YOUR DIGESTIVE SYSTEM
AND HOW IT WORKS

How it Works
The digestive system is a series of hollow organs joined in a long, twisting tube from the mouth to the anus. Inside this tube is a lining called the mucosa. In the mouth, stomach, and small intestine, the mucosa contains tiny glands that produce juices to help digest food.

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Our food and drink must be changed into smaller molecules of nutrients before they can be absorbed into the blood and carried to cells throughout the body. Digestion is the process by which food and drink are broken down into their smallest parts so tht the body can use them to build and nourish cells and provide energy.

Digestion involves the mixing of food, its movement through the digestive tract, and the chemical breakdown of the large molecules of food into smaller molecules. Digestion begins in the mouth, when we chew and swallow, and it is completed in the small intestine. The chemical process varies somewhat for different kinds of foods and/or supplementation of any kind.

Movement of Food through the System
The large, hollow organs of the system contain muscles that enables their walls to move. The movement of organ walls can propel food and liquid and can also mix the contents within each organ. Typical movement of the esophagus, stomach, and intestine looks very much like an ocean wave moving through the muscle. The muscles of the organ constantly push the food down through narrowing channels (paristaltic movement). All of the digested nutrients are absorbed through the intestinal walls. What remains after this process, the waste products, are expelled after a day or two.

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