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Our body has a marvelous detoxification system which starts from the moment you are born into this. When you are a baby, the nourishment you received is through breast milk or baby formula. As you grow up, you obtain nourishment from both food and beverages. With good nourishment, your body can begin its detoxification process.
Before you consume food, digestion has already begun – It started when you first think, see, or smell food. Have you ever experience an increase of saliva production when you smelled your favorite food? The increase of saliva production is a natural process to enhance the ability to break down food, making it easier to swallow and digest.
The food that has been broken down by chewing and mixed with saliva is called a bolus. The tongue is used to push the bolus toward the back of your throat. It then travels down the esophagus. The esophagus is a stretchy muscular tube that extends to your stomach. It is lined with mucous membrane, which aids in the absorption and secretion of food. The esophagus muscle uses a rhythmic contraction to push swallowed food into the stomach.
The stomach is shaped like a bean and produces gastric acid to further break down food. In a sense, the stomach is your body’s natural food processor. It takes food and mixes it with the gastric acids, which turns it into liquid. Additionally, gastric acids help to destroy any bacteria that might be in the food.
The liquid food is emptied from the stomach into the small intestine. Oddly enough, the small intestine is anything but small. When stretched out, the average adult’s small intestine is about 22 feet long.
The pancreas, liver, and gallbladder join forces to assist the small intestine by sending juices that help the body absorb nutrients from the food. The pancreas helps the body digest fats and protein. The liver creates bile which absorbs the fats into the bloodstream. The gallbladder stores these fats until needed by the body.
Typically, food stays in the small intestine for up to four hours. During this time is becomes a very thin, watery mixture. During this process, the body absorbs the nutrients it requires and passes the rest on to the large intestine.
The large intestine is about three to four inches in diameter and about five feet in length. It is attached to the appendix. The appendix contains lymphoid cells which are beneficial in fighting infection.
The last stage of digestion involves passing the remaining food through the colon. In a sense, the colon is similar to clothes dryer. It absorbs the remaining water and minerals, turning the waste into a solid product referred to as stool, bowel movement, or the more popular term - poop.
Once the waste turns into poop, the large intestine pushes it into the rectum, where it is eliminated through the anus.