Digestive System Example
Biology / / July 04, 2021
The digestive system It is the basic mechanism with which living beings transform food into assimilable compounds for the human body.
It has the ability to separate and destroy them, absorbing the organic and mineral material necessary for the development of life.
The organs that make up the digestive system are the following:
- Mouth, esophagus and throat (introduce food)
- Stomach
- Liver
- Pancreas
- Small intestine
- Large intestine
- Anus or rectum
The function is to crush, divide and absorb the necessary nutrients, which are subsequently carried by the circulatory system that together with the oxygen of the respiratory system make up the life cycle of living beings.
Example of digestive system:
Mouth.- In the mouth, the food is crushed and fragmented so that it becomes the so-called "Cud. Alimentary bolus”. It is made up of teeth (crushed). The tongue has the function of perceiving the flavors, which allows to appreciate and prepare the palate to receive the food. Saliva, saliva is produced by the salivary glands, which makes it possible to prepare the bolus.
Esophagus.- This tube carries food to the stomach, and has the ability to move the bolus through contractions.
Stomach.- The stomach is the place where food is broken down, here it secretes a series of chemicals such as gastric acids that dissolve the food bolus, which together with a process of movement prepare the food for the subsequent absorption of nutrients.
Appendix.- Some scientists consider the appendix to be a vestigial organ (vestige of a past evolution) and its function existed when the human being had herbivorous antecedents.
Small intestine.- In the initial part of the small intestine, what is called "chemical digestion" is carried out, specifically in the area of the duodenum, where pre-digested food from the stomach mixes with bile and so-called juice pancreatic. The length of the intestine will change depending on the living being, since herbivores have longer intestines.
In the rest of the small intestine, the body absorbs the rest of the nutrients, transferring them directly to the bloodstream, so that the circulatory system mixes it with the oxygen of the respiratory system and transfers the already prepared nutrients to the necessary place of the Body.
The large intestine.- This intestine is responsible for preparing waste to be expelled, it keeps absorbs minerals that the small intestine does not absorb and produces vitamin K through the action of bacteria housed there, it absorbs a large amount of liquid, being the area that contributes more liquid to the circulatory system (blood), and finally directs the digested material to the last section of the system digestive.
Rectum or anus.- It is the natural outlet of these compounds, the upper part called the rectum is made up of two parts and the lower one called anus, where there is a series of sphincters that allow the closure of the tract digestive.
Digestion.- In living beings the digestive system can change and in higher animals it should be known that they do not digest all the compounds in food, which forms fecal matter which is the food excretion of the living being.