Digestive system

• The gallbladder stores bile produced by the liver and releases it into the small intestine to aid in the digestion of fats.
• Food must be broken down into nutrients by a process called "Digestion".
• The nutrients in the cell are used to provide energy and the raw materials for cell growth and repair.
• Digestion in mammals involves two distinct processes: Physical Digestion and Chemical Digestion.
• Physical digestion is the mechanical breakdown of food into smaller particles.
• Physical Digestion increases the surface area of the ingested food, enabling digestive enzymes to act on it more efficiently.
• Chemical Digestion breaks down large molecules (polymers) into their monomer units using specific enzymes.
• Chemical digestion is the breakdown of large molecules, such as proteins, starch, and fats contained in food into small, soluble molecules. This involves hydrolytic reactions catalyzed by digestive enzymes.
• The mammalian digestive system consists of the gut (Alimentary canal) and the glands associated with it.
• The tubular gut extends from the mouth to the anus, with most of its length coiled in the abdominal cavity
• The intake of food starts from your mouth, which leads into the mouth cavity.
• Your jaws bear four types of teeth: incisors, canines, premolars, and molars.
• In the mouth, solid food is broken down into small pieces by the chewing action of your teeth. This is physical digestion
• the mucin in the saliva helps to soften food, while chewing breaks down food into smaller pieces.
• Saliva also contains a chemical substance called ptyalin (also known as salivary amylase)
• bolus/boli, a small rounded mass of a substance, especially of chewed food at the moment of swallowing.
• After the mouth, your food will enter the esophagus.
• The Pharynx is a common passage of food and air.
• The pharynx is the part of the gut that leads from the mouth to the esophagus and to the tranchea by way of the larynx or voice box.
• The larynx bears a slit-like opening called the glottis.
• The cause of a hard cough when you choke on food is epiglottis. It prevents food from entering the trachea during the swallowing process. The epiglottis is located behind the tounge and in front of the larynx.
• After you swallow, smooth muscles force the food into a narrow, muscular tube called the esophagus or gullet.
• The word esophagus comes from the Greek word Aisophagos, meaning to carry what is eaten.
• The esophagus' role is to carry what is eaten to the next organ.
• The partially digested food now enters a J-shaped organ called the stomach, which lies beneath the diaphragm and partly covered by the liver.
• These muscles contract to mash the food into a sloppy soup.
• The food in the stomach stimulates the gastric glands to secrete gastric juice into the stomach cavity.
• Peristalsis in the stomach wall churns the food and mixes it well with the gastric juice.
• Gastric juice is a dilute solution of hydrochloric acid and the enzyme pepsin.
• The partially digested food becomes liquedied, forming chyme, which passes in small amounts into the duodenum which is the first part of the small intestine.
• The stomach joins the small intestine, through a muscular valve called the pyloric sphincter.
• The small intestine consists of 3 parts; a U-shaped duodenum, the jejunum, and the much-coiled ileum.
• WHen stretched, the small intestine is about 6 meters long (20 feet)
• Most chemical digestion happens in the first 0.3 meter of the intestine.
• the small intestine's juice helps breakdown food arriving from your stomach.