Eating is one of the activities that you do every day that you cannot skip. It is an important activity for the body to live healthy and longer. However, many are not aware of what is happening inside as the food enters out the mouth. How the body digest food? The body acquires the energy it needs from the food and throws out the waste.
It all starts as you chew the food inside your mouth. The liquid inside the mouth called saliva is the start of the digestion process. The following are ways how the stomach uses the food for energy.
1. What Happens Inside the Mouth?
The time to digest food depends on what you eat. Hence, the body starts to digest food using the saliva inside the mouth. It breaks down chemicals inside the food that makes it soft and easy to swallow as you eat. Hence, it is the tongue that pushes food down as you chew the food using your teeth. Once it is small enough to swallow, then the tongue pushes it. Therefore, it will go down to the throat and the opening going to the esophagus.
2. On its Way Down
Moreover, the food must go down to its proper destination. A flap will make sure that it will not go into the windpipe. However, when it happens, it can choke you. Also, some people who accidentally drink fast will start to cough. It is because the water goes the wrong way. Hence, it may happen if the flop does not react quickly to the food or drink you swallow.
Once the food goes into the esophagus, it will when straight to the stomach. Hence, now is the right time to digest food. The entire process can happen within 2 to 3 seconds.
3. Inside the Stomach
The stomach is like a stretchable sack with three important functions, such as:
- Storing food
- Breaking down of food to become liquid
- Passing of the liquid into the small intestine
Imagine a blender that mixing all the food that you eat is what it does. Hence, the stomach can do it with the help of gastric juices from its walls. Aside from breaking food into liquid, the juices also kill harmful bacteria in the food.
4. The Small Intestine
It is not small because it is 22 feet in length. It is found below the stomach, and it breaks down food into smaller pieces to get nutrients, vitamins, and minerals present inside. Also, it is part of the process that separates protein, fats, and carbohydrates.
Furthermore, it needs help from other organs like the pancreas, liver, and gallbladder. All of these organs release juices to help breakdown nutrients. Hence, the food will stay around 4 hours inside the small intestine. It is where it will become very thin water going to the blood. As a result, the body can now use the food as energy once it enters the bloodstream.
5. Importance of Liver
The blood that is full of nutrients will go to the lover. Therefore it is the liver that filters the blood from harmful substances. Also, it decides how much the body needs and what needs to go to storage. For instance, the lover store excess sugar and nutrients for future needs.
6. Uses of Large Intestine
It is larger because it is wider than the small intestine, but it is 5 feet in length. This part is the last stop of the food. Undigested food parts and waste that the body cannot use will go in there pass out of the body. However, before it goes out, it will pass through the colon. It is the last stop where possible water and nutrients left is absorbed by the body for use. The water is removed until it becomes solid again, called stool.
Moreover, the large intestine has to push the undigested food and waste into the rectum. The waste stays in there until it is ready to be out of the body as the bowel. As you go to the bathroom, the body will push it out through the anus.
Important Note:
Digestion is a long process that needs more water. Drinking more water will help the process to go smoothly. Also, it is good to have a diet with enough fiber to give bulk to the stool. One can get it by eating more fruits and vegetables in the diet.
