Ever wanted to know what happens to your food when you pop it in your mouth?
Your body needs the food to give you energy and to help you grow. To do this it first needs to break the food down in a process called digestion.
When food enters your mouth your teeth break it up, then your tongue and spit (saliva) help to get the food ready for you to swallow it.
Then it’s taken down a tube called the oesophagus, which goes down to your stomach (tummy). Special juices (gastric juices) turn your food into a soft mixture.
This is taken into the small intestine, which isn’t actually that small. Although it’s only a couple of centimetres wide, it’s usually about seven metres long (the height of a house!)
The slft mixture is broken down even more by your pancreas and liver. That’s when it’s finally ready to be used by your body. The large intestine can then start to get rid of the bits of your food that your body doesn’t need through the rectum (bottom).
Did you know?
It can take hours or even days for food to work its way through your digestive system.
