Anatomy: The Gastrointestinal Tract

Hello everyone and welcome to the tour of Mr. Doe’s gastrointestinal tract. Today we will be catching a ride alongside the very unhealthy food he will be consuming in just a few minutes such as, a hamburger, French fries and a root beer. For the next few minutes, please take a moment to look at the images of each structure on the pamphlet which is located on the back of the seat in front of you. The digestive system consists of the digestive tract called alimentary canal which forms a continuous path from the mouth to the anus. I hope everyone is buckled in and excited to see the different structures within the digestive system located in Mr. Doe’s body today! Ladies and gentleman, please hold on tight as Mr. Doe takes a bite out of his hamburger in just a few seconds.

We have just made it to Mr. Doe’s mouth. As you can see, the hamburger and French fries are being broken down to small pieces with every chew so they can be easily digested. During this process, saliva mixes with the food so the body can absorb and use each carbohydrate, fat, and vitamin in various places like the blood stream for example. I am sure that the taste buds are enabling Mr. Doe to enjoy this disgustingly juicy burger! Taste buds are located near the back of the tongue but if you would like me to get technical with words, they are located at the posterior lateral area of the tongue! I can make a bet that some of you never knew that our tongue helps in the chewing, swallowing and ingestion of food while also helping clean our teeth. I know! Very weird right? Momentarily, we will begin accelerating downwards to the alimentary canal colliding in to various juices which actually contain enzymes. The alimentary canal is a long tube about 8 to 10 meters in leng...

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...m. Both the ileum and jejunum are coiled structures. The ileum contains villi and microvilli which in fact increase the surface area for digestion and absorption of food. All three sections of the small intestine have tube like glands in their walls which secrete juice into the intestinal lumen. This secreted juice helps to crush the food and mix it with other juices. This process helps it move forward to the large intestine which we are vastly approaching. The small intestine absorbs most of the nutrients. The large intestine is shorter and wider than the small intestine, ironically. It looks like we will be taking a detour towards the mucosal membrane.

The mucosal membrane in easy terms, is our own personal air filter. When functioning properly, it takes the air we breathe and cleans, warms and moistens it. It is also one of the bodies frontline defense systems.