Introduction
Have you ever wondered how your body takes the food you eat and turns it into energy? Or what happens after you eat an apple and it's no longer there? Well, I'm about to answer all of your questions about this miracle of nature: the digestive system!
Digestion begins in the brain where several hormones are excreted to signal that you are ready to consume a meal.
Digestion begins in the brain where several hormones are excreted to signal that you are ready to consume a meal. Several hormones, including insulin and ghrelin, tell your body it's time to eat. The hormone insulin makes your muscles absorb glucose so it can be used as energy. Ghrelin increases appetite by signaling when you're hungry or need more food because of low blood sugar levels. It also tells your stomach to increase its release of digestive juices into the small intestine where nutrients will be absorbed through villi (tiny finger-like projections).
Your saliva is 99% water, and most of the other 1% is electrolytes, mucus, and enzymes like amylase (which helps with digestion).
Saliva is 99% water and the remaining 1% consists of electrolytes, mucus, and enzymes such as amylase. It's important to note that saliva is produced by your salivary glands, which are located in your cheeks.
Saliva helps break down food so it can be digested. The enzymes in saliva also play a role in digestion as they help break down carbohydrates and fats into simple molecules that can be easily absorbed through the digestive tract.
How your stomach aids in digestion.
The stomach is the first part of your digestive system. It's a muscular sack that sits under your ribs, just above your belly button.
The food you eat goes down from the throat into the esophagus (the tube between your mouth and stomach). From there, it moves into the stomach where it starts to break down thanks to acids and enzymes. The acid breaks down proteins in foods like meat or cheese. Enzymes help break down foods like bread or vegetables by breaking them down into smaller pieces that are easier for your body to absorb later on.
When the food has been fully digested, it will be released into small balls called chyme. These then travel through another long tube called duodenum where they're broken up even further by other enzymes and acids before moving on through various other parts of your digestive system until they finally reach their final destination: elimination!
The pancreas is involved in the digestive process.
You might not be aware that the pancreas is involved in digestion. The pancreas is a large gland located behind the stomach, which produces digestive enzymes that help break down food.
The pancreas also helps regulate blood sugar levels by producing insulin and glucagon. Insulin helps move glucose into cells to be used for energy, while glucagon regulates blood sugar levels when they get too high (which could lead to complications such as diabetes).
The pancreas plays an important role in absorbing nutrients into your body through its production of hormones like glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1), secretin, somatostatin, ghrelin, enteroglucagon/exocrine pancreatic polypeptide (EGP), ghrelin/obestatin and amylin.
Bile juice is made by the liver and stored in the gallbladder before being released into the small intestine where it helps digest fats in our diet.
Bile juice is a digestive fluid that breaks down fats. It’s made by the liver and stored in the gallbladder until it’s released into your small intestine, where it helps digest fats in your diet.
Bile juice also plays a role in fat absorption, which allows you to take in nutrients from foods like avocado, nuts and seeds as well as other fatty foods like cheese or eggs. When bile isn't flowing properly through your body—this can happen when you have had your gallbladder surgically removed—absorbing these nutrients becomes difficult or impossible because bile isn't breaking them down enough for proper assimilation into your system. If this happens often enough over time, you could suffer from malnutrition and other health problems that may be hard to reverse even after treatment for whatever caused the problem in the first place.
Finally, the roughage that is left over from the body's digestive process is pushed through the large intestine.
Finally, the roughage that is left over from the body's digestive process is pushed through the large intestine. This part of your digestive system absorbs water from what was left in your small intestine and turns it into stool. The large intestine also works as a storage area and helps to remove bacteria from our waste products. After passing through this stage, waste exits out of our bodies with bowel movements.
The large intestine has two parts:
The ascending colon
The transverse colon
Conclusion
We hope that you enjoyed learning about your digestive system and how it works!
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