Digestive System

The Digestive System
By Raymond Sosa

Our body needs food for energy and growth.  The digestive system helps our body break down the food we eat so that it can be absorbed into the bloodstream and into the different parts of our body.

When you swallow your food, the mushy ball of food goes down into the gullet or esophagus into the stomach.  Here it churns around for up to four hours while it is broken down into chyme, a soupy liquid.  It is then gradually squeezed out of the stomach and through a long, coiled tube called the small intestine.  Here the parts of food that you need are absorbed into the blood and the remainder passes on into the large intestine.  About 24 hours after swallowing, the remaining waste, called feces, is pushed out into the body.

Interesting Facts About the Digestive System
by Raymond Sosa

How big is your stomach ?

An adult’s stomach holds about 1 liter of food.  A child’s stomach holds a little bit less.  Your stomach gets bigger the more you eat.  A large adult can eat and drink up to 4 liters of food and liquid at one meal!

The small intestine is more than three times as long as the whole body !  In an adult, this is about 21 feet long. The large intestine is another 5 feet long.  The whole tube from the mouth to the anus is about 30 feet long. Wow !

The appendix is a spare part of the large intestine that plays no part in the digestion.  Sometimes the appendix becomes infected and has to be removed.

Raymond's Illustration of the Digestive System