processes of digestive system

• ingestion


  taking food into the digestive tract; eatting
• propulsion

  moving food through the alimentary canal including swallowing

  • peristalsis: alternating waves of relaxing and contracting
• mechanical breakdown

  breaks food down so it can be digested

  includes chewing, mixing food with saliva with tongue, churning food in stomach
• segmentation

  food is moved back and forth with digestive juices and makes absorption more efficient

  • part of mechanical breakdown
• digestion

  enzymes are secreted into lumen of alimentary canal to break down food into chemical building blocks
• absorption

  digest products go from lumen of GI tract through mucosal cells by active or passive transport into blood or lymph
• defecation

  gets rid of indigestible substances through anus in the form of feces