Digestion – A food journey through the body

Whenever we eat or drink, a number of functions are automatically triggered in our bodies. The digestive system plays an essential role here, ensuring that our bodies can make use of the energy and nutrients from our food.

The digestive tract – where our food is digested –  consists of a long sequence of organs. These include the oral cavity, oesophagus, stomach, small intestine and large intestine with rectum and anus ). Once we have finished chewing the food in our mouths, the food bolus passes with every swallow through the oesophagus and into the stomach. Ongoing transport is now controlled by the movement of the muscles found in the walls of the stomach and intestine. Other organs such as the liver, pancreas and gallbladder are also important for digestion. They release digestive juices and enzymes into the intestine, which are needed for breaking down the food . Enzymes are essential enablers in the body when it comes to digesting food.