The Human Digestive System Flashcards
What is the mouth?
In the mouth, teeth grind the food up and mix it with saliva before the tongue pushes it to the back of the throat and the oesophagus.
What is the Gullet?
this 25cm-long tube contracts to shift chewed food down to your stomach
What is the diaphragm?
The diaphragm contracts and flattens when you inhale. This creates a vacuum effect that pulls air into the lungs. When you exhale, the diaphragm relaxes and the air is pushed out of lungs.
What is the liver?
The Liver processes nutrients and metabolises drugs and it is the second largest organ after skin.
What is the stomach?
The stomach is a temporary storage facility for food that is being digested; it is a stretchy, muscular bag.
- The muscles create a churning action that mixes the food with digestive juices.
What is the gall bladder?
Stores bile produced by the liver to help digest fat.
What is the pancreas?
The Pancreas connects to the small intestine ; secretes insulin & digestive enzymes.
What is the large intestine?
Any undigested food remaining now passes into the large intestine. No digestion takes place here, instead about 90% of the remaining water is absorbed. The undigested food forms faeces that is moved towards the rectum by peristalsis.
What is the small intestine?
The partly digested food exits the stomach and enters the small intestine. In the first part of the small intestine bile, from the gall bladder, and pancreatic juices , from the pancreas, are added.
