normally think of mechanical digestion occurring in the mouth, but there are other features of your GI tract that also help mash up your food. As what you consume is being smashed, chemical digestion also begins. Enzymes break fats, carbohydrates and proteins into their building blocks so they can be used by the body. Once these molecules are broken down, they can become the raw material for the production of the body’s energy currency, adenosine triphosphate (ATP).…
- 1178 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
2. a) The mouth is the beginning process it is located on your face. From the mouth it goes to the esophagus which is located down the throat the esophagus carries the food down to the stomach which is located in front of the liver. Stomach breaks down food and then enters the duodenum which is the first part of the small intestine. The center of your small intestine is right behind your belly button. Then the large intestine is located in the abdominal cavity. Then the anus is the rectum.…
- 473 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
Gastric juice in the stomach begins protein digestion with peristalsis continuing to mix the food, which eventually forms a fluid called chyme that travels to the small intestine. The chyme is absorbed into the intestine with some of the nutrients being absorbed into the bloodstream with water and minerals being reabsorbed into the blood in the colon, while the waste is…
- 552 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
From the stomach, the burger goes through the pyloric sphincter and into the small intestine. In the first 25 cm of the small intestine, the food goes through the duodenum, a place where pancreatic enzymes and bile from the live are stored. Bile, along with the enzyme lipase, breaks down fat while the enzyme nuclease breaks down nucleic acids and various enzymes, such as trypsins and peptidases, break down the proteins. These substances are called by hormones which act based on stimuli received, such as the food in the duodenum. Absorption also occurs in the small intestine because of its large surface area. It has a very large surface area because villi, or finger like projections on the surface, contain microvilli, smaller projections on the surface of the villi. Because of this, the surface area of the small intestine is greatly increased.…
- 362 Words
- 1 Page
Good Essays -
Then, the body absorbs the smaller molecules through the walls of the small intestine into the bloodstream The bloodstream then delivers the small molecules to the rest of the body. After this, the food continues into the large intestine, and out your body. What happens during the chemical digestion in the mouth, stomach, and small intestine? The process of digestion begins in the mouth when the food is chewed, being broken down into simpler nutrients, and is mixed with saliva.…
- 678 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
every part of the gastrointestinal tract is designed to help in the digestive process in a specific way. The mouth is involved in chewing also know as masticating. The purpose is to break down food into small enough pieces to pass through the esophagus and enter the stomach. The food is moistened with saliva helping turning it into bolus in order to turn initiate the digestion of food. The esophagus is a tube like muscle which use contractions to pass food from the mouth into the stomach it does not help with the digestive or absorptive function. The stomach acts like a sort of storage depot for food, but also acts as a place in which mechanical and chemical breakdown of food happens. The small intestine absorbs water, electrolytes, proteins, fats and carbohydrates. Whereas the large intestine is where the food matter and water that can’t be absorbed is the formed into stools. The rectum is a temporary storage area for feces before passed.…
- 513 Words
- 2 Pages
Satisfactory Essays -
Once I have taken a bite out of my delicious favorite meal, the digestive system gets to work. It all begins in the mouth, chewing the food small enough to swallow. Salvia is squirted into the food to moisten and soften the food. Salvia contains enzymes, which break down the starches in food. Once the tongue forms the food into a ball to be swallowed, it is sent down the pharynx. The pharynx contains sphincters that help keep your food down once you swallow. Next, it makes its way to the esophagus, which is simply a transportation tube from the mouth to the stomach. It then reaches the stomach, which uses chemicals to make the food particles tinier. These chemicals are called gastric juices and include hydrochloric acid and enzymes. Once the stomach mixes with the chemicals, it is formed into a cream-like liquid called chyme. The gallbladder takes over from here hitting the food with more chemicals, one of them called bile. Bile is mixed with our food breaking down the fat into droplets, which will supply us with energy later on. From there, the pancreas uses digestive juice to break down…
- 471 Words
- 2 Pages
Satisfactory Essays