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Digestion
Digestive System and Digestion Process

Digestion
is a process by which the Gastro Intestinal System retrieves important nutrients for the body and chemically changes the unused food into waste. is a form of catabolism: a breakdown of large food molecules to smaller ones.

The Digestive System

The Gastro Intestinal is a series of hollow organs joined in a long, twisting tube from the mouth to the anus, consisting of the following:
Mouth Esophagus Stomach Small intestine Large intestine (includes the colon and rectum) Anus

Organs that help with digestion, but are not part of the digestive tract, include the following:
Tongue Glands in the mouth that make saliva Pancreas Liver Gallbladder

The Process of Digestive System

The mouthDigestion begins when food enters the mouth. Mastication or the chewing of food begins breaking down the food. Saliva initiates digestion and changes the chewed food into soft mass called bolus and also makes the bolus slippery.

Salivary Amylase , an enzyme that takes part in the initial breakdown of starch, is a component of saliva.

The Pharynx and EsophagusAfter the bolus is swallowed it pass through and enters the esophagus. Bolus moves through the esophagus by peristalsis, which is a wave of muscle contractions that pushes the food down the tube. The bolus passes through esophageal sphincter before it enters the stomach.

Esophageal sphincter may refer to:

Lower esophageal sphincter (also called cardiac sphincter or gastroesophageal sphincter) which leads into the cardia Upper esophageal sphincter (also called pharyngoesophageal sphincter) within the hypopharynx

The stomachIn the stomach the enzyme pepsin is excreted and mixes with the hydrochloric acid present in the stomach to begin the digestion. The bolus will be liquefy and now called as chyme.

Peristaltic waves in the stomach mix the chyme. The waves build up force as they approach the pyloric sphincter between the stomach and small intestine.

The chyme then passes through the pyloric sphincter and enters duodenum, the first section of small intestine it is here that the enzymes released from pancreas, liver and gallbladder further breakdown the chime.

The small intestine It is in this stage the food can be easily absorbed by the body. Small intestine has finger-like projections called villi that allow the completely digested food to enter into the bloodstream.

Unlike peristalsis, which predominates in the esophagus, segmentation contractions occur in the large intestine and small intestine, while predominating in the latter. Rings of smooth muscle in the intestinal wall repeatedly contract and relax creating an oscillating.

The large intestine The final stage of the digestion process occurs in the large intestine. The role of the large intestine in the digestion process is to absorb all the remaining water from the food and to compact waste into a tight, compact bundle to allow for defecation.

Defecation is the process by which solid waste is excreted from the body. Waste collects in the rectum, until the brain signal for it to be expelled from the body through the anus.

And thats how the digestive process ends...

Ronnalyn Macaspac