The leftover parts of food that cannot be broken down, digested, or absorbed are excreted as bowel movements (stool).
This article explains how your body’s organs work together to digest food.
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Organs of the Digestive System
Several organs make up the digestive system. Every organ has a role in breaking down food and managing waste.
Here are the digestive organs in the order in which food travels through them.
The digestive tract forms one long tube through the body, all the way from the mouth to the anus (with some sphincters between organs to keep things moving in the right direction).
Mouth
Digestion starts at the very beginning, with food being chewed in the mouth.
Food is broken down into smaller pieces and the saliva in the mouth begins digesting it. An enzyme in saliva called amylase breaks down certain starches down into the smaller sugars, maltose, and dextrin.
Esophagus
Theesophagusis a tube inside the throat behind the windpipe.
After food is chewed and swallowed, it travels down through the esophagus to the stomach. The muscles in the esophagus contract to move food along, which is called peristalsis.
Stomach
After the food is deposited in the stomach, the digestive process continues.
The food is mixed with the acids andenzymesthat are secreted from the stomach wall. After the food is thoroughly broken down, it’s moved along into the small intestine.
Small Intestine
Thesmall intestineis a long tube where most of the vitamins and nutrients are absorbed from food into the bloodstream.
More enzymes are added into the small intestine as the food moves through to help facilitate the process. The small intestine is composed of three parts:
Large Intestine
After moving through the small intestine, the food is now partially digested and mostly in a liquid form as it passes through a sphincter called the ileocecal valve and enters the large intestine.
Thelarge intestineis where much of the water is absorbed from the waste material. By the time the stool reaches the end of the large intestine, it’s in a more solid form. The sections of the large intestine are called:
Rectum
At the end of the large intestine is the rectum, a reservoir that holds stool until it can be passed out of the body.
When the rectum becomes full of stool, it gives off a signal to the brain that it’s time to go to the bathroom.
Anus
Theanushas two sphincters that serve to hold stool inside the body until it is time to pass it. When you consciously relax your external sphincter, the stool can then leave the body.
Removing Parts of the Digestive System
Some parts of the digestive tract can be removed in part or in full:
Recovering From Abdominal Surgery
2 SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.U.S. National Library of Medicine. MedlinePlus.Large bowel resection.U.S. National Library of Medicine. MedlinePlus.Small bowel resection.
2 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.U.S. National Library of Medicine. MedlinePlus.Large bowel resection.U.S. National Library of Medicine. MedlinePlus.Small bowel resection.
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
U.S. National Library of Medicine. MedlinePlus.Large bowel resection.U.S. National Library of Medicine. MedlinePlus.Small bowel resection.
U.S. National Library of Medicine. MedlinePlus.Large bowel resection.
U.S. National Library of Medicine. MedlinePlus.Small bowel resection.
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