Your pancreas is a flask-shaped organ situated just below your stomach toward the back. Other organs in the GI system also aid in the digestion process. In fact, if these villi were spread out flat, their surface area would span the length of a tennis court, or about 200-square feet. These villi greatly increase the amount of surface area available for absorbing nutrients. The lining of your small intestine is filled with closely packed, finger-like projections, called villi. The other two parts of the small intestine, the jejunum and ileum, work to absorb the nutrients from your food to support the health and energy needs of your body. The upper-most part of the small intestine, the duodenum, acts to continue the breaking down of your food. When you feel as though food and gas are moving in your "stomach," often this sensation is actually the result of movement in your small intestine. It is roughly 21 feet in length and coiled loosely in the part of your body commonly called the abdomen. The small intestine is made up of three segments: the duodenum, jejunum, and ileum. This sphincter serves as a gate, and prevents the passage of food into the small intestine until it has been properly processed by your stomach. The Small IntestineĪt this stage in the digestion process, the stomach empties your now liquefied tuna salad sandwich into your small intestine through a valve or sphincter, called the pyloric valve. Thank goodness for refrigeration and supermarkets!īack to that tuna salad sandwich: In its now partially digested form, it sits in your stomach for about 2 to 4 hours. However, it was a great advantage ages ago when early humans ingested bug-infested tree bark and rotting dead animals. This sterilization process may not be such a big deal today, because the food we eat is fairly clean and often cooked. It activates digestive enzymes, and sterilizes the food you eat. Hydrochloric acid is in your stomach for a good reason. Fortunately, the inner lining of your stomach has a protective layer of mucus, to prevent the acid from burning right through your stomach wall. This acid is so corrosive that it can eat its way through metal. The stomach also produces hydrochloric acid. Proteins are also digested elsewhere in the GI system. These enzymes chop the proteins from the tuna, for example, into microscopic fragments called amino acids. Enzymes in the stomach continue the work of breaking down your sandwich. Your stomach stores the food material for hours and starts churning it into a liquid-like form called chyme. Once your tuna salad sandwich travels through your esophagus, its next destination is your stomach. This means you could eat while standing on your head, and the food would still move properly from your esophagus to your stomach and through your digestive system. Peristalsis works independently of gravity. This sphincter helps ensure that the food can pass easily to the stomach, but cannot back up into the esophagus or other areas.īeginning in the esophagus, food moves smoothly through your entire digestive tract by a process called peristalsis, a coordinated, rhythmic wave of muscular contraction that travels in a single direction. When your food arrives at the lower end of the esophagus, there is a valve or sphincter that acts as a gate between the esophagus and stomach. Once a few bites of your sandwich are chewed, moistened, and broken down, the partially digested food moves on to the esophagus, the food pipe connecting your mouth to your stomach. For example, these enzymes help to turn the carbohydrates in the bread into simple sugars. While you chew your sandwich, chemicals (called enzymes) in your saliva help break it down into forms the body can more easily absorb. The tuna salad sandwich you've just had for lunch begins its digestion in your mouth. So that you can better understand how the different parts of your GI system work, let's follow a meal - say, a tuna salad sandwich - as it winds its way from your mouth down the 25-foot tunnel commonly known as your digestive tract. It is not an overstatement to say that with a healthy gastrointestinal tract, you will have a healthier body. In addition, the GI system is one of the largest disease- battling, or immune, systems in your body. These include energy production, blood flow, nerve signaling (the body's nerve communication system), hormone control, metabolic reactions, and detoxification. Not only is the GI system responsible for the entry and exit of food, water, and nutrients, but it also plays a key role in a number of body functions. The body's gastrointestinal system-also called the GI system, GI tract, or digestive system-is one of the most fascinating systems in the human body.
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