Through this article, we will learn about an important event that takes place naturally in the body, because our body has many miraculous phenomena. In general, all living organisms are fed on food for living. One thing we do know is that this food also contains the nutrients needed to survive. We learn how the food we eat is digested and converted into nutrients needed for the body's cells.
In this article, we can see clear basic info about the human digestive system and its functions. The first thing that comes to mind when we think of the digestive tract is the stomach. But in fact, it is a large set of organs that includes the organs from our mouth to the rectum. This zone can be divided into four parts. They are ingestion, digestion, absorption, and elimination.
1.Ingestion: Ingestion is the food we eat, the food we chew and the food is broken down into many components using the teeth, this is the first factor for digestion. And then, saliva is secreted in our mouth for the main chemical conversion to break down food and turn it into a gel. Digestion actually starts in the mouth because your saliva contains some bio-molecules — enzymes that can break down saliva amylase, for example breaking down certain carbohydrates. It is also called the first stage of digestion.
Saliva does not only contain enzymes, but it also has buffers to counteract the acidity in your mouth. Saliva also acts as a lubrication enzyme to protect teeth from decay. Another feature is that your tongue pushes the food into a small ball called a bolus and injects it into the esophagus by swallowing it.
The throat contains a very thin flap called the epiglottis, which prevents food from passing through the trachea when swallowing. This is because both the esophagus and the trachea are in close proximity, so epiglottis is essential. It takes 2-3 hours (depending on the nature of the food) for a healthy person to digest the food we eat.
2.Digestion: Peristalsis, a wave-like movement created by smooth muscle, is located in the esophagus, which allows food to move slowly down to the stomach. An adult human’s stomach can store up to 2 liters of food and fluid. Here HCL Acid occurs with enzymes such as pepsin that break down gastric juices and proteins to aid chemical digestion.
There are some interesting things about the human stomach. There is a sphincter that separates the esophagus from the stomach and there is another sphincter that separates the contents of the stomach from the intestines. It is moved to the small intestine to digest the food throughout. It has three main parts, the duodenum, the jejunum, and the ileum. These are digested throughout the food by enzymes from individual layers.
It contains significant chemical digestion of four living cells: Carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, and nucleic acids. There are enzymes involved and there are digestive juices that are released here from other organs such as the gallbladder, liver, and pancreas.
3.Absorption: Most nutrient absorption occurs in the small intestine. Those electrolytes such as glucose, fructose, amino acids, proteins, vitamins, and lipids are absorbed here as bio-nutrients. Absorption occurs through the lining of the small intestine, which contains projections called the villi, and the villi contain the microvilli. Its shape is very important, as it is often present in living organisms because the form here has to have a lot of areas to absorb nutrients.
Absorbents called villi have microtubules so nutrients can be carried through these microtubules. The adjacent colon contains some beneficial bacteria. These bacteria are used to digest food and to make certain vitamins. The main job of the colon is to retain the water needed to digest food.
4.Elimination: The end of the colon is the rectum, where nutrients are digested and the remaining wastes are entered into the rectum. And the feces will remain here until they are expelled from the anus. The main job of this area is to dispose of the remaining waste on time. This is the last stage of the digestive system.
Organs such as the gallbladder, liver, and pancreas release residual wastes in digestion. All these organs are sub-organs of the digestive system. These are not just parts, they have very important functions in the body movement. The liver is your largest vital organ, and it has functions beyond the digestive system. But the liver also plays an important role in carbohydrate and protein metabolism and bile production in the digestive system. The pancreas makes pancreatic juice that contains important digestive enzymes and neutralizes acid secretion.
If our digestive system is not functioning properly it can cause some major problems. That is, diseases such as celiac disease, which often involves a problem with the small intestine, diverticulitis, and heartburn, gastroesophageal reflux disease often involve the contents from the esophagus to the rectum. All these affect the functioning of the digestive system.
We can maintain our digestive system smoothly through activities like easily digestible balanced eating habits and adequate exercise. Also avoiding activities such as excessive alcohol consumption, starvation and stress can prevent risks such as peptic ulcers and bowel cancer. Eating fruits and greens is one of the best.
We hope you have learned some basic information about the human digestive system through this article. If so, please share it with others on your social media pages.
