The Digestive System

One of the main tasks of the digestive system is to digest food that begins with chewing. Teeth are part of the skeletal system , but they play an important role in digestion. The teeth mammals have a special design that allows them to cut, chop and grind food we put into our mouth. Aided by the saliva, food is sent to the stomach and highly processed to facilitate the digestive work.

The digestive system is a series of organs that convert food into essential nutrients that are absorbed by the body, and also mobilizes waste materials, those that have not been able to take advantage of food outside the body.

The digestive tract , also known as gastrointestinal tract begins in the mouth, continues through the esophagus, stomach, small intestine, large intestine, colon and rectum, terminating in the anus. The entire system, from the mouth to the anus, is about 9 feet long.

At this point, it opens a valve that separates the stomach from the duodenum, pylorus , letting in the chyme to the initial portion of the small intestine. There is mixed with enzymes from the pancreas and sent gallbladder bile. Then he starts to travel the rest of the small intestine, six meters of a tube in which the nutrients are absorbed, they move into the bloodstream and then transported to the liver.

Swallowing processed food by mouth, it is sent into the esophagus, and passes through the pharynx, and a series of muscle contractions, are giving him a bolus, a small round mass that ends up in the stomach. Here, the gastric juices, which are a mixture of hydrochloric acid and pepsin , begin to digest the proteins and removing potentially harmful bacteria killing. After an hour or two of the process, a semi-liquid paste is formed called chyme .