Our next body system is the digestive system! When you eat food, your body has to turn it into nutrients to keep you going. The nutrients are energy for your body. This is all done by your amazing digestive system!
Here are the steps to digesting food:
- Ingestion: Food enters the mouth. You chew the food, mix it with saliva, and swallow it.
- Propulsion: The food moves down the esophagus.
- Stomach: In the stomach, the chewed food is mixed with stomach acid which breaks the food down further. This is called chyme
- Small Intestine: Chyme moves into the small intestine, where nutrients are absorbed from the food.
- Absorption: Nutrients are absorbed through the small intestine’s walls via villi and microvilli into the bloodstream.
- Large Intestine: The leftover undigested food and waste products move into the large intestine, where leftover liquids are absorbed, and the remaining material becomes feces.
Source: k8schoollessons.com
The circulatory system contains many interesting secrets and facts! Did you know that in its entirety, the adult digestive system stretched out would be about 30 feet long? Also, did you know that it takes about 24 to 72 hours to digest food?
Overall, the digestive system is a very interesting part of the body. It is important to help us take in nutrients. Wow!
The Lighthouse 