WEDNESDAY, 12/5/2012

 Breaks down the food you eat  Before you eat, when you smell a tasty food, see it or even think about it……what happens?  When you eat, saliva helps break down chemicals in the food

 TONGUE pushes food to back of the throat into the ESOPHAGUS.  10 in. long and moves food to stomach – Muscles in the walls help food to move by squeezing it through the esophagus – Attached to the end of the esophagus is the STOMACH

 Shaped like a “J”  Stores food  Breaks down food into a liquidy mixture  Slowly empties mixture into SMALL INTESTINE (sort of like a mixer mashing food together with the help of gastric juices which helps to kill bacteria)

 1.5 – 2 in. around; at least 22 feet long  Packed inside of your stomach  Breaks down the food mixture so your body can absorb all vitamins, minerals, proteins, carbohydrates and fats  Food spends as long as 4 hours in small intestine  ….with the help of the pancreas, liver and gallbladder

 PANCREAS – makes juices that help the body digest fats and proteins  Juice from the LIVER called bile helps absorb fats into the bloodstream  GALLBLADDER serves as the warehouse for the bile

Nutrient-rich blood goes here for processing Filters out harmful substances or wastes Helps figure out how many nutrients will go to the rest of the body

 ¾ in. around, 5 feet long  Packed inside your body  Has a tiny tube at the end called the appendix  After most nutrients are removed from the food mixture…..there is leftover ‘waste’  This ‘waste’ passes through the part of the large intestine called the COLON.

 This is where the body gets its last chance to absorb the water and minerals into the blood  As the water leaves, waste gets harder & harder as it moves. It then becomes a solid called……..  The large intestine pushes it into its very last stop before being extracted.  Drink water, healthy diet, fiber (fruits, veggies, whole grains)

*KIDNEYS – filters waste from the blood and produces urine (IF THEY DO NOT, TOXINS BUILD UP)  *URETERS – two thin tubes that take urine from the kidney to the bladder *BLADDER – a sac that holds urine until time to use the restroom *URETHRA – tube that carries urine from the bladder out of the body