Digestive System Disorders » The Digestive System

What Is The Digestive System

admin — Tue, 19 May 2009 20:30:55 +0000

The digestive system consists of the Alimentary Canal and various other organs whose primary function is to support the digestive system.

The Alimentary Canal is a long tube about 10 meters long, which begins at the mouth and ends at the anus. This tube consists of multiple sections which each have their own specific functions to perform in the process of digestion.

The sections of the Alimentary Canal in the order in which they process food are as follows:

Mouth
The teeth in the mouth help to physically crush and break up the food into smaller pieces to increase their surface area so that it can be processed in later stages of digestion. Also, saliva helps to soften food to make it easier to process, and also begins chemically breaking down the food so that it can be processed in later stages of digestion. The tongue helps to mix the crushed food with saliva.

Throat
The act of swallowing pushes the food from the mouth to the esophagus.

Esophagus (also called Oesophagus)
The Esophagus is a 10-inch long tube that connects the throat and stomach. Muscles in the wall of the esophagus contract in synchronized waves, called peristalsis, where the muscles behind the food contract, squeezing it forward, while muscles ahead of it relax, forcing it to advance towards the stomach.

Stomach
Powerful stomach muscles churn and mix the food, while glands in the walls of the stomach secrete acids and enzymes which chemically break down the food into very small particles and molecules, so that these can be processed in later stages of digestion.

Small Intestine
In the upper section of the small intestine, which is called the Duodenum, bile and pancreatic digestive juices mix with other juices secreted by the wall of the small intestine to continue the break down of food.

The food then enters the Ileum, the longest section of the small intestine, where nutrients are absorbed through the wall of the small intestine and transferred around the body via the blood stream (Circulatory System), to nourish and provide energy to all of the cells and organs of the body. This allows them to grow, repair, and perform the functions necessary to maintain life and fight disease, as well as allowing us to be able to move, think, breath, see, hear, and so on.

Large Intestine (also called the Colon and Bowel)
In the large intestine, nearly all of the water is absorbed, leaving a usually soft but formed substance called stool. Muscles in the wall of your colon separate the waste into small segments that are pushed into your lower colon and rectum.

Rectum
The Rectum provides a temporary storage place for the waste products of digestion. When the rectal walls are stretched, they signal the need for a bowel movement.

Anus
The powerful sphincter muscles in the Anus prevent the release of waste products from the Rectum until the person is ready to expel them from the body.

Various other organs in the body perform functions that are important to digestion or support digestion, and these organs include:

Gallbladder
The Gallbladder stores and concentrates bile, and then adds it to food as it enters the Duodenum, the upper portion of the small intestine.

Liver
The liver performs hundreds of useful functions, including nutrient storage, filtering and processing of chemicals contained in food, detoxifying harmful substances, purifying your blood, manufacturing vital nutrients, and producing bile, a solution that helps digest fats and eliminate waste products from the body.

Bile, a fluid secreted by the liver, is essential for the proper digestion of fats and for helping the body to rid itself of worn out red blood cells, cholesterol, and potentially toxic chemicals and metals. The liver is responsible for detoxifying harmful substances that a person may eat, drink, inhale, rub on their skin, or which enter the body in some other way.

Pancreas
The pancreas plays important roles in both digestion and metabolism, and is a large, long, flat gland which is located behind the lower part of the stomach and inbetween the duodenum (the upper part of the small intestine) and the spleen. Amongst other functions, the Pancreas produces digestive enzymes that help break down proteins, carbohydrates, and fats.

As a result of the digestive system, the body is able to extract nutrients from food and drink, and use these for growth, repair, and the maintenance of life; and process and discard waste products from the body as faeces (also called stools).

Each organ of the Digestive System and each section of the Alimentary Canal has specific and important roles to play in the digestion of the material we ingest.

The healthy transit time of food through a healthy human adult body (from mouth to anus) is less than 24 hours. However, recent research has shown that this time has been greatly extended beyond what is considered safe or healthy, particularly in the Western world, where the average is approximately 60 hours for men, and 70 hours for women. The reason for this is because of diet and lifestyle factors.

