Anatomy of the Digestive Tract
Digestive Anatomy by LadyofHats
The digestive tract begins with the mouth.
The mouth is part of the oral cavity and this is where both mechanical and chemical digestion begin.
Food then travels down the esophagus. From the esophagus, the food enters the stomach.
The stomach grinds and churns the food until it no longer resembles food and is turned into a paste, called chyme. Food is then released into the small intestines.
The small intestines are shown in orange and look like a snake like structure, in the diagram to the right.
The liver sits in the upper right hand quadrant of the abdomen (left in the image) and is shown in red in the image to the right. The role of the liver will be discussed on the next page.
The gallbladder is a small structure which is tucked in, under the liver. It connects the liver to the small intestines, delivering a compound, called bile, to the intestines which is important in digestion.
After traveling through all sections of the small intestines, what is left of the food enters the colon, represented in green in the image and also known as the large intestines.
The remaining portions then enter the rectum and the anus. Food has been transformed from something edible to an excretory product, called feces.
The mouth is part of the oral cavity and this is where both mechanical and chemical digestion begin.
Food then travels down the esophagus. From the esophagus, the food enters the stomach.
The stomach grinds and churns the food until it no longer resembles food and is turned into a paste, called chyme. Food is then released into the small intestines.
The small intestines are shown in orange and look like a snake like structure, in the diagram to the right.
The liver sits in the upper right hand quadrant of the abdomen (left in the image) and is shown in red in the image to the right. The role of the liver will be discussed on the next page.
The gallbladder is a small structure which is tucked in, under the liver. It connects the liver to the small intestines, delivering a compound, called bile, to the intestines which is important in digestion.
After traveling through all sections of the small intestines, what is left of the food enters the colon, represented in green in the image and also known as the large intestines.
The remaining portions then enter the rectum and the anus. Food has been transformed from something edible to an excretory product, called feces.
Digestive Anatomy Video
References
- Sizer, F. Whitney E. The Remarkable Body. In: Nutrition Concepts and Controversies. 13 ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth. 2014.
- Digestive anatomy image by LadyofHats, from Wikipedia, CC0.
- Header image modified from 23.5 The Small and Large Intestines. Anatomy & Physiology. OpenStaxCollege, http://cnx.org/resources/abf6ec32722c242d09afa2da6f08a61d71ac585b/2417_Small_IntestineN.jpg
Last updated April 8, 2016