Notes+jack+and+brooke+period+6

====The small intestine is the portal for absorption of virtually all nutrients into blood. Accomplishing this transport entails breaking down large supramolecular aggregates into small molecules that can be transported across the epithelium. An exception to this statement is seen in herbivores, where large amounts of short chain fatty acids are absorbed at other sites.==== ====By the time ingesta reaches the small intestine, foodstuffs have been mechanically broken down and reduced to a liquid by mastication and grinding in the stomach. Once within the small intestine, these macromolecular aggregates are exposed to pancreatic enzymes and bile, which enables digestion to molecules capable or almost capable of being absorbed. The final stages of digestion occur on the surface of the small intestinal epithelium.==== ====The net effect of passage through the small intestine is absorption of most of the water and electrolytes (sodium, chloride, potassium) and essentially all dietary organic molecules (including glucose, amino acids and fatty acids). Through these activities, the small intestine not only provides nutrients to the body, but plays a critical role in water and acid-base balance.====

Esophagus: The tube that connects the pharynx (throat) with the stomach. The esophagus lies between the trachea (windpipe) and the spine. It passes down the neck, pierces the diaphragm just to the left of the midline, and joins the cardiac (upper) end of the stomach. In an adult, the esophagus is about 25 centimeters (10 inches) long. When a person swallows, the muscular walls of the esophagus contract to push food down into the stomach. Glands in the lining of the esophagus produce mucus, which keeps the passageway moist and facilitates swallowing. Also known as the gullet or swallowing tube. From the Greek oisophagos, from oisein meaning to bear or carry + phagein, to eat. Two “solid” digestive organs, the liver and the pancreas
 * Organs in the digestive system**: Organs that make up the digestive tract are the mouth, esophagus, stomach, small intestine, large intestine—also called the colon—rectum, and anus

Your body cannot get nourishment from the food you put in your mouth. That is why you need your digestive system, so that you body can break down the food which is then absorbed into the blood and carried to cells through the body. separate it into foods you need and stuff you don't need.
 * Why is digestion important?**

Digestion is the process by which food and drink are broken down into their smallest parts so the body can use them to build and nourish cells and to provide energy.
 * Definition of Digestion:**

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 * How is food digested?**
 * 1) you put the food in your mouth and chew it. This is by choice
 * 2) Then when you swallow the food the action becomes involuntary and your nerves control it. The food is pushed into the esophagus. Then where the esophagus and the stomach connects there is a ring like muscle that closes the passage. Then when the food approaches the stomach the muscle relaxes.
 * 3) "The stomach has three tasks. First, it stores the swallowed food and liquid. To do this, the muscle of the upper part of the stomach relaxes to accept large volumes of swallowed material. The second job is to mix up the food, liquid, and digestive juice produced by the stomach. The lower part of the stomach mixes these materials by its muscle action. The third task of the stomach is to empty its contents slowly into the small intestine."
 * 1) Once in the small intestine, nutrients are absorbed through the intestinal walls and then carried throughout the body.
 * 1) Then the waste products are pushed into the colon where they stay until the feces are expelled by a bowel movement.
 * 2) http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/pubs/yrdd/