Human Digestion Essay

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Human Digestion How does the process of digestion work in humans? Let us take a look at the meaning of digestion. “Digestion: is the process of making food absorbable by dissolving it and breaking it down into simpler chemical compounds that occurs in the living body chiefly through the action of enzymes secreted into the alimentary canal” (Merriam-Webster, 2010). Digestion begins with the sight and smell of food. When these two senses react to food the salivary glands begin their work by creating saliva. Saliva is created for mouth lubrication and to help soften the food to slide through the esophagus. When the food enters the mouth, the tongue moistens it with saliva and moves it around. Therefore, the teeth can break down the food. This process converts the food into bolus. The bolus then enters the pharynx where it becomes swallowed. As the bolus passes the epiglottis (a valve-like flap that blocks the bolus from entering the lungs) it then makes it way down through the esophagus (a tube that attaches the pharynx to the stomach) and into the stomach. The minute the bolus enters the stomach it churns with acid secretions and forms into a chyme. Depending on how much food is consumed, the chyme will partially digest in the stomach and will empty out in approximately two to six hours. Once processed by the stomach, the chyme enters the small intestines. Secretions of bile come from the liver and the gallbladder (a storage place for the bile that is produced by the liver) to absorb all the vitamins, proteins, minerals, carbohydrates, and fats from the food. On the other hand, the pancreas aids the process of digestion by sending digestive enzymes to the small intestines. The left over waste, from the small intestines, transfers through the sphincter and into the large intestine. Inside the large intestines reside the colon and the rectum. Furthermore,

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