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Upper and lower human gastrointestinal tract. The esophagus (American English), oesophagus (British English), or œsophagus (archaic spelling) (see spelling difference) all / iː ˈ s ɒ f ə ɡ ə s, ɪ-/; [1] pl.: ((o)e)(œ)sophagi or ((o)e)(œ)sophaguses), colloquially known also as the food pipe, food tube, or gullet, is an organ in vertebrates through which food passes, aided by ...
There are several organs and other components involved in the digestion of food. The organs known as the accessory digestive organs are the liver, gall bladder and pancreas. Other components include the mouth, salivary glands, tongue, teeth and epiglottis. The largest structure of the digestive system is the gastrointestinal tract (GI tract).
The GI tract contains all the major organs of the digestive system, in humans and other animals, including the esophagus, stomach, and intestines. Food taken in through the mouth is digested to extract nutrients and absorb energy, and the waste is expelled as feces. Gastrointestinal is an adjective meaning of or pertaining to the stomach and ...
In the human digestive system, a bolus (a small rounded mass of chewed up food) enters the stomach through the esophagus via the lower esophageal sphincter. The stomach releases proteases (protein-digesting enzymes such as pepsin ), and hydrochloric acid , which kills or inhibits bacteria and provides the acidic pH of 2 for the proteases to work.
The digestive system functions to move material through the GI tract via peristalsis, break down that material via digestion, absorb nutrients for use throughout the body, and remove waste from the body via defecation. [3] Physicians who specialize in the medical specialty of gastroenterology are called gastroenterologists or sometimes GI doctors.
Gastrointestinal physiology is the branch of human physiology that addresses the physical function of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract.The function of the GI tract is to process ingested food by mechanical and chemical means, extract nutrients and excrete waste products.
Many sphincters are used every day in the normal course of digestion. For example, the lower oesophageal sphincter (or cardiac sphincter), which resides at the top of the stomach, is closed most of the time, keeping acids and other stomach contents from pushing up and into the oesophagus, but opens to let swallowed food pass into the stomach.
50-60% of total gastric acid secretion occurs during this phase. The gastric phase is a period in which swallowed food and semidigested protein (peptides and amino acids) activate gastric activity. Ingested food stimulates gastric activity in two ways: by stretching the stomach and by gastric contents stimulating receptors in the stomach. [2]