The digestive system helps break down food, absorb nutrients, and remove waste from your body.
Main Parts & Their Jobs:
Mouth
Chews food
Saliva breaks down carbs
Esophagus
A tube that carries food to the stomach
Stomach
Mixes food with acid and enzymes
Starts protein digestion
Small Intestine
Finishes digestion
Absorbs nutrients into blood
Liver
Makes bile to help digest fat
Gallbladder
Stores and releases bile
Pancreas
Makes enzymes for digestion
Helps control blood sugar
Large Intestine (Colon)
Absorbs water
Forms poop
Rectum and Anus
Stores and removes poop
note from me
I understood that with the digestive system is the reason we can actually eat our food and it's the reason we are alive.
1 Stomach protection from self-digestion The stomach has a thick mucus lining that shields it from its own acid. It also releases enzymes in inactive forms that only activate when needed. Damaged cells in the stomach lining are quickly repaired.
2 Length of the small intestine and its role
The small intestine is very long—about 6–7 meters—so food has more time to break down. Its inner surface has villi and microvilli to increase absorption area, helping the body absorb nutrients better.
3 The mouth chews food and mixes it with saliva. The esophagus moves food to the stomach. The stomach breaks food down using acid and enzymes. The liver produces bile. The gallbladder stores and releases bile. The pancreas adds digestive enzymes. The small intestine absorbs nutrients. The large intestine absorbs water and forms waste.
4 Food that can't be digested, like fiber, moves into the large intestine. Water is removed. Bacteria break down some of it. The rest becomes feces and exits the body.
5 The liver helps digestion by making bile, storing nutrients, removing toxins, and managing blood sugar by storing or releasing glucose.