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1.Gullet 2.Liver 3.Stomach
4.Gallbladder
5.Small Intestine
6.Large Intestine
7.Rectum
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Inside your body you have intestines that wind their way around the organs in your abdomen. They are called the Duodenum, the Small Intestine, the Large Intestine and the Rectum.
Intestines are tunnels that food must pass through so that the body can absorb nourishment from it. When the food has reached the end of its journey in your intestines, all that’s left is faeces (poo), which your body gets rid of.
If they were stretched out, your intestines would measure nine metres long.
The processing of the food (digestion) begins in the stomach and continues during the food’s journey through your intestines.
Immediately after the stomach comes the Duodenum, this is where food is mixed with bile from the gall bladder and the liver, as well as with pancreatic juices from the pancreas. These digest the food and make it easier for the body to absorb the nourishment, by making it into a dough.
The intestines squeeze and knead the food so that all the nourishment is pressed out.
On the walls of the small intestine are the ‘villi’, these look like small hairs but are actually blood vessels. These absorb most of the nourishment from the food and the blood transports this nourishment to the rest of your body.
When the food has been squeezed through the small intestines it doesn’t resemble food any more, it looks more like raw cake mix.
When this mixture finally reaches the large intestine, there is not much nourishment left in it. The large intestine is two meters long and its purpose is to absorb as much liquid as possible.
When enough of the liquid has been taken, the mixture becomes faeces (poo) and it goes on to the rectum which squeezes the food that final step before it leaves the body and gets flushed away down the toilet.
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