CALUBING, CLARENCE L.

BSED 3
What is digestive system?
Based on my readings, if we say “Digestive system” refers to a complex group of organs
and glands that work together and responsible for breaking down food in to smaller components
that can be absorbed into bloodstream, a process known as “Digestion”. Digestive system
responsible for providing/supplying the body with the nutrients and energy it needs to function.
Stages of Digestive System
a) Ingestion – The first process of taking in food through the mouth involves chewing and
grinding the food with your teeth to break it down into smaller pieces.
b) Propulsion- a fancy term for swallowing. Begins when we swallow food and it passes
through the esophagus down into the stomach.
c) Digestion: Breaking down of food substances into simpler/smaller molecules through the
process of both mechanical and chemical. Mechanical digestion refers to the physical
breakdown of food into smaller pieces through chewing. Chemical digestion involves the
enzymatic breakdown of complex molecules into smaller.
d) Absorption: The process of absorbing digested nutrients including fats, protein,
carbohydrates, minerals and antioxidants into the bloodstream via the small intestine.
e) Secretion: Release of digestive enzymes and other substances that aid in the digestive
process.
f) Excretion: Elimination of waste products from the body.
What happen in the following;
a) Digestion in mouth- In the mouth, digestion begins with the process of chewing which
breaks down food into smaller particles and also through the help of our saliva produces
by the salivary glands that contain enzymes like amylase which aids in the breakdown of
carbohydrates.
b) Digestion in stomach- In the stomach, the food stores temporarily and cells in the
stomach secrete gastric juices containing hydrochloric acid and enzymes like pepsin
which helps in breakdown of proteins into smaller peptides. This chemical and mechanical
process prepares the food for further breakdown and absorption in the small intestine.
c) Digestion in small intestine – the small intestine is where the majority digestion and
absorption of nutrients occurs. The enzymes from the pancreas and a bile from the liver
which responsible in further breaking down of different nutrients such as carbohydrates,
proteins, and fats and these nutrients will distributed throughout the body by the
intestinal wall, where they absorbed into bloodstream.