The digestive system performs many different functions that allow ingested food to be digested, absorbed, and excreted out of the body. It begins with chemical and mechanical breakdown of food in the mouth. Food from the mouth is pushed back into a tube called the esophagus using the tongue. The esophagus connects to the stomach, where the chemical digestion of fat and protein happens. After being digested in the stomach, the chyme arrives at the duodenum where it is neutralized. It passes through the jejunum and ileum where the nutrients are absorbed into the bloodstream. Finally, the remaining matter arrive at the large intestine where the absorption of water happens, and the rest of them are excreted out of the body through the anus (Mescher, 2021).

Mescher, A. (2021). Junqueira’s basic histology: Text & atlas. McGraw-Hill Education.