Understanding the Human Digestive System #1

Introduction
The human digestive system is a complex series of organs and glands that processes food. In order to use the food we eat, our body has to break the food down into smaller molecules that it can process; it also has to excrete waste. Most of the digestive organs (like the stomach and intestines) are tube-like and contain the food as it makes its way through the body. The digestive system is essentially a long, twisting tube that runs from the mouth to the anus, plus a few other organs (like the liver and pancreas) that produce or store digestive chemicals.

Digestion
Digestion in humans is the process by which food containing nutrients such as proteins, fats, and carbohydrates is eaten and broken down to its components. These components are absorbed from the small intestine and dispersed into the circulation for use by various organs and cells. The body is thus provided with the molecules from which energy, as calories, is used for metabolism--the chemical processes by which the body builds and recycles bones, blood, muscles, nerves, and organs.

These nutrients also provide certain components that the body is unable to make, such as vitamins and minerals, salts, and certain essential amino acids to build proteins and fatty acids required for cell function that the body does not make. In humans, food enters the mouth, being chewed by teeth, with chemical processing beginning with chemicals in the saliva from the salivary glands. This is called mastication.

Then it travels down the oesophagus into the stomach, where hydrochloric acid kills most contaminating microorganisms and begins break down of some food. The hydrochloric acid (HCL) has a low pH, which allows enzymes to work more efficiently. After some time (typically an hour or two in humans, the resulting thick liquid is called chyme. Chyme will go through the small intestine, where 95% of absorption of nutrients occurs, through the large intestine with waste materials eventually being eliminated during defecation.

References: http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/anatomy/digestive

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