Digestive process in human body

 The digestive system means that food is broken down into molecules that are absorbed in the intestines and give our body food from which we bring our energy and many other essential activities. This is the first way of separating our food into smaller pieces.

 

Our mouth is considered the first component of this mechanism in the digestive system, however. Our tongue catches it as soon as food reaches our mouth. There are some sensors on the skin of the tongue that detect the taste of our food. These are called taste buds. The tip of our tongue detects the sweet taste, while the salty taste is detected on the right and left sides of the tip. We can detect the sour taste from the back of these margins, while they last a portion of the tongue helps to feel the bitter taste.

picture of digestive system in human body

 

You understand that our teeth help to trap, chew, and grind food. Similarly, there are salivary glands in the lower part of our tongue and behind the last part of the tongue that discharge saliva. Glands are the cells or tissues in an organism's body which secrete a range of chemicals. These chemicals are either enzymes or hormones. You will soon be at your disposal with a comprehensive post on hormones. Since we have to deal with most of the enzymes in this article, let's talk about them.

 

A term used in the term chemistry is Catalyst. This little word holds a vast universe within itself.

 

Enzymes are biological catalysts that are made with the help of amino acids inside the body of living things. Remember that amino acids are the main constituents of protein. Therefore, enzymes are proteins that accelerate biological interactions with the help of various co-workers. A post on the chemistry of enzymes will soon be at your service.

 

The salivary glands in our mouth secrete saliva, which is 99% water, and the rest contains some electrolytes, mucus, antibacterial compounds, and enzymes. Electrolytes are compounds that, if charged, turn into ions, while mucus is a slippery substance that softens small pieces of food into small balls. To destroy germs, antibacterials are clearly used, and the enzymes in saliva are amylase, also known as ptyalin. These enzymes digest the starch that's a carbohydrate throughout the food. The role of these enzymes is to digest carbohydrates primarily. The food turns into tiny balls and descends down the throat after digesting a significant amount of carbohydrates from the food, from where it passes into the esophagus, called the esophagus.

First, there is a lid that separates the esophagus and the respiratory tract. This is known as the epiglottis. The trachea tends to protect this lid. The trachea is usually open, but the epiglottis surrounds the trachea concerning swallowing food, so the food does not get into the trachea and cause pain or death. The esophagus has a special type of muscular motion as food enters the esophagus. This motion moves downward the food. If under the theory of gravity, the food goes down, it can cause problems. If a person hangs upside down, for instance, and eats something, his food would still be in his stomach. This motion is called the movement of peristalsis. Often the food goes the other direction when we have a problem with our stomach and the anti-peristalsis campaign begins, which we call the vomiting state.

 

When food reaches the end of the esophagus, it has a valve at the end called the lower esophageal sphincter. Its main purpose is to prevent food in the stomach from going back into the esophagus.

 

As you all know about the stomach, it helps keep our food safe and digested for a while. However, most of the time, only protein is digested in the stomach. We have read about enzymes that work in a specific environment, so the enzymes in the stomach work in an acidic environment. The walls of the stomach secrete HCl acid, which, together with the gastric juice that comes out of the stomach, helps digest the protein in the food. The pH of the stomach usually ranges from 1.5 to 3.5.

 

In gastric enzymes, the pepsin enzyme is inactive, which is activated by HCl and converts it to pepsinogen. Besides, lipase enzyme is also found in the stomach. The former's job is to digest proteins and the latter to digest lipids. When acids, enzymes, gastric juices, and foods mix, they all turn into a thick liquid called chyme. The lipase enzyme converts triglyceride fats into fatty acids and diglycerides. Pepsin breaks down proteins into smaller amino acids.

 

All this food goes to the small intestine at the end of the stomach, called the small intestine and it has three parts called duodenum, jejunum, and ileum respectively. Food enters the duodenum in a separate environment. This gets away because the stomach has an acidic environment while the small intestine has a basic environment.

Along with a duct from which bile juice comes in, the small intestine interacts with the liver, which helps digest the lipids in the food. On the other hand, it is also connected through a duct from which the pancreatic juice comes to the pancreas. This is what we call insulin in popular parlance, which reduces the level of glucose in our blood and protects us against harmful diseases such as diabetes. The pancreas, which is called a gall, is connected to the liver. It is said that the bladder stores the bile juice produced in the liver and that it transfers the juice and empties itself when the food enters the small intestine.

 

The jejunum is called the other section of the small intestine. At the end of the duodenum, this segment continues. In this area, many of the ingredients used in food are beginning to be absorbed. The walls of this region have microscopic folds called villi that absorb food.

 

The ileum is considered the last and greatest component of the small intestine. Food is processed in this portion and comes into the blood. The large intestine starts after this.

 

The purpose of the large intestine is to absorb food residues and to absorb as much water as possible so that dehydration does not occur. In diarrhea, the bacteria prevent the absorption of water which makes us feel dehydrated.

 

The large intestine has three parts called the cecum, colon, and rectum.

 

The first part is the cecum, which contains the appendix. It is a finger-like structure that is present in the intestine and has no function in the human body. If a particle of food gets into it, the germs in it break it down, resulting in the food becoming poisonous and causing severe pain.

 

In the second part of the colon, the food first ascends as shown in the picture and then travels in a straight line near the liver. This whole journey helps to absorb more water from the food. Then the last part is the rectum in which the food is in the form of waste and then the food is expelled through the buttocks.