PHGY 214 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Jejunum, Duodenum, Ileum
Document Summary
The main purpose of the digestive system is to digest food and get rid on the body"s waste. The process goes like this : when you put the food into your mouth, you start chewing. The saliva makes the food easier to chew: after its into smaller pieces you swallow. It goes down the esophagus and eventually into the stomach. In the stomach the food"s nutrients get absorbed: once in the small intestine the nutrients are transferred to the body. In the large intestine, the waste product the small intestine had left goes out. The esophagus is about 25 cm in length. The average human eats 500 kg (food) a year. On a daily basis, about 1. 7 liters of saliva is produced. Even if one were to stand on their head, food will digest because the esophagus uses muscles to digest the food. 1. 5 liters of material can be stored into an adult"s stomach.
