Digestive System-Cool Facts (Part-1)

Digestive System-Cool Facts (Part-1)
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Facts about the digestive system

Digestive system performs its function with the help of enzymes, hormones, nerve impulses and systematic muscular action.

  1. As soon as you take the bite of your favorite food saliva is produced in your mouth. The food gets mix with the saliva and is broken down into tiny particles. On an average about 16 to 48 ounces of saliva is produced by an individual in the whole day.

  2. After mouth food passes down into the esophagus by the contraction of muscles. Esophagus is a muscular tube which is about 10-14 inches in length and about 1 inch in diameter.

  3. From the esophagus food enters your stomach where it stays for 3-4 hours. In the stomach, the food is mixed as in a kitchen mixture with the gastric juice by the churning action of the muscular walls of the stomach. Main components of the gastric juice are hydrochloric acid, mucus and pepsin which act on proteins in the food.

  4. From the stomach half digested food passes into the small intestine which is about seven meters long and 1.5 to 2 inches in diameter. It is called small intestine because its diameter is narrow. The lining of the small intestine provides a vast range of enzymes which help in digestion. Here, pancreas, gall bladder and liver also contribute alkaline juices that act on carbohydrates, proteins and fats.

  1. After absorption of the useful nutrients the left over move to the large intestine. It is 5 feet long and 3-4 inches in diameter. Left over is passed out from the rectum and anus in the form of stool in about 36 hours.

Your stomach takes about 2-6 hours to completely empty it. This is reason why you feel hungry after a short break.

These are some cool about your digestive system. In the second part you will read about different functions of the digestive system.