The Digestive Process

The Digestive Process. 

Aaah, the process of how the food we eat is digested, because who doesn't want to be overly self-aware of what the hell is happening in the bags of meat we call bodies. There about 5 or 6 steps between ingestion (Food entering the body) and egestion (food exiting the body in the form of faeces) which all fit into two other categories, known as digestion and absorption. After being masticated (chewed), the food is formed into a bolus, or in simpler term, a ball. Before it travels to the first step of digestion, the bolus is lubricated by saliva produced by the salivary glands.

The "Start" Of It All - The Oesophagus

From the mouth, it is swallowed and moved through the Oesophagus. The oesophagus is a long tube made up of pink tissue called mucosa. It is located from the throat to the middle of the torso, sitting behind the windpipe and heart and in front of the spine. The oesophagus causes the food to travel down in a way called peristalsis, which resembles wave-like motions. During this travel, peristalsis not only moves the food, but it's aids in the mechanical digestion of food and helps mix it with gastric juices and enzymes. All of this helps and speeds up the future digestion.
Did you know the oesophagus is sometimes known as the food pipe? Pretty appropriate if you ask me.

Up Next - The Stomach

The oesophagus basically just leads straight to the stomach. The stomach is a large, pear-shaped elastic bag located on the left side of the upper abdomen. It secretes acids and enzymes to break down the food further, as well as converting carbohydrates into simple sugars while the other nutrients remain undigested. The gastric fluid that breaks down the food is made up of three different types of fluid. These fluids are Hydrochloric acid, pepsin, and mucus. 
Did you know when you blush, so does your stomach? The inside of your stomach turns red due to increased blood flow (Blush = Blood rush)

Continuing Forward - The Small Intestine

From the stomach, the food travels to the duodenum, now entering the small intestine. The small intestine is the intestine residing between the stomach and the large intestine. It is made up of three compartments, the duodenum, the jejunum and ileum. Inside the intestine, on the inner walls, is covered by small fingerlike things called Villi. These help with the absorption. Speaking of, by now proteins and lipids have been broken down and carbohydrates have been broken down into simple sugars, all in the stomach. When the food enters the small intestine, it absorbs all of the useful nutrients and sends them to the liver.

Did you know the intestines are named for how wide they are, not how long they are?

Important! Important! - The Liver

Before heading to the bloodstream, nutrients are transported to the liver via the hepatic portal vein. The liver is a large, dark-ish, organ that sits beneath the diaphragm and above the stomach. Here, nutrients are either converted into energy or stored for later use. That's not liver's only job, however. Bile, a green-coloured fluid, is produced in the liver. Bile collects in the gallbladder, passes through the bile duct and into the duodenum. Bile prevents the stomach from digesting itself. That's... fun...
Did you know that the liver is the second largest organ in the human body, behind the skin?

It's The Final Organ *Do do do do, do do do do do* - The Large Intestine

(I'm sorry for that ^ ...not really)
After passing through the small intestine, all that's left is matter, mucus, dead cells, bacteria, some ion, and water, sounds appetising, aye. All of this now travels into the large intestine. The large intestine is the organ in the body that holds the caecum, colon, and rectum collectively. It is located beneath the stomach and around the small intestine. Once entering the large intestine, all excess water and ions (mostly left from other fluids in the body, bile, gastric, et cetera, et cetera) are absorbed from the "food" and back into the body. After absorption, the "food" is now nothing but what most refer to as faeces. This is then transported to the rectum and store until egested via the anus.
Did you know humans can actually live pretty fine without the large intestine? Though it's not the best thing ever... Considering the large intestine's most vital job is absorbing excess water... I think you can tell where that's going...

And that's the end of the line. From there, the food is egested from the anus as faeces, or as some people refer to it as, poop. Now you know at least a little bit more about your body and how the food we eat is digested. I hope you learned something, see ya!