The Digestive Process

1. Describe in 200 to 300 words, the path food follows through the digestive system, and how digestion occurs in each of the following parts of the digestive system. Be sure to include descriptions of other organs or components of the digestive system, including:

* Large intestine

* Mouth

* Small intestine

* Stomach

The digestive system is a series of organs that are joined in a long, twisting tube from the mouth to the anus. This tube has a lining called the mucosa. For example, in the mouth, stomach, and small intestine, the mucosa contains tiny glands that produce juices to help digest food. Two solid organs, the liver and the pancreas, produce digestive juices that reach the intestine through small tubes. In addition, parts of other organ systems (for instance, nerves and blood) play a major role in the digestive system (http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/pubs/yrdd).   The food follows a specific path through the digestive system, and digestion occurs in each of the following parts of the digestive system, including the mouth, down the esophagus, the stomach, small intestines, large intestines, and exits the anus.  

The Digestive Process includes the following food path:

1. The start of the process - the mouth: The digestive process begins in the mouth. Food is partly broken down by the process of chewing and by the chemical action of salivary enzymes (these enzymes are produced by the salivary glands and break down starches into smaller molecules).

2. On the way to the stomach: the esophagus - After being chewed and swallowed, the food enters the esophagus. The esophagus is a long tube that runs from the mouth to the stomach. It uses rhythmic, wave-like muscle movements (called peristalsis) to force food from the throat into the stomach. This muscle movement gives us the ability to eat or drink even when we're upside-down.

3. In the stomach - The stomach is a large, sack-like organ that churns the food and bathes it in a very strong...