SCI/241
June 4, 2013
The path that food follows through the digestive system is very interesting. First you put the food to your mouth, take a bite, and chew. The salivary glands begin the digestive process at the sight and smell of food. After food enters the mouth and is moistened by saliva, it transforms into a bolus. Once the bolus leaves the mouth, it moves into the pharynx, where it can be swallowed. The bolus then moves from the pharynx to the stomach. Once the bolus reaches the stomach, it is mixed with acid secretion to transform the bolus into chyme (the semifluid mass into which food is converted by gastric secretion and which passes from the stomach into the small intestine). Food is partially digested in the stomach and chyme usually empties from the stomach in two to six hours. This time frame can be determined by the size and type of meal ingested. Although, the liver, gallbladder, and pancreas are located in close proximity of the stomach, they contribute to the digestive process once the chyme reaches the small intestine. The small intestine is a tube shaped organ of the digestive tract where digestion of ingested food is completed and the majority of nutrient absorption occurs. The small intestine is divided into three parts, known as the duodenum, the jejunum, and the ileum. The large intestine includes both the colon and the rectum. Additional absorption of water and some vitamins and minerals occurs in the colon. Materials not absorbed in the colon are exerted from the body as waste products in the feces. The end of the colon is attached to the anus, which is the external opening of the digestive tract where the feces are eliminated from the body. This is how the digestive process works. Fascinating right?
You May Also Find These Documents Helpful
-
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 -
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 -
Digestion begins in the mouth. A brain reflex triggers the flow of saliva when we see or even think of food. Saliva moistens the food while the teeth chew it up and make it easier to swallow. Amylase, which is the digestive enzyme, found in saliva, starts to break down starch into simpler sugars before the food even leave the mouth. The nervous pathway involved in salivary excretion requires stimulation of receptors in the mouth, sensory impulses to the brain stem and parasympathetic impulses to salivary glands. Swallowing his food happens when the muscles in his tongue and mouth move the food into his pharynx. The pharynx, which is the passage way for food and air, a small flap of skin called the epiglottis closes over the pharynx to prevent food from entering the trachea and causing choking. For swallowing to happen correctly a combination of 25 muscles must all work together at the same time. After being chewed and swallowed the food enters the esophagus or gullet is the muscular tube in vertebrates through which ingested food passes from the throat to the stomach. It connects the pharynx, which is the body cavity that is common to both the digestive and respiratory systems behind the mouth, with the stomach, where the second stage of digestion is initiated. The esophagus 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…
- 1364 Words
- 6 Pages
Good Essays -
The process of digestion has many stages with the first starting in the oral cavity. Within the system, food passes through a tube called the alimentary canal, more commonly known as the gastrointestinal tract. The tract is made up of the oral cavity, pharynx, oesophagus, stomach, small intestines, and large intestines. To provide energy and nutrients to the body, major functions take place in the digestive system which include; ingestion, secretion, mixing and movement, digestion, absorption and excretion.…
- 552 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 -
The digestive system consists of seven parts in digesting food. The first part in digestive system starts in your mouth. (In the digestive process starts even before you even start to eat.) (www.gesa.com) (When you smell the aroma of the food your brain sends a signal to your brain, then that signal goes to your mouth that puts your saliva glands into work producing the saliva that helps break down the food you chew.) (www.gesa.com) The time food enters into your mouth the saliva instantly starts breaking down the food particles. To make the food easier to digest your teeth help make the food particles smaller and easier to swallow, and for better absorption.…
- 1303 Words
- 6 Pages
Better Essays -
The digestive system is made up of organs that break down food into protein, vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates, and fats, which the body needs for energy, growth, and repair. After food is chewed and swallowed, it goes down the esophagus and enters the stomach, where it is further broken down by powerful stomach acids. From the stomach the food travels into the small intestine. This is where your food is broken down into nutrients that can enter the bloodstream through tiny hair-like projections. The excess food that the body doesn't need or can't digest is turned into waste and is eliminated from the body.…
- 1195 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