As a result, food is remaining in the body longer (almost 3 times as long as it should be), and taking longer to process, and this can elevate the risk of a range of health complications, such as constipation, digestive problems, bowel problems, and even bowel cancer.

What is Digestion

admin — Tue, 19 May 2009 18:59:30 +0000

Eating (and drinking) are the taking in (swallowing) of food and other nourishing material by the body. That is, eating is the range of processes by which an organism takes in food.

Digestion is the process by which the materials we eat, such as food and drink, is broken down – into nutrients that can be absorbed and used by the body, and waste products are expelled from the body.

None of the food that we eat or the liquids that we drink can actually be used by the body in the forms in which we consume them.

Foods and liquids need to be broken down into very small particles and molecules, so that they can be absorbed and used by the body.

Digestion is a process that is both mechanical and chemical.

For example, teeth in the mouth help to physically crush and break-up the food into smaller pieces to increase their surface area in order that it can be processed chemically in later stages of digestion. The stomach secretes acids and enzymes which chemically break the food down into very small particles and molecules, so that these can be processed in later stages of digestion.

Food is made up of various different types and concentrations of nutrients that determine how nutritious our food is. These nutrients include carbohydrates, fats, proteins, minerals, vitamins, and water.

Food may also contain material that cannot be digested by the body, such as fiber. Diets rich in fiber have a number of very significant health benefits, including decreased risks of coronary heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and bowel and Colon issues.

The collection and elimination of waste products from the body is an important part of digestion. Undigested and undigestible parts of food, dead cells from the lining of digestive tract, and some water, are eliminated from the body as faeces (also called stools).

Maintaining a healthy Digestive System is extremely important for your general health and well-being.

Digestive System Facts

admin — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 17:16:29 +0000

The human digestive system is the parts of the body that are involved in turning food and drink into smaller molecules that can be absorbed into the bloodstream and carried by cells to other body systems. Digestion itself is a process by which the molecules of food and drink are made ready to be utilized by the body. The body then uses these molecules to build and to nourish the cells of the body, and to provide energy for the body’s functions.

The digestive system does three things: it mixes food,it moves the food through the digestive tract, and it also initiates a chemical breakdown of larger molecules of food into smaller more useable molecules. The digestive process begins with your mouth when you take in the food and drink, and ends with the small intestine where the waste products exit the body.

In between the mouth and the small intestine is the rest of the digestive system; the digestive tract and other organs that also aid in digestion. The digestive tract is made up of several hollow organs that are joined in a long, twisting tube starting at the mouth and ending at the anus. The digestive system includes: the mouth, esophagus, stomach, small intestine, large intestine, rectum and the anus.

Your body has organs that play a part in the digestive process without being part of the digestive system. These organs are the tongue, the glands in the mouth that secrete saliva, the pancreas, the liver and also the gallbladder. There are also other sections of other body system that play a vital role in the digestive process such as blood and nerves.

The digestive system moves the food and liquid along the digestive tract by a wave-like movement called peristalsis.

When you take that first bite of food or first gulp of liquid a voluntary process begins called swallowing. The rest of the movement through the system changes to a involuntary movement.

The food and liquid follow the tract in orderly fashion being moved along by these involuntary movements.

The first area that the food and liquid pass through is the esophagus, then the stomach. The stomach has 3 functions to complete in the digestive process – it stores, mixes and empties food and liquid.

After the stomach has completed these three functions it empties the contents into the small intestine. The juices of the pancreas, liver, and intestine are used to further digest the food, and then the contents of the small intestine are mixed and pushed further where it is further digested.

The digested nutrients are absorbed through the intestine walls and the waste products (the parts not used by the body), including undigested parts of food (fiber, and older cells shed by the mucosa) then move into the colon. These products remain in the colon for one or two days until they are expelled by a bowel movement.