Download What to Expect: Digestive System: ***What are the 3 main functions

What to Expect:
Digestive System:
***What are the 3 main functions of the digestive system?
1. It breaks down food into molecules the body can use.
2. Then, the molecules are absorbed into the blood and carried throughout the
body.
3. Finally, wastes are eliminated from the body.
1. Digestion: The process by which your body breaks down food into small nutrient
molecules
2. Mechanical Digestion: Foods are physically broken down into smaller pieces.
Begins in the mouth.
3. Chemical Digestion: Chemicals that are produced by the body break foods into
their smaller chemical building blocks. Also begins in the mouth.
4. Absorption: The process by which nutrient molecules pass through the wall of
the digestive system into the blood.
5. Saliva: fluid released when your mouth waters. Saliva plays and important role
in both mechanical and chemical digestion.
6. Enzymes: Proteins that speed up chemical reactions in the body.
7. Mucus: A thick, slippery substance produced by the body. It makes food easier to
swallow. The esophagus is lined with mucus.
8. Peristalsis: Involuntary waves of muscle contractions that move food down the
esophagus towards the stomach.
**How does the flow of food get from our mouth, down through our body and
then removed?
9. Oral Cavity: the opening through which food is taken in
10. Epiglottis: A flap of tissue that seals off your windpipe, preventing food from
going into it.
11. Salivary Gland: Located in the mouth, releases saliva for digestion
12. Pharynx: or throat, is a part of the body that helps with eating and with breathing. It
is a passage that leads from the mouth and nose to the esophagus
13. Esophagus: As you swallow, food goes into esophagus, which is a muscular tube
that connects the mouth to the stomach. It is lined with mucus.
14. Stomach: When food leaves the esophagus, it enters the stomach, a J shaped
muscular pouch located in the abdomen.
15. Small Intestine: After the food leaves the stomach, it enters into the small intestine.
Almost all chemical digestion and absorption of nutrients takes place here. It is lined
with VILLI (tiny finger like projections) that absorbs the nutrients.
16. Large Intestine: After all nutrients have been absorbed in the small intestine, the
remaining material (water and fiber) moves into large intestine. Water is absorbed into
the bloodstream here and the remaining material is readied for elimination from the body.
17. Rectum: The large intestine ends in a short tube called the rectum. Here waste
material is compressed into solid form.
18. Anus: The solid waste material is eliminated from the body through the anus, which
is a muscular opening at the end of the rectum.
*** What role do the Liver, Gall Bladder and Pancreas play in digestion??
19. Liver: Located in the upper portion of the abdomen. Largest and heaviest organ
in your body. Breaks down medicines and other substances. PRODUCES bile, which
is a substance that breaks up fat particles.
20. Gall Bladder: When bile flows from the liver, it goes into the gall bladder, and it
is here that the bile is STORED. After you eat, bile passes from here to the small
intestine.
***What is bile?? What does it do???? Why is SO important??
21. Bile: A substance that breaks up large fat particles into smaller fat droplets.
Think of it like this: Bile is to fat particles as soap is to a greasy frying pan. Soap
breaks up the grease into small droplets that can be washed away. Bile breaks up
the fat into small droplets so that they can be chemically “washed away.”
22. Pancreas: Small droplets of fat enter here and are broken down by enzymes. It
is a Triangular shaped organ found between the stomach and small intestine and the
main function is to produce enzymes to break down fat, starches and proteins.