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The Digestive System

What has happened to the food you ate today?
• Esophagus
• Stomach
• Small Intestine
• Large Intestine
• Liver
• Gall Bladder
• Pancreas

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 In the Mouth
• Digestion actually begins
in the mouth.
• The teeth break the food
into smaller pieces, and
the tongue moves the
pieces around so that
saliva can be mixed with
them.
• This begins the digestion.
• Then swallow, and the
journey begins!

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 Esophagus
• About 10” long
• Moves food from the
throat to the stomach.
– The muscle movement is
called peristalsis.
• Heartburn is when acid
from the stomach gets in
here.

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 Stomach
• Stores the food you
eat, breaks it down
into tiny pieces.
• Mixes food with
digestive juices.
• Acid in the stomach
kills bacteria.
• It can stretch and
shrink.

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 Small Intestine
• Small intestines are roughly
22 feet long. “Small” refers to
its diameter, not its length.
• Insides are coated with little
‘fingers’ called cilia to
increase surface area.
• Nutrients from the food pass
into the bloodstream through
the small intestine walls.
• You can have pieces removed
but it is very hard for your
body to get the right nutrients. 6
 Large Intestine
• About 5 feet long.
• Accepts what small
intestines don’t
absorb.
• Absorbs water and
minerals from the
waste matter.
• You can lose a large
part of this and still
survive.

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 Liver
• Directly affects digestion by
producing bile.
– Bile helps digest fat.
• Processes nutrients in the
blood, filters out toxins and
waste.
• Is often called the body’s
energy factory.
• You cannot live without a
liver, although you can live
with a part of one.
• Drinking alcohol damages
the liver.
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 Gall Bladder
• Stores bile from the
liver.
• Delivers bile when
food is digested.
• Fatty diets can cause
gallstones.
• You can live without a
gallbladder.

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 Pancreas
• Produces compounds
to digest fats and
proteins.
• Neutralizes acids that
enter small intestine.
• Regulates blood
sugar by producing
insulin.
• If it doesn’t work right
you get diabetes.

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 Fun Facts

• HOW LONG ARE YOUR INTESTINES? At least 25 feet

in an adult. Be glad you're not a full-grown horse -- their
coiled-up intestines are 89 feet long!
• Food drying up and hanging out in the large intestine
can last 18 hours to 2 days!
• In your lifetime, your digestive system may handle
about 50 tons!!

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