The Long Haul
The digestion system processes nutrients, sugars, fats, and turns what’s left into waste, or stool. The process begins before the food is even in your mouth, your senses, eyes, nose, or even ears can trigger a reaction. This reaction tells your salivary glands to start to produce saliva, hence your mouth watering while seeing a food that you really like. Saliva breaks down complex carbohydrates and turns them into simple sugars. These original carbohydrates aren’t able to be digested. The saliva breaks down the carbs with chemical So when you are watching one of those food documentaries, your mouth starts to water, just to get ready to digest!
When the food finally gets to your mouth, your saliva mixes with it. Your teeth and tongue mix the food around, making a bolus. The bolus goes down into your throat, and your pharynx stretches across the trachea and pushes the food to the esophagus. Your esophagus moves the bolus to your stomach, by what is called peristalsis. Peristalsis is when the muscles in your esophagus contract in a pattern, forcing the food down. When the food reaches the stomach, it pours into it. Your stomach then mashes and churns the food with a mixture of acids, and some more enzymes. One of this acid is a hydrochloric acid. Your stomach is lined with mucus, so the acid doesn't burn the actual tissue.
The food will be in the stomach for 4-5 hours before it is passed to the duodenum. The duodenum is the first part of the small intestine. In the small intestine, the main job is to absorb nutrients. The nutrients are absorbed by small, fingerlike projections. These are called villi. They are covered with nutrient-absorbing cells that pass nutrients to the bloodstream. Your small intestine is about 2.5cm in diameter and 6m in length. After about 5-6 hours, the small intestine is done with the food and turns it over to the large intestine.
In the large intestine, which is 1.5m long, and 7.5cm in width. This is the end of the line, nothing other than fiber and water is left. In the large intestine, the remaining food is a soupy mixture. The job of the large intestine is to absorb the remaining liquids. Humans can’t digest some parts of food that we eat, this is called cellulose. Cellulose is also known as fiber, fiber keeps the stool soft and helps keep your system moving. The very end of the line is the rectum and anus. Your stool is stored in your rectum until you can relive yourself. The muscle that controls this function is called your sphincter.
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