The digestive process begins in the

mouth. Food is partly broken down by the process of chewing and by the

chemical action of salivary enzymes.

 After being chewed and

swallowed, the food enters the esophagus. The esophagus is a long tube that

runs from the mouth to the stomach. It uses rhythmic, wave-like muscle

movements (called peristalsis) to force the food down

The stomach is a large, sack-like organ that churns the food

and bathes it in a very strong acid (gastric acid). Food in the stomach that is

partly digested and mixed with stomach acids is called chyme.

After being in the stomach, food enters the duodenum,

the first part of the small intestine. It then enters the jejunum and then the ileum

(the final part of the small intestine). In the small intestine, bile (produced

in the liver and stored in the gall bladder), pancreatic enzymes, and other

digestive enzymes produced by the inner wall of the small intestine help in the

breakdown of food.

. The first part of the large intestine is called the cecum (the appendix is connected to the cecum). Food then travels upward in the ascending colon. The food travels across the abdomen in the transverse colon, goes back down the other side of the body in the descending colon, and then through the sigmoid colon.