Mackenzie Graf

A Journey through the Digestive System

The doors opened, I was finally in the mouth. I was greeted by 32 oddly
shaped white things, Ive heard their called teeth. I was moved around for bit
and bounced back and fourth between the teeth and the tongue. I was being
bit into smaller pieces, to increase my surface area but I didnt mind. The
more of me the merrier! All the while I was being soaked in salivary amylase,
starch digesting enzymes, witch are produced by the salivary glands. These
amylases quickly began to break down my carbohydrates and assisted in my
journey to the Pharynx. Once I had been broken down enough the tongue
pushed me to the the back of the mouth; the pharynx. From there I realized
that the trachea is rather rude, it closed its door called the epiglottis to stop
me from going into the lungs. Ive heard that even the rare few that make it
past the epiglottis and to the larynx are just pushed right back up by a lot of
forceful air, I guess humans call that coughing. I was given a new name too,
they started calling me bolus instead of cheeseburger, weird right? Anyways
from the pharynx I made my way down the esophagus by a process called
peristalsis, its a process of rhythmic smooth muscle contractions. At the
bottom I reached the lower esophageal sphincter, I learned his close friends
call him the cardiac sphincter. This is a small ring of smooth muscle that
keeps food in the stomach. I had finally reached the stomach. Despite all my
planning the trip was delayed and I found out I would have to wait here for
three to six hours while I was being broken down. I was even more thankful
now the mouth broke me up into so many little mes so that I had someone
to talk to. Once the stomach sensed the proteins a hormone called gastrin
triggered the secretion of HCl and pepsinogen. All of us were doused in an
acidic liquid that we learned is called hydrochloric acid, we called it HCl for
short. This activated the pepsin witch is called pepsinogen in its inactive
form. The pepsin began to digest my proteins breaking them down in to
smaller polypeptides called peptones. As I looked around I saw that the
stomach was covered in a thick mucous, this protects the endothelium from
acid and enzymes, but man was it ever gross. Just as I was getting comfy
suddenly everything started moving, the peristaltic motions of the stomach
were mechanically digesting me, similar to what happened to me in the
mouth. I found out I was given a new name again! Theyre calling me chyme
now! I definitely prefer it to bolus but seriously, whats wrong with
cheeseburger? As time passed I found myself at the bottom of the stomach,
here I met the pyloric sphincter. As it relaxed, thanks to the gastrin, I moved
passed the stomach and into the duodenum, the first part of the small
intestine. As soon as I arrived there CCK and secretin were released. I found
out my partially digested proteins stimulated the CCK, this releases
pancreatic enzymes and bile from the gull bladder. The secretin inhibited the
secretion of gastric juice and released bicarbonate ions from the pancreases
to neutralize me. This was so I didnt burn through the small intestine. As I
moved through the duodenum I saw that the pancreas, the gall bladder and
the liver all secreted their juices on me. I also noticed the small intestine was

Mackenzie Graf
extremely folded, someone told me the folds are called villi and that there
covered in cytoplasmic projections called microvilli. Why couldnt I have
gotten cool name like that! Inside the villi are the lacteal and the capillaries.
The lacteal absorbs fats and the capillaries absorb all of the other nutrients
and transport them immediately to the liver for processing. The small
intestine produces multiple enzymes. Carbohydrases called sucrose, maltase
and lactase, witch break down sucrose, lactose and maltose into simple
sugars. Peptidases witch break down peptides into smaller peptides and
amino aids and nucleases that break down nucleotides into bases sugars and
phosphates. These all further broke me down in the small intestine as well
as enzymes that were made by the pancreas! These enzymes include
pancreatic amylase, that digests carbohydrates. Trypsin that further more
breaks down proteins and also activates chymotrypsin witch also breaks
down proteins into smaller peptides. Pancreatic lipase witch digested my
fats into fatty acids and glycerol. Ribonuclease that digest RNA and
deoxyribonuclease that digest DNA. I also found out that the pancreas also
produces peptidases! How neat! As I moved from the small intestine to the
large intestine I was almost completely broken down. The amino acids that
had been broken down by peptides were sent to the liver to be deaminated,
this is when the nitrogen is removed to produce ammonia. The liver also
produces bile, witch is stored in the gall bladder and released into the small
intestine through the bile duct. As I was in the small intestine it was the bile
that emulsified my fats, allowing the lipase more area to digest. I neared the
end of my journey as I moved through the large intestine. By now almost all
of me had been broken down and absorbed but there was still some of me
left. I found myself becoming seriously dehydrated as I entered the large
intestine, this was because it was absorbing all the water and electrolytes
out of me. Important bacteria is stored here that uses unabsorbed nutrients
and carbohydrates to make vitamin K and B. It was also a this stage were I
was given yet another name, feces. With all these weird new names I
couldnt wait to finally be on my way out of here! After a long journey I was
in the rectum, the last part of the large intestine and shortly after I made my
way through the anus. Now I was starting a new journey, one down the
sewer system of Calgary!