a look inside the digestive system

7/30/2019 A Look Inside the Digestive System

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A Look Inside

By : Samantha Maldonado


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Table of Contents

The Amazing Digestive System ..............................................p.3Digestion's Helpers ................................................................p.4On The Way Down..................................................................p.5-6Digestion At Risk.....................................................................p.7-8A Mighty Clean System...........................................................p.9

Conclusion...............................................................................p.10Glossary ..................................................................................p.11-12Bibliography..........................................................................p.13


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Do you know about the digestivesystem? Do you know why it is important?The digestive system is a complex seriesof organs that break down your food andget rid of waste. Food contains vitamins,nutrients, and minerals your body needs.Your body uses food to grow, stay

healthy, mend itself, and give you energy.To be able to use the food we

eat, our body has to break it downinto very small molecules it can

use. Some parts of the system aretube like that contain the food. Otherparts contain or make digestivejuices.

The AmazingDigestive System


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Digestions

Helpers

The main organs of the digestive

system have important jobs.You will

learn what the main parts are called and

what they do.

The mouth is first in the digestive

system. The mouth partly breaks down

food by chewing. Enzymes also helpwith the breakdown of food.

The esophagus forces food down

the throat after you swallow. It uses wave-

like muscle movements to get the food tothe stomach.

The stomachs job is to churn food

in a very strong acid called gastric acid.

The small intestine uses bile

and enzymes to break down the food.

It then absorbs all the nutrients from

the food.

In the large intestine, most of thewater and electrolytes are removed from

the food. Microbes also help the large

intestine in the digestive process.[a]
https://docs.google.com/document/d/19iNs_3X8sMNeW6V3qscmfe5djNPfm4Z335tiKKGcKwk/mobilebasic#cmnt1


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On The

Way Down

Your mouth is the start of the

digestive process. Teeth chew your

food into pieces. Saliva and enzymes

partly break down the food. Then,

your tongue pushes that bit of food

into a bolus and into the opening of

the esophagus.

Now the food is inside the

esophagus. You cant just expect thefood to drop into the stomach. The

esophagus uses rhythmic, wave-like

muscle movements to force food

down toward the stomach.

Your stomach now has to

churn and mash the bits of food that

had come from the esophagus into

smaller and smaller pieces. To be able

to do this, the stomach needs helpfrom very strong muscles in its walls. It

also uses gastric acid to digest food.

Aside from breaking down food,

gastric acid also helps kill bacteria that

might be in the eaten food. Then the

stomach slowly empties the mixtureinto the small intestine.


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The food then enters the large

intestine. By now, whats left over is

stuff your body cannot use. It needs to

pass out of the body.But before it goes,

it passes through the part of the large

intestine called the colon. This is where

the body gets its last chance to absorb

the water, minerals and electrolytes. As

the water leaves the waste, whats left

gets harder and harder until it becomes

solid.

The large intestine then pushes

the waste into the rectum. It staysthere until you get the urge to use the

bathroom where it then exits through

the anus.

Once in the small intestine, it breaksdown the food even more so your bodycan absorb all the vitamins, minerals,proteins, carbohydrates and fats. In thesmall intestine, your food first enters the

duodenum . It then enters thejejunumand then the ileum . Theliver makes bile. The gallbladder

stores bile so the small intestine can use itlater on. Inside the small intestine, bile anddigestive enzymes help break down food.


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Digestion at Risk

Almost everybody gets a

digestive problem at a time or another.Some conditions like indigestion or

diarrhea are common. They can result

in a little discomfort and get better on

their own or are easy to treat. Other

conditions like inflammatory bowel

disease (IBD) can be long lasting ortroublesome. GI specialists (doctors

who research the digestive system)

can be helpful when dealing with

these kinds of conditions.

Conditions affecting the

esophagus can be congenital

or non congenital. These

include:

Tracheoesophageal fistula andesophageal atresia are examples ofcongenitalconditions.Tracheoesophageal fistula iswhen there is a connection between the

esophagus and the tracheawhere there shouldnt be one. Withesophageal atresia in babies, theesophagus doesnt connect to thestomach, instead it comes to a deadend. Both of these conditions areusually detected soon after a baby isborn and sometimes even before. Theyneed surgery to be able to repair it.


