Digestive System and Tongue

Tongue

a highly flexible and complex organ in your mouth. It is covered by a layer of specialized skin that is kept moist with saliva, and covered with papillae. Each papilla increases the tongue's surface area. The tongue functions in the digestive and nervous system and shapes sounds for vocal communication. It manipulates each bite of food and then helps form the bolus of food to be swallowed. The tongue helps us determine five different tastes: sweet, salty, sour, bitter, or umami.

Gastric Juice

a juice that is secreted by the lining of the stomach to break down the food even more and liquefy the food. it has pepsin and hydrochloric acid in it...

Peristalsis

a series of rhythmic contractions that helps move food down the esophagus

Anus

a small circular sphincter at the end of the digestion tract

Gastric

adjective for things relating to the stomach

Amylase

an enzyme in saliva that begins the digestion of starches. it breaks starch up into sugars

Pepsin

an enzyme that breaks proteins up into amino acids

Lipase

an enzyme that breaks up fats into fatty acids

Enzyme

a catalyst in chemical digestion

Hydrochloric Acid

a highly corrosive chemical that further breaks down food and also kills most pathogens

Ingest

humans and other animals_______our food through an oral opening

Bicarbonate

it neutralizes the acid produced by the stomach

Pancreatic Juice

juice that is produced nearby in the pancreas. it contains amylase, other protein digesting enzymes, and lipase

Pharynx

the back of your mouth; throat

Villi

the chyme moves past millions of tiny finger-shaped structures called _____ which absorb the sugars, amino acids, fatty acids, vitamins, minerals, and some water

Nutrients and Water

the digestive system functions to absorb these two things:

Involuntary

the muscles of the digestive tract are______. this means that we do not have conscious control over them

Chyme

the post-liquefied food is referred to as....

Absorption

the small intestine is devoted to the ______ of nutrients

Mechanical Digestion

the tearing, slicing, and grinding of food is__________

Esophagus

the tube that connects the pharynx to the stomach

Feces

the waste left behind is called this... It is eliminated through the anus

Diameter

the width of a circle

Salivary Glands

these glands in the mouth produce saliva

Chemical Digestion

this form of digestion begins almost immediately and involves chemicals and enzymes instead of mechanical force

Saliva

this liquid is produced by glands in the mouth and to form the ingested food into a bolus

Gallbladder

where bile is stored until it is needed

Large Intestine

(also known as the colon) it is larger than the smaller intestine only in diameter

Bile

(produced in the liver) it works like a dish detergent to dissolve any clumps of oil or fat