DIGESTIVE SYSTEM

General Aspects of Digestion

The primary function of the digestive system is to transfer nutrients,
water, and electrolytes from the food we eat into the bodys internal
environment.

Ingested food is essential as an energy source, or fuel, from which

the cells can generate ATP to carry out their particular energy-
dependent activities, such as active transport, contraction, synthesis,
and secretion.
The act of eating does not automatically make the preformed
organic molecules in food available to the body cells as a source of
fuel or as building blocks.

The food first must be digested, or biochemically broken down, into

small, simple molecules that can be absorbed from the digestive
tract into the circulatory system for distribution to the cells.
The digestive system performs four basic
digestive processes
MOTILITY
The term motility refers to the muscular contractions that mix and
move forward the contents of the digestive tract.
Two basic types of phasic digestive motility are superimposed on this
ongoing tonic activity :
A. Propulsive movements
propel or push the contents forward through the digestive tract,
with the rate of propulsion varying depending on the functions
accomplished by the different regions.
For example,
transit of food through the esophagus is rapid, which is
appropriate because this structure merely serves as a
passageway from the mouth to the stomach.
In comparison, in the small intestinethe main site of
digestion and absorptionthe contents are moved forward
slowly, allowing time for the breakdown and absorption of
food.
B. Mixing movement
Mixing movements serve a twofold function. First, by mixing food
with the digestive juices, these movements promote digestion of the
food. Second, they facilitate absorption by exposing all parts of the
intestinal contents to the absorbing surfaces of the digestive tract.
Contraction of the smooth muscle within the walls of the digestive
organs accomplishes movement of material through most of the
digestive tract.
SECRETION
A number of digestive juices are secreted into the digestive tract lumen by exocrine
glands along the route, each with its own specific secretory product.
Each digestive secretion consists of water, electrolytes, and specific organic
constituents important in the digestive process, such as enzymes, bile salts, or
mucus.
Furthermore, endocrine cells located in the digestive tract wall secrete
gastrointestinal hormones into the blood that help control digestive motility and
exocrine gland secretion.