The digestive System

Facts about the digestive system

How much saliva does the human mouth produce everyday?

1.7 liters

How many different species of bacteria are present in the digestive tract?

Around 400

How much hydrochloric acid does the human stomach produce everyday?

2 liters

Every day people eat food. Some of the food becomes ________ in the body. Before getting rid of the wastes, the body _______________ out the useful

nutrients. Digestion is the process of ______________ down food into simple

substances your body can use.

waste

separatesbreaking

The starting point of the digestive system is the ____________. As you grind up the food with your teeth, ________ ________ produce saliva, which break down the chemicals in the food a bit. This allows the food to become mushy and easy to __________. Your __________ pushes the tiny bits of food toward the back of your throat.

mouth

salivary glands

swallow tongue

The second part of the digestive tract is the ______________. It is like a stretchy pipe (about 10 inches long) that moves food from the back of the throat to the ____________. The muscles of the esophagus slowly squeeze the food into the stomach, which takes about 2-3 seconds.

esophagus

stomach

The stomach is like a ________, churning and mashing together all the small bits of food into smaller and smaller pieces. It does this with help from the strong muscles in the walls of the stomach and _________ juices. These juices also help kill bacteria that may have been in the eaten food.

The stomach has three important jobs: *To _______ the food you’ve eaten

*To _______ ________ the food into a liquidy mixture

*To empty to mixture into the _______ ___________

mixer

gastric

storebreak down

small intestine

The small intestine is a long tube about _____ feet long packed beneath the stomach. It breaks down the food mixture even more so your body can absorb all the vitamins, minerals, proteins, carbohydrates, and fats. Food can stay in the small intestine for 4 to 5 hours while it digests. This is possible with help from the _____________, _______, and ______ __________, which all send digestive juices to different parts of the small intestines.

22

pancreas liver gall bladder

The pancreas makes most of the juices that help the body digest _______ and _____________.

Gastric juices from the liver are called _______, which helps to absorb fats into the bloodstream. The liver also filters out harmful wastes turning them into more bile. It also helps figure out how many nutrients will go to the rest of the body, and how many will stay behind in storage.

The gallbladder serves as a ______________ for bile, storing it until the body needs it.

fats proteins

bile

warehouse

Once food leaves the small intestine, it enters the _______ ___________. It is a tube about 5 feet long. It has a larger diameter than the small intestine. Remaining water and nutrients are removed, and the left over waste- parts of the food that your body can’t use- are moved to the __________, which is the last part of the digestive tract. The solid waste stays here until it is pushed through the _________.

large intestine

rectumanus