Anatomy & Physiology

Imagine you've just bitten into a delicious pizza slice. The cheese is gooey, the crust is crispy, and the sauce is tangy. It's a moment of pure bliss, but have you ever wondered what happens to that slice of pizza once you've swallowed it? That's where our body's unsung hero, the digestive system, comes into play. Its intricate processes and mechanisms work like a well-oiled machine, transforming that pizza slice into energy and nutrients to keep you going. Let's embark on an adventure through this fantastic system and understand how it helps you enjoy every bite of your food. The Mouth: The Gateway to Digestion Our journey begins at the mouth. As soon as you bite that pizza, your teeth break it into smaller pieces. Meanwhile, your salivary glands produce saliva, moistening the food and breaking down carbohydrates. The tongue helps to mix the food with saliva and form it into a lump, known as a bolus, ready to be swallowed. The Esophagus: The Food Slide The food bolus then travels down the esophagus, a muscular tube connecting the mouth to the stomach. A series of muscular contractions, known as peristalsis, pushes the food down to the stomach. Think of it like a fun food slide at a theme park! The Stomach: A Mixer and Acid Bath When the bolus arrives in the stomach, it's mixed with stomach acid and digestive enzymes. This acid helps kill bacteria and other pathogens in the food while the enzymes break down proteins. This process turns the bolus into a semi-liquid mixture known as chyme. Get a 3D Stomach model from Medical Arts Shop: https://shorturl.at/lnwE2 The Small Intestine: Next, the chyme enters the small intestine, a whopping 20-foot-long tube where digestion occurs. Here, enzymes from the pancreas and bile from the liver work together to break down fats, proteins, and carbohydrates. The small intestine's lining absorbs these nutrients into the bloodstream, which then delivers them to cells throughout the body. The Large Intestine: The Final Frontier The leftover material from the small intestine, mainly water and indigestible fiber, moves into the large intestine, or colon. Here, water is absorbed back into the body, and bacteria in the colon break down the remaining material. Finally, the leftover matter is expelled from the body as feces through the rectum and anus.