Human Digestion

Checkpoint: Human Digestion

Bethany Browning

SCI/241

November 19, 2010

Axia College University of Phoenix

Checkpoint: Human Digestion

When one consumes their food, there is a certain path that the food follows through the digestive system. In this checkpoint, I’m going to discuss how the digestion occurs in the body and in each of the parts in the digestive system. When a person puts food in their mouth, this being the actual start of the food entering the digestive process, they chew the food up with their teeth in order for it to pass through the pharynx and go down the esophagus, and then into the stomach, which is an organ in the body that mixes up the foods and creates a gastric liquid. When the food is in the esophagus, which is connected to the stomach, bolus is broken into a liquid type called chyme, by the acids within the stomach. The food, by now, is only digested partially, and depending on the type of food you consume, the process of this can take quite a while. Usually, it only last about 2 to 6 hours in the stomach. The liver, pancreas, and gallbladder all contribute to this cycle before the chyme gets to the small intestine. The small intestine looks like a tube where most of your nutrients and digestion lands. The digestion of consumed foods is completed in this process as well as any absorption of nutrients. Nutrients are so very important when it comes to the small intestine, because it absorbs them and creates a more healthy system within your body. The duodenum, ileum, and jejunum are all known as the three parts of a small intestine. The large intestine is part of the gastrointestinal tract where the rectum and colon work together with any other absorption of vitamins and water. Any nutrients that are not absorbed in the small intestine are then passed through the large intestine blocking all of the excess foods away from the small intestine. The colon does the job of absorbing any other nutrients needed, absorbing any minerals as...