10 Most Surprising Facts About Your Digestive System

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The job of your digestive system is to take the food that you eat and convert it over to nutrients that your body needs in order to live. When that is accomplished, it has to eliminate any waste that may be left over. The digestive system doesn’t do this all by itself. It has the help of your mouth, liver, stomach, gallbladder, and intestines.

Because this entire process just occurs automatically and doesn’t require your participation at all, you may take it for granted. There are some facts about digestion that you may not be aware of that might surprise you. Here are 10 interesting facts about the digestive system, the way it works, and some background information.

 

1. Your food doesn’t require gravity to reach your stomach.

Your esophagus has muscles that are resilient enough to send your food down to your stomach whether you are sitting upright or hanging bottom side up. Your esophagus has three zones: the esophageal body, the lower esophageal sphincter, and the upper esophageal sphincter. When your food is pushed over to your tummy, they call it peristalsis.

 

2. The stomach is not the center of digestion.

When you think of the digestive process you always think of your stomach. However, it is actually your small intestine that does most of the work. It dissolves your food, removes the nutrients, and then sends it off to your bloodstream.

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