What Are the Functions of the Digestive System?

The digestive system consists of the digestive tract and the digestive glands. Digestive tract: Including the oral cavity, pharynx, esophagus, stomach, small intestine (duodenum, jejunum, ileum) and large intestine (cecum, appendix, colon, rectum, anus) and other parts. Clinically, the part from the mouth to the duodenum is often called the upper digestive tract, and the part below the jejunum is called the lower digestive tract. There are two types of digestive glands: small digestive glands and large digestive glands. The small digestive glands are scattered in the walls of the digestive tract, and the large digestive glands have three pairs of salivary glands (parotid, submandibular, and sublingual glands), liver, and pancreas. The digestive system is one of the nine major systems of the human body.

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The digestive system consists of

The basic physiological functions of the digestive system are ingestion, transport, digestion of food and absorption of nutrients, excretion of waste. These physiological completions are conducive to coordinated physiological activities of the entire gastrointestinal tract. The digestion and absorption of food, the substances and energy required by the body, and the nutrients in food except vitamins, water and inorganic salts can be directly absorbed and utilized. Proteins, fats and sugars cannot be directly absorbed and utilized by the body. It needs to be broken down into small molecular substances with simple structure in the digestive tract to be absorbed and used. The process by which food is broken down into small molecules that can be absorbed in the digestive tract is called digestion. This small molecular substance penetrates the mucosa of the digestive tract

The digestive system extends from the mouth to the anus and is responsible for ingesting food, crushing it into nutrients (a process known as digestion), absorbing nutrients into the bloodstream, and removing undigested parts of food from the body. The digestive tract includes the oral cavity, pharynx, esophagus, stomach, small intestine, large intestine, rectum, and anus. It also includes some organs outside the digestive tract:

What organs the human digestive system includes

The human digestive system consists of the digestive tract and the digestive glands.

The human digestive tract includes the oral cavity, pharynx, esophagus, stomach, and small intestine (including duodenum,

During pregnancy, a series of physiological changes occur in various systems due to the effects of pregnancy. The physiological changes in the digestive tract are as follows:

Oral changes in the digestive system

The lack of calcium intake in pregnant women or the rapid growth of the fetus can cause calcium deficiency, resulting in pregnant women's teeth loosening; due to the effects of a large number of estrogen in pregnant women, pregnant women's gums are congested, their gums are softened, and their gums are swollen. State, resulting in increased saliva secretion in pregnant women. All of the above factors will affect the eating of pregnant women to varying degrees, such as reduced food intake, preference for soft food, or excessively fine eating.

Gastrointestinal changes in the digestive system

Nausea, vomiting, and food choices can occur in early pregnancy; because the cardia sphincter relaxes, gastric contents tend to flow back to the lower part of the esophagus, causing heartburn; due to the relationship between the progesterone produced by the placenta, the stomach and intestinal smooth muscles of the pregnant woman decrease in tension and activity Weakness, decreased gastric acid secretion, and reduced gastrointestinal motility, so pregnant women often experience abdominal distension, loss of appetite, and constipation.

The basic function of the digestive system is to digest food taken from the outside world and absorb various nutrients, substances and energy required for the body's metabolism, and to send undigested and absorbed food residues out of the body through the anus. Nutrients in food include proteins, fats, sugars, vitamins, water and inorganic salts. Except for vitamins, water, and inorganic salts that can be directly absorbed and utilized, proteins, fats, and sugars are organic compounds with complex molecular structures and cannot be directly absorbed and utilized by the body. They need to be broken down into small molecular substances with simple structures in the digestive tract. In order to be absorbed. The process by which food is broken down into small molecules that can be absorbed in the digestive tract is called digestion. The process by which small molecules pass through the epithelial cells of the digestive tract into the blood and lymph fluid is called absorption. Digestion and absorption are two closely linked processes.

There are two ways for food to be digested in the digestive tract: one is mechanical digestion done through the movement of the digestive tract muscles, its role is to grind the food, make the food and digestive juice fully mixed, and push the food to the The second is the chemical digestion completed by digesting the digestive fluid secreted by the glandular cells. Digestive juice consists of water, inorganic salts and organic matter. The most important ingredients in organic matter are various digestive enzymes, which can break down proteins, fats and sugars into small molecules. These two types of digestion are carried out simultaneously and coordinate with each other.

In addition to the digestive and digestive functions, the digestive system also has endocrine and immune functions.