Which Component of the Gastrointestinal System Can Synthesize Certain Vitamins?

Overview

Structure of the Digestive System

What is the digestive system?

Your digestive system is made upwards of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract and your liver, pancreas and gallbladder. The GI tract is a series of hollow organs that are connected to each other from your rima oris to your anus. The organs that make up your GI tract, in the order that they are continued, include your oral cavity, esophagus, stomach, small-scale intestine, large intestine and anus.

What does the digestive arrangement do?

Your digestive system is uniquely constructed to do its chore of turning your food into the nutrients and energy you demand to survive. And when it's done with that, it handily packages your solid waste, or stool, for disposal when yous have a bowel move.

Why is digestion important?

Digestion is important because your body needs nutrients from the food you eat and the liquids y'all potable in social club to stay healthy and function properly. Nutrients include carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins, minerals and water. Your digestive organization breaks down and absorbs nutrients from the food and liquids you consume to utilize for of import things similar energy, growth and repairing cells.

Anatomy

What organs make upwards the digestive system?

The principal organs that make upwardly the digestive system (in order of their part) are the rima oris, esophagus, stomach, small intestine, large intestine, rectum and anus. Helping them along the manner are the pancreas, gall float and liver.

Here'due south how these organs piece of work together in your digestive system.

Rima oris

The mouth is the beginning of the digestive tract. In fact, digestion starts before yous even have a bite. Your salivary glands become active as you run across and smell that pasta dish or warm bread. Subsequently yous offset eating, you chew your food into pieces that are more hands digested. Your saliva mixes with the food to brainstorm to break it down into a course your body can absorb and use. When you swallow, your tongue passes the food into your pharynx and into your esophagus.

Esophagus

Located in your throat near your trachea (windpipe), the esophagus receives food from your mouth when you swallow. The epiglottis is a small flap that folds over your windpipe as yous swallow to foreclose you lot from choking (when nutrient goes into your windpipe). A series of muscular contractions within the esophagus called peristalsis delivers food to your stomach.

Only first a band-similar muscle at the bottom of your esophagus chosen the lower esophageal sphincter has to relax to let the food in. The sphincter so contracts and prevents the contents of the stomach from flowing dorsum into the esophagus. (When it doesn't and these contents flow back into the esophagus, you may experience acrid reflux or heartburn.)

Stomach

The tummy is a hollow organ, or "container," that holds food while it is being mixed with stomach enzymes. These enzymes continue the process of breaking downward food into a usable form. Cells in the lining of your stomach secrete a strong acid and powerful enzymes that are responsible for the breakdown process. When the contents of the stomach are candy plenty, they're released into the small intestine.

Small intestine

Made up of three segments — the duodenum, jejunum, and ileum — the small intestine is a 22-human foot long muscular tube that breaks downwards nutrient using enzymes released by the pancreas and bile from the liver. Peristalsis also works in this organ, moving nutrient through and mixing it with digestive juices from the pancreas and liver.

The duodenum is the start segment of the small intestine. It's largely responsible for the continuous breaking-downwardly process. The jejunum and ileum lower in the intestine are mainly responsible for the assimilation of nutrients into the bloodstream.

Contents of the modest intestine start out semi-solid and end in a liquid course after passing through the organ. H2o, bile, enzymes and mucus contribute to the change in consistency. Once the nutrients have been absorbed and the leftover-food residue liquid has passed through the minor intestine, it then moves on to the big intestine, or colon.

Pancreas

The pancreas secretes digestive enzymes into the duodenum that break down poly peptide, fats and carbohydrates. The pancreas also makes insulin, passing it direct into the bloodstream. Insulin is the chief hormone in your trunk for metabolizing sugar.

Liver

The liver has many functions, but its chief chore within the digestive arrangement is to process the nutrients captivated from the small intestine. Bile from the liver secreted into the small intestine likewise plays an of import role in digesting fatty and some vitamins.

The liver is your body'south chemic "mill." It takes the raw materials captivated by the intestine and makes all the various chemicals your torso needs to role.

The liver also detoxifies potentially harmful chemicals. Information technology breaks down and secretes many drugs that can be toxic to your body.

Gallbladder

The gallbladder stores and concentrates bile from the liver, and so releases it into the duodenum in the small intestine to help absorb and digest fats.

Colon (Big Intestine)

The large intestine, or colon, is responsible for processing waste and so that emptying the bowels is piece of cake and convenient. It's a vi-human foot long muscular tube that connects the small intestine to the rectum.

The large intestine is made upward of the cecum, the ascending (right) colon, the transverse (across) colon, the descending (left) colon, and the sigmoid colon, which connects to the rectum.

Stool, or waste left over from the digestive process, is passed through the colon by means of peristalsis, offset in a liquid land and ultimately in a solid form. As stool passes through the colon, water is removed. Stool is stored in the sigmoid (Southward-shaped) colon until a "mass movement" empties it into the rectum once or twice a twenty-four hours.

It normally takes about 36 hours for stool to become through the colon. The stool itself is by and large food debris and bacteria. These "good" bacteria perform several useful functions, such as synthesizing various vitamins, processing waste matter products and food particles and protecting against harmful bacteria. When the descending colon becomes full of stool, or feces, it empties its contents into the rectum to brainstorm the process of elimination (a bowel movement).

Rectum

The rectum is a straight, 8-inch chamber that connects the colon to the anus. The rectum's task is to receive stool from the colon, allow you lot know that there is stool to be evacuated (pooped out) and to hold the stool until evacuation happens. When anything (gas or stool) comes into the rectum, sensors send a message to the brain. The encephalon and so decides if the rectal contents can be released or not.

If they can, the sphincters relax and the rectum contracts, disposing its contents. If the contents cannot exist tending, the sphincter contracts and the rectum accommodates so that the sensation temporarily goes abroad.

Anus

The anus is the last role of the digestive tract. It is a 2-inch long canal consisting of the pelvic floor muscles and the ii anal sphincters (internal and external). The lining of the upper anus is able to find rectal contents. Information technology lets you know whether the contents are liquid, gas or solid.

The anus is surrounded past sphincter muscles that are important in allowing control of stool. The pelvic floor muscle creates an angle between the rectum and the anus that stops stool from coming out when information technology's not supposed to. The internal sphincter is e'er tight, except when stool enters the rectum. This keeps us continent (prevents us from pooping involuntarily) when we are asleep or otherwise unaware of the presence of stool.

When we get an urge to go to the bathroom, we rely on our external sphincter to hold the stool until reaching a toilet, where information technology and so relaxes to release the contents.

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Source: https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/7041-the-structure-and-function-of-the-digestive-system