The digestive system
Food gives us energy and helps us grow. But our body cannot use a sandwich as it is! The digestive system breaks food down into very small parts called nutrients, which the body can use.
The journey of a piece of food
- 1👄 Mouth
Digestion begins here. Your teeth cut and crush the food, and saliva makes it soft.
- 2⬇️ Oesophagus
A tube that pushes the food down from the mouth to the stomach.
- 3🫙 Stomach
A strong bag of muscle. It mixes the food with juices and turns it into a thick paste.
- 4〰️ Small intestine
A very long tube. Here the nutrients are separated from the waste and pass into the blood.
- 5🩸 Blood
The blood carries the nutrients to every part of the body.
- 6🚽 Large intestine and anus
The waste that the body cannot use moves to the large intestine and leaves the body through the anus.
Put a small piece of plain bread on your tongue and keep it there for one minute without chewing. Does it start to feel soft? Does it taste a bit sweet? That is your saliva starting to digest the food. Digestion really does begin in the mouth!
