A Look Inside

By : Samantha Maldonado

Table of Contents
The Amazing Digestive System .............................................. p.3 Digestion's Helpers ................................................................ p.4 On The Way Down .................................................................. p.5-6 Digestion At Risk..................................................................... p.7-8 A Mighty Clean System........................................................... p.9 Conclusion...............................................................................p .10 Glossary ..................................................................................p .11-12

Bibliography.......................................................................... p.13

Do you know about the digestive system? Do you know why it is important? The digestive system is a complex series of organs that break down your food and get rid of waste. Food contains vitamins, nutrients, and minerals your body needs. Your body uses food to grow, stay healthy, mend itself, and give you energy. To be able to use the food we eat, our body has to break it down into very small molecules it can use. Some parts of the system are tube like that contain the food. Other parts contain or make digestive juices.

The Amazing Digestive System

Digestions Helpers
The main organs of the digestive system have important jobs.You will learn what the main parts are called and what they do.

The mouth is rst in the digestive system. The mouth partly breaks down food by chewing. Enzymes also help with the breakdown of food.

The esophagus forces food down the throat after you swallow. It uses wavelike muscle movements to get the food to the stomach.

The stomachs job is to churn food in a very strong acid called gastric acid.

The small intestine uses bile and enzymes to break down the food. It then absorbs all the nutrients from the food.

In the large intestine, most of the water and electrolytes are removed from the food. Microbes also help the large intestine in the digestive process.[a]

On The Way Down

Your mouth is the start of the digestive process. Teeth chew your food into pieces. Saliva and enzymes partly break down the food. Then, your tongue pushes that bit of food into a bolus and into the opening of the esophagus.

Now the food is inside the esophagus. You cant just expect the food to drop into the stomach. The esophagus uses rhythmic, wave-like muscle movements to force food down toward the stomach.

Your stomach now has to churn and mash the bits of food that had come from the esophagus into smaller and smaller pieces. To be able to do this, the stomach needs help from very strong muscles in its walls. It also uses gastric acid to digest food. Aside from breaking down food, gastric acid also helps kill bacteria that might be in the eaten food. Then the stomach slowly empties the mixture into the small intestine.

 Once in the small intestine, it breaks down the food even more so your body can absorb all the vitamins, minerals, proteins, carbohydrates and fats. In the small intestine, your food rst enters the duodenum . It then enters the jejunum and then the ileum . The liver makes bile. The gallbladder stores bile so the small intestine can use it later on. Inside the small intestine, bile and digestive enzymes help break down food. The food then enters the large intestine. By now, whats left over is stuff your body cannot use. It needs to pass out of the body.But before it goes, it passes through the part of the large intestine called the colon. This is where the body gets its last chance to absorb the water, minerals and electrolytes. As the water leaves the waste, whats left gets harder and harder until it becomes solid.

The large intestine then pushes the waste into the rectum. It stays there until you get the urge to use the bathroom where it then exits through the anus.

Digestion at Risk
Almost everybody gets a digestive problem at a time or another. Some conditions like indigestion or diarrhea are common. They can result in a little discomfort and get better on their own or are easy to treat. Other conditions like inammatory bowel disease (IBD) can be long lasting or troublesome. GI specialists (doctors who research the digestive system) can be helpful when dealing with these kinds of conditions.

Conditions affecting the esophagus can be congenital or non congenital. These include:

Tracheoesophageal stula and esophageal atresia are examples of congenital conditions.Tracheoesophageal stula is when there is a connection between the esophagus and the trachea where there shouldnt be one. With esophageal atresia in babies, the esophagus doesnt connect to the stomach, instead it comes to a dead end. Both of these conditions are usually detected soon after a baby is born and sometimes even before. They need surgery to be able to repair it.

