1. Food is placed in the mouth and chewed, and mixed with saliva from the salivary glands.

The tongue and epiglottis direct the food as it is swallowed.

2. The food travels to the esophagus (which is lined with a thick mucus) and moves into the
stomach.
. !n the stomach, the food is mixed with acids that "reak its materials down (the stomach
has a lining to protect itself from the acid it produces). #nce the food is "roken down it
enters the small intestine through the pyloric valve.
$. !n the upper part of the small intestine, the duodenum, "ile produced "y the liver is
added from the gall "ladder to the mixture (called chyme) to further "reak down nutrients
and neutrali%e some of the remaining stomach acid. The pancreas is also located here
and adds several necessary digestive en%ymes.
&. The lower part of the small intestine (the jejunum and ileum) is lined with millions of fine
protu"erances called villi, which a"sor" nutrients out of the food, and into the
"loodstream.
'. #nce most of the nutrients are removed, the remaining materials move to your large
intestine. !n the large intestine, most of the water and some compounds such as
vitamins are removed. Fermentation may also release some necessary nutrients. The
large final section is called the colon.
(. The mostly)dehydrated waste is pushed through the colon to the rectum (which has a a
strong muscle called the sphincter) and leaves the "ody.
There are seven basic steps to the digestive system. They are:
1. eating and chewing,
2. swallowing and passage through the esophagus
3. digestion in the stomach
4. further digestion involving the liver and pancreas
5. absorbing nutrients in the small intestine
. absorbing water in the large intestine
!. e"cretion of the waste products