Why is the Function of the Digestive System Important?

The digestive system is the body's energy power plant and therefore of vital importance to your heath and well-being. Your body requires nutrients to fuel your every action, and that fuel comes mostly from the foods you eat.

Identification

• The digestive system is essentially one long tube called the alimentary canal, starting at the mouth and ending at the anus. The digestion process takes ingested food and transforms it into nutrients, and then the unused waste product is released.

Chewing

• Chewing is important because saliva contains enzymes that actually begin the digestion process. Teeth also aid in digestion by gnashing foods into a semi-liquid form.

Nutrients

• You gain energy and nutrients from the foods you eat. Before the small intestines can absorb nutrient molecules, foods have to be broken down mechanically and chemically converted into simpler forms.

Stomach Chemistry

• The walls of the stomach are coated with mucus because of the enzymes and acids in the stomach. This highly acidic environment is required to kill bacteria and break down protein molecules for digestion.

Waste

• One of the most important functions of the digestive system is elimination of waste. Some of the foods you eat wind up as indigestible fibers that leave the body as fecal matter.