Question

1) Summarize the pathway of the breakfast (or lunch/dinner) from ingestion to elimination.

type the answer please.

Answer 1

Pathway of food from ingestion to excretion is as follows -

The digestive system of our body mainly regulates this process but is also supported by other systems of the body as well.

Firysly the food enters the mouth where it is chewed and masticated by teeth and is also acted upon by the enzymes present in the saliva which helps in the break down of complex molecules present in the food to simpler absorbable forms. The tongue helps in mixing of the food with saliva to make it in the form of bolus. After swallowing, the food encountes epiglottis which prevents it from entering the wind pipe. Then the food travels through the long pipe called the food pipe - also known as oesophagus with the help of persitaltic movement.

The food then enters to tha stomach region in the abdomen where it is acted upon by acids and enzymes and here the chemical breakdown of the food begins. Also pathogens are killed by the strong acidic environment of the stomach. Now the food is known as chyme.

Chyme enters to the small intestine - duodenum is the first part of it and secretions from other sources like liver, pancreas, gall bladder, etc. Are mixed with chyme which further helps in the digestion process.

Most of the nutrients present in the food are absorbed in the small intestine and then it moves to the large intestine part where mainly the absorption of water takes place.

Now only the roughage or undigestible part is left which is excreted with mass peristaltic movement.