Digestive Tract

The digestive tract is the system of organs that work together in the process of digestion, which is what occurs when a body takes in food, breaks down nutrients into forms which it can use to produce and feed cells (as in giving energy).

“In the mouth is the very beginning of digestion. The teeth grind up the food and the glandular secretions of saliva moisten it and begin its chemical breakdown. Then it passes the pharynx, continues past the esophagus, and enters the stomach – a muscular bag with a capacity of about 1.5 liters – whose mucous membrane secretes a powerful acid. In the stomach, the food is mixed and churned. Upon exiting the stomach, the food is introduced into the small intestine, which measures six meters in length. In the first part (the duodenum), the food receives secretions from the intestinal glands: bile from the gallbladder and juices from the pancreas. Each of these secretions contains a multitude of enzymes, which break down the nutrients and turn them into simple soluble substances such as amino acids. The digestive tract continues

into the large intestine, which is slightly more than 1.5 meters long. The last part of the large intestine is the rectum, which ends at the anus – where the indigestible components of the food are evacuated from the body.” (1)

(1) Wikipedia.org/ wiki/Aparato Digestivo (translation from Spanish to English by Deborah Kosi)