Digestive System of man

Introduction:
Digestive system of man consists of alimentary canal and digestive glands. Different parts of it are explained below:

- Mouth:
The mouth is the beginning of the alimentary canal. In fact, digestion starts after eating food. Chewing breaks the food into pieces that are more easily digested, while saliva mixes with food to begin the process of breaking it down into a form and the body can absorb it.

- Pharynx:
The pharynx is the next destination for food you’ve eaten. From here, food travels to the esophagus or swallowing tube.

- Esophagus:
It is a muscular tube extending from the pharynx to the stomach. By means of a series of contractions, called peristalsis, the esophagus delivers food to the stomach.

- Stomach:
The stomach is a sac-like organ with strong muscular walls. Apart from holding the food, it’s also a mixer and grinder. It secretes acid and powerful enzymes that continue the process of breaking down the food. After it leaves the stomach, food is the consistency of a liquid or paste. From there the food moves to the small intestine.

- Small Intestine:
It is made up of three parts- the duodenum, jejunum, and ileum, the small intestine is a long tube loosely coiled in the abdomen, it is 20 feet long. The small intestine continues the process of breaking down food by using enzymes released by the pancreas and bile from the liver. Bile is a compound that aids in the digestion of fat and eliminates waste products from the blood. Peristalsis (contractions) is also at work in this organ, moving food through and mixing it up with digestive secretions. The duodenum is largely responsible for continuing the process of breaking down food, with the jejunum and ileum being mainly responsible for the absorption of nutrients into the bloodstream.

Digestive glands:

- Pancreas:
It secretes enzymes into the small intestine. These enzymes break down protein, fat, and carbohydrates from the food we eat.

- Liver:
The two of main functions of liver within the digestive system are to make and secrete bile, and to cleanse and purify the blood coming from the small intestine containing the nutrients just absorbed. It has 4 lobes- two large right and left lobes while two small caudate and quadrate lobes.