Understanding the Digestive System

Summary:

The Understanding the Digestive System note provides a clear and concise definition of the digestive system as an organ system that converts food into simpler, absorbable nutrients to keep the body functioning and healthy. It further explains that the digestive system is made up of organs such as the mouth, pharynx, esophagus, stomach, small and large intestine, rectum, and accessory digestive glands such as the salivary glands, liver, gallbladder, and pancreas. The note also highlights the digestion process in humans, starting from the mouth where the bolus is formed through salivation and chewing, and the chyme is produced in the stomach through the mixing of gastric juice. Additionally, the reabsorption of water and other minerals takes place in the large intestine, and the wastes are expelled from the rectum through defecation.

Excerpt:

Understanding the Digestive System

Definition

• Noun: A system of organs in which the major function is to convert food into simpler, absorbable nutrients to keep the body functioning and healthy
• Supplement: An organ system, (sometimes simply system), is a group of organs that work together to carry out a particular task. In humans and other animals, the organ systems are the integumentary system, lymphatic system, muscular system, nervous system, reproductive system, urinary system, respiratory system, skeletal system, and immune system.

The digestive system is an organ system comprised of organs in which the major function is to convert food into simpler, absorbable nutrients to keep the body functioning and healthy.

In humans, the digestive system is fundamentally comprised of the gastrointestinal tract. In particular, the gastrointestinal tract is comprised of the following organs: mouth, pharynx, esophagus, stomach, small intestine, large intestine, and rectum. It also includes accessory digestive glands such as salivary glands, liver, gallbladder, and pancreas. These organs and glands work together to digest foodstuff into smaller components that are absorbable forms to be assimilated by the body. Digestion begins in the mouth where salivation and chewing (mastication) aid in the formation of a bolus.