- The process of the Digestive System
- Herbert the hamburger is about to take a journey from Washington to New York City. Before the start of his journey, Herbert decides to take the All-American meal in a restaurant near the bus stage. He decides to take this type of food after receiving an advice from a nutritionist to be feeding on balance diet.
- When Hebert starts taking food in the restaurant, various functions occur in his body. The digestion process starts from the time he takes his first food spoon. This is the start of mechanical digestion. In the mouth, the incisors help to cut the food while the canines are used to tear the food. The molars and the premolars are used for grinding the food into small pieces. The tongue helps in breaking the food into small particles by rolling it. The tongue also helps in mixing of the food. While he keeps on masticating the food, there is an addition of saliva and the tongue assists in swallowing by pushing the bolus backward. The epiglottis allows Herbert to swallow the food without having any difficulties. The salivary amylase helps in breaking the starch contained in Herbert’s meal. The mucin helps in the protection against various infections in the digestive system.
- In the mouth, various enzymes help in the digestion of the food. The enzymes help to accomplish the role of chemical digestion. One of the enzymes is Potassium bicarbonate that excretes an acid used to prevent acid damage especially to the esophageal lining before food enters in the stomach. In the mouth, there is the good bacteria that helps in promoting good breath after Herbert will complete eating his meal. In the digestive system, the friendly bacteria help in protecting the body from bad bacteria that cause infection. Many of the scientists believe that the appendix is the storage of the good bacteria. The appendix is usually connected to the upper part of large intestines known as cecum.
- After Herbert swallows the food, the bolus moves down the esophagus that contains a strong ring of muscle just above the stomach known as sphincter. While the food is passing through the esophagus, a wide, stronger pipe known as trachea helps to pass the air to the lungs. The role of the trachea in the digestive system is to assists in avoiding chock when Herbert is taking his meal. The muscle in the soft palate helps to block the upper pharynx in order to prevent the food particle from entering in the nasal airway. The hard palate on the other hand helps the food from entering the noise. The pharynx is also part of the digestive system that receives the food once Herbert swallows.
- The sphincter is the channel that the bolus uses to reach in the stomach. In the stomach, each located two sphincters in the two ends helps in holding the bolus while the digestive system continues to take place. There is a valve located at the end of the esophagus known as cardiac sphincter that helps in preventing the backflow of materials. The other valve is the pyloric sphincter that divides the stomach and the small intestines. While the food is in the stomach, it mixes with various juices and that makes it turn into a slurry called chyme.
- In the stomach, other various organs assist the digestive system. The food enters in the gastric phase while in the stomach. The gastric mechanism helps in secretion of gastric juice released from the gastric glands. One of these organs is the bile. The role of the bile is to helping in the emulsification of the fat contained in the Double Bacon Cheeseburger with lettuce in the meal of Hebert. The bile does this function by secreting the bile juice via the bile duct. The function of this pancreas as a digestive organ is to organ is to produce several hormones that assist in this process. The pancreas contains the pancreatic duct that helps in secreting the pancreatic juice into the small intestines. In the stomach, the mechanical digestion that takes place is due to the help of multiple enzymes that include hydrochloric acid.
- One of the functions of the hydrochloric acid is to destroy the ingested bacteria. The other role of the hydrochloric is to convert pepsinogen into active form, pepsin, and this helps in initiating the digestion of the protein contained in the meal of Herbert. In the stomach, various enzymes help in the digestion of food, the protease enzyme helps in breaking the protein components constituted in the food. The lipase enzyme helps in the digestion of fats that contained in the meal of Herbert. The carbohydrase enzymes helps in breaking the sugar contained in the ketchup in the meal of Herbert. Another component that is located in the stomach is the rugae. This component helps the stomach to expand and contract in relation to the amount of food that an individual takes. In this case, Herbert may be able to eat as much as he can because of the presence of rugae in linings of the stomach.
- When the chyme enters in the stomach entering the small intestines, the bicarbonate buffer helps in neutralizing its pH. The duodenum helps to receive the bile from the liver and the gastric juice made in the gall bladder. In the large intestines, there is the excretion of the large intestines juice. The digestion takes for about 16 hours in the large intestines. The ileocecal valve in the large intestines helps in allowing the passage of liquids from the small intestines. Ones the digestion process have taken place, the body absorbs the useful materials while the waste materials get out the body through the anus. The process of excretion of waste products is assist by the jejunum that gives the bowel great mobility with the abdomen. The descending colon assists in storing the food that will finally be emptied in the rectum. The ascending colon is attached on the right side of the abdomen. The role of the transverse colon is to absorb water that comes from the small intestines.
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