Digestive System

What is the same about you and the doughnut?

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How long is your gut?

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 How long is your gut?

To find the length of your gut, add...

... the length of your mouth

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 How long is your gut?

... plus the length of your gullet

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 How long is your gut?

... plus the length of your stomach

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 How long is your gut?

... plus the length of your small intestine

×4

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 How long is your gut?

... plus the length of your large intestine

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 How long is your gut?

... plus the length of your rectum

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 Breakdown

How does your digestive system work?

© Oxford University Press 2009

 Breakdown

The twists and turns in your

gut make it hard to look into.
But this miniature camera can
be swallowed.
It will take 500,000 pictures
as it travels through
Lucy’s body.

Which of its photos do you most want to see?

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 Breakdown

Your digestive system turns food into simple nutrients.

Starch, fats and proteins are big molecules…
…but cells need small molecules like glucose that can be
carried in your blood.

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 Breakdown

Your teeth, tongue and

saliva break up solids
and make slippery balls
of food that will slide
down the gullet.

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 Breakdown

Your stomach mixes its store of

food with acid and enzymes ...
…and squeezes the paste it
makes into your small
intestine.

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 Breakdown

The enzymes in your small

intestine finish chopping up
large molecules...
… so villi can absorb
nutrients into your blood.
Just like your alveoli they
provide a massive surface
area.

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 Breakdown

The large intestine absorbs water so all that’s left of your food
is fibre.
Friendly bacteria use some as a food source and make useful
vitamins we can absorb.
What else is fibre good for?

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 Breakdown

Solid faeces gather in

your rectum...
…until you are ready
to go to the toilet.

© Oxford University Press 2009