Understanding Digestive Steps

Knowing the steps of digestion will empower you with a better understanding of digestive problems.   This will also help you to gain insight into how the types of foods you eat affect the digestive system.

Digestion includes more than just your stomach and intestines.  Let’s take a look at the entire digestive process following through each of the digestion steps.

The parts of your body that are involved in the digestive process include:

  • Mouth
  • Esophagus
  • Stomach
  • Small Intestines
  • Liver
  • Gallbladder
  • Large Intestines

Each of these body parts plays a very important role in the entire digestive system.  We will review each one for a clear understanding of the digestion steps.  This will allow you to understand the importance of proper nutrition for your well being.

Each of the digestion steps is important to your well being and overall health.

Digestion starts as soon as your food gets to your mouth.  By chewing your food, it begins to break down.  Proper chewing of your food is important for good digestion.  If you have poor dental health, your digestion will be effected.  Carbohydrates start breaking down by the saliva in your mouth.   Some of the vitamins, including B vitamins, are absorbed in the lining of your mouth.  If you place a salted cracker in your mouth and chew it for a minute or so, the taste will become sweet.  This demonstrates how carbohydrates are broken down into simple sugars by the saliva. This first of all the digestion steps is very important to the rest of the process.

When you swallow your food it goes to the esophagus.  The esophagus is a muscular pipe that transfers the food from your mouth to the stomach.  Indigestion and acid reflux can damage the esophagus if it is not properly treated.

The stomach is a pouch-like organ which excretes the enzyme pepsin.   The pepsin mixes with hydrochloric acid in the stomach cavity.  This enzyme and acid mixture starts the digestion of proteins.   Food that has gone through this process in the stomach is called chyme.  The most common cause for acid reflux and indigestion is over-eating, not necessarily an excess of acid in the stomach.

The nutrients of the chime are absorbed through the villi located on the lining of the small intestines.  These nutrients include vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates, fats, and proteins.   If the chyme (food) does not contain sufficient vitamins and nutrients, it will be taken from the body.  Deficiencies of vitamins and minerals in the body will occur if this continues to take place. This is one of the reasons you need to eat a properly balanced diet, to assure your digestive system is operating correctly.

The bile excreted into the small intestines by the liver is responsible for emulsification of the fats contained in the chime.  This helps the body to absorb the fats.  The bile that is left over goes to the gallbladder for filtration by the liver to be used again.   You can improve the health of your liver by avoiding foods with high fat content, excessive drinking, and toxic chemicals.

The remainder of the digestive products, which the small intestines have not absorbed, moves along to the large intestines.  This substance contains mostly hard starches and fiber.  The large intestines contain good bacteria which feed on soluble fiber and produces vitamin K.  Consuming pro-biotic foods, such as yogurt, aids in keeping your colon healthy with good bacteria.

The last of the digestion steps is when the waste is eliminated, by passing from the body.

Each of these digestion steps is important not only for your digestive health, but also to your overall health.