Your Body, Your Health

Your Digestive System

The digestive system is an amazingly networked system of organs, muscles, and glands which helps to turn the food we eat into a readily useable form. Digestion occurs when our food is mixed together and pushed through the digestive tract, with a chemical breakdown of food into small absorbable molecules. Studies have shown that whole grain foods and foods rich in fiber aid in the digestive process and keep our digestive systems working efficiently. Hodgson Mill knows that healthy, whole grain foods provide energy and vital nutrients, vitamins, and minerals, but have you ever wondered just how the process works? Read on for an overview of just how amazing the human digestive system is...

Converting food into energy

Digestion begins with the breakdown of food by our chewing and saliva. Once swallowed, food moves through the digestive system with the help of muscular contractions called peristalsis. The stomach’s job is to hold food, mix it with digestive juices, and empty the mixture into the small intestine. There, digestive juices are added from the pancreas, liver, and small intestine, and food molecules are absorbed into the small intestine.

The food we consume would be of little use to us without the digestive juices produced by the glands and organs found throughout the digestive tract. As mentioned, digestion actually first begins in the mouth. We mechanically break food into smaller pieces while saliva begins to digest starches. Once in the stomach, acids such as hydrochloric acid as well as an enzyme that digests protein further break down the food elements to allow the body to begin to absorb them. Once the food mixture reaches the small intestine, enzymes are added from the intestine as well as from the pancreas which help to break down digestible carbohydrates, proteins, and fats. The liver produces bile which is stored in the gall bladder and then released to dissolved fat. Once fat is dissolved it can be digested by the pancreas and small intestine.

So what actually happens to the specific nutrients from the food?

Carbohydrate absorption begins in the mouth and finishes in the small intestine. The end product of carbohydrate digestion is glucose, which is the simplest sugar. Glucose is absorbed into the blood and transported to the liver, where it can be stored or used as energy by the body. Glucose is like ‘universal currency’ to our cells.

Fiber is a class of carbohydrates that is not digested by humans and thus passes through the system virtually unchanged, but aids in the digestive process.

Protein: These are typically gigantic molecules which must be disassembled before they are of benefit to us. Digestion begins in the stomach and is then aided by the pancreas and small intestine. The small fragments of protein called amino acids can then be used to build and repair the body.

Fats: These molecules are digested in the small intestine with aid from bile from the liver. Once broken down, the fats can be sent in the blood and used for energy and storage in our cells.

Vitamins: Absorbed in the small intestine and are used in all of our systems. Water and salts are also absorbed by the small intestine. Water is an universal solvent and we cannot function without it.

A very unique feature to the digestive system is that it regulates itself, aided simultaneously by hormones and our nervous system. The hormones regulate the gastric juices and the nerves control the muscles found throughout the organs and systems.

The information provided herein should not be used for diagnosis or treatment of any medical condition. A licensed physician should be consulted for diagnosis and treatment of any and all medical conditions.