Do You Understand Your Digestive System?
The digestive system refers to a group of organs that work together in order to convert the food ingested into a form of energy, to deliver the necessary nutrients to several parts of the body and to get rid of body wastes. Have you ever wondered why the stomach does not self-destruct?
Well, this is just one amazing fact of the digestive system that many people are not aware of. Continue reading for more interesting facts about the digestive system.
- The food you eat does not need gravity to be able to reach the stomach.
Once the food is being swallowed, those muscles in your digestive tract will activate in a wavelike manner as they constrict and relax and this process is called peristalsis. Peristalsis also occurs when the urine needs to be moved from the kidneys and into the bladder. With peristalsis, the food you eat will be able to reach your stomach even if you were hanging upside down while eating.
- Laundry detergents contain enzymes similar to what your digestive system has.
Some of the active ingredients being used in manufacturing laundry detergents include amylases and proteases. These are the same kinds of enzymes that are also found in the human digestive system. Laundry detergent manufacturers make use of these enzymes to help break down fabric stains that cannot be removed with the use of conventional surfactants alone.
In the human digestive system, proteases enzymes are important for breaking down proteins. Amylases refer to enzymes that are responsible for breaking down carbohydrates while lipases are tasked to break down fats.
- Your stomach is not responsible for most of the work in the digestive system.
This is contrary to what many people believe that the stomach serves as the center of the digestive system and that it is responsible for most of the mechanical digestive processes. The truth is that the stomach is only involved in a very small part of all the chemical digestion that is taking place in the digestive system. This is because the small intestine is the one doing most of the digestion and ensures that all the nutrients will be passed on to the bloodstream.
- Hydrogen sulfide gives off bad odor in flatulence.
Intestinal gas or flatus is a mixture of swallowed air and gasses produced from the gastrointestinal tract. When the digestive system does the work of breaking down the food, millions of intestinal bacteria are involved in this process while hydrogen, carbon dioxide and methane are also being produced.
- But, what about that nasty smell? The digestive system also produces hydrogen sulfide which provides flatulence…which is the type of smell we all know about.
- The stomach produces mucus to protect itself.
The cells that are found along the inner wall of the stomach secrete hydrochloric acid which is crucial for the process of digestion as well as for killing bacteria. On the other hand, the stomach lining also produces mucus that will serve as its protection against the corrosive effects of hydrochloric acid. Hydrochloric acid is the same chemical being used in manufacturing cleaning supplies that remove rusts and kills bacteria such as those that are found in toilet-bowl cleaners.
As soon as the stomach empties its contents into the small intestines it will then send messages to the brain. As a response, the brain will then signal the digestive muscles that peristalsis must commence. In turn, contractions of the digestive muscles occur in order to ensure that there is no excess food left inside the stomach which usually manifests in a rumbling sound.
