Digestion

How long is the small intestine?

20-21 feet long

How long is the large intestine?

5 feet long, but it is large in diameter

What is a helper organ?

A helper organ is an organ that is important to digestion, but the food does NOT travel through there.

Large Intestine

Absorbs water

Stomach

Acid & muscle break down food even more

Liver makes what?

Bile

Small intestine does what?

Breaks down food (Chemical digestion) and villi absorb nutrients

What are the three functions of the digestive system?

Digest, absorb, eliminate

What is digestion?

Digestion is the process by which your body breaks down food into small nutrient molecules.

A protein that speeds up chemical reactions in the body is an ___.

Enzyme

The pancreas makes what?

Enzymes/Insulin

What are the helper organs?

Gall bladder Liver Pancreas

Explain the difference between mechanical digestion and chemical digestion.

In mechanical digestion, bites of food are torn or ground into smaller pieces; this kind of digestion happens mostly in the mouth and stomach. In chemical digestion, chemicals break down foods into their building blocks; chemical digestion takes place in many parts of the digestive system.

What makes the large intestine large?

It's diameter

Where does absorption take place?

Large Intestine Small Intestine

The esophagus is really just a ____ tube.

Long

Liver

Makes bile to break up fat particles

What is mechanical digestion?

Mechanical digestion is when bites of food are torn or ground into smaller pieces.

What organs does food pass through in the digestion system?

Mouth Esophagus Stomach Small intestine Large Intestine Rectum Anus

Where does mechanical digestion take place?

Mouth Stomach

Where does chemical digestion take place?

Mouth Stomach Small Intestine

Where does digestion take place?

Mouth Stomach Small Intestine

What is the stomach?

The stomach is a j-shaped muscular pouch in the abdomen

Saliva does what?

moistens food and digests starches into sugar (chemical digestion)

What causes diarrhea?

waste moves too quickly through the small intestine and too little water is absorbed

What causes constipation?

waste moves too slowly through the large intestine and too much water is absorbed

What is the esophagus lined with and how does it help?

Mucus, and it makes food slide down the esophagus easily.

The stomach has many layers of _____

Muscle

Esophagus

Muscular tube that connects the mouth to the stomach.

What is peristalsis?

Peristalsis are the waves of involuntary muscle contractions that push food towards the stomach.

Pancreas

Produces digestive enzymes that break down carbs, proteins, & fats

Where does elimination take place?

Rectum Anus

What is elimination?

Removal of waste.

Villi

Small fingerlike structures that line small intestine. Greatly increase the surface area of the small intestine so that more nutrients can be absorbed.

Why is the small intestine so long?

So the food has more chance for absorption

Where is the body's mechanical digestion completed?

Stomach

The epiglottis _____ food from going down to the ____.

Stops, Lungs

Gallbladder

Storage for bile

The gall bladder does what?

Stores bile

Bile

Substance that breaks up fat particles

Your mouth has 3 things:

Teeth Tongue Saliva

Mouth

Teeth grind and tear food (mechanical digestion)

Epiglottis

The epiglottis is a flap of tissue that seals off your windpipe and prevents food from entering the lungs.

What is absorption?

The process by which nutrient molecules pass into your blood through the wall of your digestive system.

What is chemical digestion?

The use of fluids to dissolve foods into nutrients.

What is mucus?

Thick and slippery substance produced by body. Makes food move easily.

Rectum

Waste in compressed into solid form & stored

Anus

Waste material is eliminated