What parts of the digestive system are involved in physically breaking down food?
* Stomach: The stomach is a muscular organ that churns and mixes food with digestive juices. This further breaks down the food into a liquid form called chyme.
* Small intestine: The small intestine is a long, coiled tube that is responsible for most of the absorption of nutrients from food. The walls of the small intestine are lined with villi, which are small finger-like projections that increase the surface area of the intestine and help to absorb nutrients.
* Large intestine: The large intestine is a shorter, wider tube that is responsible for absorbing water and electrolytes from food. It also stores waste products before they are excreted from the body.