The Digestive System is the name given to the sequential process that our bodies perform when ingesting food, and the breaking down of macromolecules into micromolecules so that the body can absorb it’s nutrients into the bloodstream and it’s cellular system to obtain energy for cellular respiration, and the excretion all indigestible waste products. This happens within the digestive tract, which starts at the Mouth or Oral cavity and ends at the Anus. (Reference Appended image 1,’ The Human digestive system and associated organs). The molecules of food that we eat are generally Polymers, i.e., large, complex Molecules that are composed of long chains of Monomers. Polymers are insoluble and therefore cannot be absorbed into our bloodstream and need to be assimilated into different absorptive products. Polymers have to be hydrolysed into smaller, soluble molecules. This process happens during the process of digestion. Food is broken down by mechanical or chemical means (Hydrolysis) and this process is aided by Enzymes. Enzymes are biological, process catalysing Proteins which massively speed up the breaking down of compound molecules into micromolecules to allow nutritional absorption. All digestive Enzymes are Hydrolytic, i.e., a water molecule is added to allow compound molecular breakdown and separation. All Enzymes have a unique shape to their ‘active site’ allowing only the target substrate to bond for biological processing. Enzymes have optimum operating requirements and can denature if the temperature becomes too warm or the environment too acidic or alkaline. Digestive Enzyme secretion is regulated by both the nervous and the hormonal systems. Hormones are a chemical substance signalling system that communicates from one set of cells to another set, the target cells, which will then trigger enzyme secretion.…
- 1910 Words
- 8 Pages
Better Essays -
The digestive system takes in food from your environment and then breaks it down to smaller molecules. Through the process of digestion, your body breaks large nutrient molecules into even smaller molecules; these smaller molecules enter the intestine and are then absorbed…
- 1012 Words
- 5 Pages
Good Essays -
Food begins its journey through the digestive system in the mouth, also known as the oral cavity. Inside the mouth are many accessory organs that aid in the digestion of food—the tongue, teeth, and salivary glands. Teeth chop food into small pieces, which are moistened by saliva before the tongue and other muscles push the food into the pharynx.…
- 1146 Words
- 5 Pages
Good Essays -
The following diagram shows two similar models simulating a region of the mammalian alimentary canal.…
- 1259 Words
- 6 Pages
Good Essays -
As most of us know the digestive process begins as soon as food enters into our mouth. Saliva begins to break down sugars and starches, while our teeth grind the food into what is called bolus. The bolus enters into the esophagus and is than swallowed. From here it than enters into the stomach for further breakdown from stomach acids. Very little food is actually digested in the stomach. It is just broke down a little so that it can be easier for the digestive process that will take place in the intestines. Our food starts to break down into a thick paste known as chyme, it moves past the pyloric sphincter and into the small intestine. The pyloric sphincter is what protects food from re-entering into the stomach.…
- 411 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
The way that the digestive system works is pretty simple to remember. First you bite on something eatable, then the enzymes in your saliva start digesting the carbohydrates. Once the food bits are in your stomach, they are drowned in gastric juice, which is made up of the enzyme called pepsin and a acid called hydrochloric acid . The enzyme and the acid start to break down the food and by doing that, nutrients are released. Digested food then from the stomach is pumped into the small intestine, which the gets flooded by fluids and enzymes from the liver , or better know as the bile , and from the pancreas.…
- 495 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
From the duodenum the food is moved into the small intestine, where it is mixed with bile and pancreatic juice. The small intestine is where the final enzymatic breakdown of food molecules occurs, and is the main site of nutrient absorption. From here the food is delivered to the large intestine where water and electrolytes are absorbed and feces are formed. This food will travel through the large intestine into the rectum which regulates the elimination of…
- 286 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
After this the digesta is moved to the true stomach, the abomasum. The abomasum is the direct equivalent of the monogastric stomach (for example that of the human or pig), and digesta is digested here in much the same way. Digesta is finally moved into the small intestine, where the digestion and absorption of nutrients occurs. Microbes produced in the reticulorumen are also digested in the small intestine. Fermentation continues in the large intestine in the same way as in the reticulorumen.…
- 2325 Words
- 10 Pages
Powerful Essays