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Ever wondered what happens to your food once it passes your
lips? Well, once you've taken a mouthful, your food embarks
on an incredible journey...
Your tastebuds
You have roughly 10,000 tastebuds on your tongue, which
come alive the moment you put food in your mouth. As nerve
endings, they're responsible for sussing out the chemicals
in the food you've eaten and transmitting messages to your
brain. Without them you wouldn't be able to experience salty,
bitter, sweet or sour sensations.
While your tastebuds are
busy at work, your teeth grind the food into easily digestible
pieces and your saliva moistens everything, so it doesn't
scrape your digestive (gastrointestinal) tract on the way
down.
Stomach
Once you've swallowed your food, it's carried down the oesophagus to your stomach. Here, your stomach walls churn the food up to make sure it's mixed with your acidic digestive juices. By the time your tummy has finished, the food is a creamy mixture called chyme (pronounced kime). Once it's liquefied it can be squirted through a small hole into your small intestine.
Small intestine
This is where most of the nutrient-digesting action happens.
To help your small intestine cope with the acidity of the
chyme, your pancreas releases an alkaline and lots of enzymes,
which break down the food's carbohydrates, fat and protein.
Meanwhile, your gall bladder donates some bile to ensure
any fat is melted down thoroughly.
Large intestine
Any nutrients that can't be digested end up here, including
fibre, which has certain components that can't be absorbed
by the human body. Your large intestine begins at the colon,
where some of the remaining nutrients can be mopped up. After
this point, anything that's left over is waste matter and
is stored in the rectum, waiting for the journey's end.
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