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Esophagitis orinflammation of the esophagusis an example of a noncongenital condition.Esophagitis is usually causedby gastroesophageal refluxdisease, a condition in whichthe esophageal sphincterallows the acidic contents ofthe stomach to move backwardup into the esophagus.

Almost everyone experiencesdiarrhea or constipation at some pointin their lives. With diarrhea, musclecontractions move the contents in theintestines along too quickly. So there

isnt enough time to absorb most ofthe water before it gets out of thebody. Constipation is the exactopposite. The contents of the largeintestine move too slow causing thelarge intestine to absorb too muchwater. Then the feces become hard.Other conditions include:

Irritable Bowel Syndrome(IBS) is a common intestinaldisorder that affects thecolon. When muscles in thecolon dont work smoothly, aperson can feel the cramps,bloating, constipation anddiarrhea that might be signsof IBS. There is no cure, butit can be managed by makinglifestyle and diet changes.Sometimes medications can

be used as well.Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD)

is an inflammation of the intestines thataffects older kids, teens and adults.There are two main types: UlcerativeColitis, which usually only affects the

large intestine and rectum. Crohn'sDisease, which can affect the entiresystem from the mouth to anus as wellas other parts of the body. They aretreated with medications but sometimessurgery may be needed to removeinflamed or damaged parts.


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A Mighty Clean System To take care of our digestive system, itsimportant to choose the kind of food we eatfirst. Is this going to benefit my body? Is ithelping me maintain a well balanced diet?These are a few things we need to askourselves before we eat what is in front of us.

Eating foodsthat containfiber can behealthy for thedigestivesystem.Itmakes it easier

for waste to gothrough yoursystem.

Eating slowly andproperly is a goodway to helpdigestion. Mostly,when people eat,

they chew for a bitand then swallow. Itturns out thatchewing slowly andproperly can help ourbodies improve

digestion even better.

You also need to avoid oily foods. Oilmakes it hard for enzymes to break downthe piece of food you took. Eating too manygrains is also unhealthy. They can helpclean our intestines but eating too much is

unhealthy. Lastly, drinking water can also help with

digestion. It can help make it easier for wasteto go through the body. It is also advised notto drink cold water after a meal.


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Conclusion

Learning about the digestive

system has made me realize howimportant it is. It helps us get thenutrients we need to survive.Without it, our cells wouldn't beable to get the nutrients they need.I hope you realized that too.

Even though thedigestive system help us

get nutrients, we have tohelp the digestive systemstay healthy. If you don'twatch what you eat, it willaffect the system. Soplease try to take care ofyour digestive system.


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GlossaryAnus - The opening at the end of the

digestive system, through which

waste is excreted.

Bile - A digestive chemical that ismade in the liver, stored in thegallbladder and secreted in thesmall intestine.

Bolus - A soft, roundish lump ofchewed food.

Colon - The part of the largeintestine extending fromthe cecum to the rectum.

Congenital - Any kind of conditionpresent at birth.

Duodenum - The first part of the smallintestine.

Electrolytes - A kind of chemical.

Energy - The power that lets something move ordo work.

Enzymes - Any of various proteins capable ofproducing certain chemical changes indigestion.

Esophagus - The long tube between the mouthand stomach.

Gallbladder - A pear shaped muscular sackattached to the liver, in which bile isstored and concentrated.

GastricAcid - Digestive secretions of thestomach glands that help indigestion.

Ileum - The final part of the small intestine.Jejunum - The mid section of the small

intestine.

LargeIntestine - The widest part of thedigestive track that stores

waste.


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Liver - A body part that stores nutrientsfrom your food and also cleanspoisons from it.

Microbes - A kind of bacteria.

Molecules - Any very small particle.

Non Congenital - Any kind of conditionthat is not present atbirth.

Organs - A grouping of tissues into adistinct structure that performsa task.

Rectum - The last section of thedigestive track in which fecesis stored until it is eliminated

from the body.Saliva - A watery spit that forms in

your mouth.

Small Intestine- The narrowest part of thedigestive tract wheremost digestion happens.

Stomach - A sack like, muscular organthat is attached to theesophagus.

Trachea - The windpipe.


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Bibliography

websiteshttp://kids health.org www.Thedigestivesystem.net

booksYour Digestive SystemBy: Anita Ganeri Food and DigestionBy: Steve Parker Your Body Battles aStomachache

By: Vicki Cobb

www.EnchantedLearning.com


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a look inside the digestive system

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