Esophagitis or inammation of the esophagus is an example of a non congenital condition. Esophagitis is usually caused by gastroesophageal reux disease, a condition in which the esophageal sphincter allows the acidic contents of the stomach to move backward up into the esophagus. Almost everyone experiences diarrhea or constipation at some point in their lives. With diarrhea, muscle contractions move the contents in the intestines along too quickly. So there isnt enough time to absorb most of the water before it gets out of the body. Constipation is the exact opposite. The contents of the large intestine move too slow causing the large intestine to absorb too much water. Then the feces become hard. Other conditions include:

Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) is a common intestinal disorder that affects the colon. When muscles in the colon dont work smoothly, a person can feel the cramps, bloating, constipation and diarrhea that might be signs of IBS. There is no cure, but it can be managed by making lifestyle and diet changes. Sometimes medications can be used as well. Inammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) is an inammation of the intestines that affects older kids, teens and adults. There are two main types: Ulcerative Colitis, which usually only affects the large intestine and rectum. Crohn's Disease, which can affect the entire system from the mouth to anus as well as other parts of the body. They are treated with medications but sometimes surgery may be needed to remove inamed or damaged parts.

 A Mighty Clean System

To take care of our digestive system, its important to choose the kind of food we eat rst. Is this going to benet my body? Is it helping me maintain a well balanced diet? These are a few things we need to ask ourselves before we eat what is in front of us. Eating foods that contain ber can be healthy for the digestive system.It makes it easier for waste to go through your system.

Eating slowly and properly is a good way to help digestion. Mostly, when people eat, they chew for a bit and then swallow. It turns out that chewing slowly and properly can help our bodies improve digestion even better.

You also need to avoid oily foods. Oil makes it hard for enzymes to break down the piece of food you took. Eating too many grains is also unhealthy. They can help clean our intestines but eating too much is unhealthy. Lastly, drinking water can also help with digestion. It can help make it easier for waste to go through the body. It is also advised not to drink cold water after a meal.

Conclusion
Learning about the digestive system has made me realize how important it is. It helps us get the nutrients we need to survive. Without it, our cells wouldn't be able to get the nutrients they need. I hope you realized that too.

Even though the digestive system help us get nutrients, we have to help the digestive system stay healthy. If you don't watch what you eat, it will affect the system. So please try to take care of your digestive system.

 Glossary
Anus - The opening at the end of the digestive system, through which waste is excreted. Bile - A digestive chemical that is made in the liver, stored in the gallbladder and secreted in the small intestine. Energy - The power that lets something move or do work. Enzymes - Any of various proteins capable of producing certain chemical changes in digestion. Esophagus - The long tube between the mouth and stomach. Gallbladder - A pear shaped muscular sack attached to the liver, in which bile is stored and concentrated. GastricAcid - Digestive secretions of the stomach glands that help in digestion. Ileum - The nal part of the small intestine. Jejunum - The mid section of the small intestine. LargeIntestine - The widest part of the digestive track that stores waste.

Bolus - A soft, roundish lump of chewed food. Colon - The part of the large intestine extending from the cecum to the rectum. Congenital - Any kind of condition present at birth. Duodenum - The rst part of the small intestine. Electrolytes - A kind of chemical.

Liver - A body part that stores nutrients from your food and also cleans poisons from it. Microbes - A kind of bacteria. Molecules - Any very small particle. Non Congenital - Any kind of condition that is not present at birth. Organs - A grouping of tissues into a distinct structure that performs a task. Rectum - The last section of the digestive track in which feces is stored until it is eliminated from the body. Saliva - A watery spit that forms in your mouth. Small Intestine - The narrowest part of the digestive tract where most digestion happens.

Stomach - A sack like, muscular organ that is attached to the esophagus. Trachea - The windpipe.

Bibliography
books
Your Digestive System By: Anita Ganeri Food and Digestion By: Steve Parker Your Body Battles a Stomachache By: Vicki Cobb

websites
http://kids health.org www.EnchantedLearning.com www.Thedigestivesystem.net

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