We all know digestion begins in the mouth, and travels, well, you know where...Although digestion may seem pretty simple, it is actually a complex process involving many organs of your body.  Let's get to the "guts" of the process...

The digestive system is made up of 20-30 feet of hollow organs joined in a long, twisting tube from the mouth to the anus. This is called the gastrointestinal tract, which has a lining called the mucosa. In the mouth, stomach, and small intestine, the mucosa contains tiny glands that produce juices (gastric juices) to help digest food.

Two solid organs, the liver and the pancreas, produce digestive juices that reach the intestine through small tubes. In addition, parts of other organ systems (for instance, nerves and blood) play a major role in the digestive system.

Why is digestion important?

When we eat, the food is not in a form that the body can use as nourishment. Our food and drink must be changed into smaller molecules of nutrients before they can be absorbed into the blood and carried to cells throughout the body. The food you eat contains the nutrients that serve as building blocks, and provide energy and nourishment throughout your body. In food, nutrients are contained in large molecules that are chemically and physically bound together. Digestion is the process of breaking down these tightly bound molecules into individual nutrients that can be taken into your body and used to support its functions. Simply defined, digestion is cutting things down to a size in which they can be absorbed into your body.

Movement of Food Through the System

Digestion begins in the mouth with the chewing of food. Chewing not only breaks down very large food molecules into smaller particles and allows saliva and enzymes to enter inside the larger food complexes, but also sets off a signaling message to the body to start the entire digestive process.  The taste of food can trigger the stomach lining to produce acid; therefore, your stomach begins to respond to food even before any food leaves your mouth.

Saliva is secreted by the salivary glands in your mouth and moistens the food to improve the chewing and grinding. Saliva also contains some enzymes that begin the breakdown of starches and fats.

The first major muscle movement occurs when food or liquid is swallowed. Although we are able to start swallowing by choice, once the swallow begins, it becomes involuntary and proceeds under the control of the nerves.

The esophagus is the organ into which the swallowed food is pushed. It connects the throat above with the stomach below and serves as an air lock between the outside world and the digestive tract.

The food then enters the stomach, which has three tasks to do. First, the stomach must store the swallowed food and liquid. This requires the muscle of the upper part of the stomach to relax and accept large amounts of swallowed matter. The second job is to mix up the food, liquid, and digestive juice produced by the stomach. The lower part of the stomach mixes these materials by its muscle action. The third task of the stomach is to empty its contents slowly into the small intestine.

Several factors affect emptying of the stomach, including the nature of the food and the degree of muscle action of the emptying stomach and the next organ to receive the contents (the small intestine). As the food is digested in the small intestine and dissolved into the juices from the pancreas, liver, and intestine, the contents of the intestine are mixed and pushed forward to allow further digestion.

Active fat absorption also occurs in the duodenum and the jejunum, and requires that the fat be put into small particles that can be transported into your body directly. The body uses bile as a detergent to solubilize the fat. Bile is produced by the liver, stored in the gall bladder, and released into the duodenum and jejunum after a meal. The majority of starch is also digested in the duodenum and jejunum, the first and second segments of the small intestine. The ileum is the final part of the small intestine. The ileum is responsible for completing the digestion of nutrients and for reabsorbing the bile salts that have helped to solubilize (keep in solution), the fats.

Finally, all of the digested nutrients are absorbed through the intestinal walls. The waste products of this process include undigested parts of the food and older cells that have been shed from the mucosa. These materials are propelled into the colon, where they remain until expelled by a bowel movement.

Probiotic supplements can be especially important in maintaining proper digestive function, maximizing nutrient absorbtion, and decreasing the "burning effects" of the acids produced during this process (specifically after eating processed foods, which requires greater acid production to break down). Probiotic supplements contain many "friendly bacteria" ensuring survival through the digestive process, enabling them to arrive in the colon as a "live" culture.

Click here to purchase Probiotics12Plus.com