Normally, as food
moves along the digestive tract, digestive juices and enzymes digest
and absorb calories and nutrients. After we chew and swallow our food,
it moves down the esophagus to the stomach, where a strong acid
continues the digestive process. The stomach can hold about 3 pints of
food at one time. When the stomach contents move to the duodenum, the
first segment of the small intestine, bile and pancreatic juice speed
up digestion. Most of the iron and calcium in the food we eat is
absorbed in the duodenum. The jejunum and ileum, the remaining two
segments of the nearly 20 feet of small intestine, complete the
absorption of almost all calories and nutrients. The food particles
that cannot be digested in the small intestine are stored in the large
intestine until eliminated.Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
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Date Added: 2009-04-20 Views : 188