How does the digestive system work?

A thali takes seconds in your mouth, hours in your stomach and small intestine, and a day or two in your colon. From mouth to anus the digestive tract is about 5 to 7 metres long: oesophagus, stomach, small intestine and colon.

Read how it works: How does the digestive system work? · The history of digestion · More boxes on Glassbox

Chapters in this interactive model

1. One long tube, with helpers: From mouth to anus, plus the glands and organs that pour in the juices.
2. The journey of a thali: Seconds in the mouth, hours in the stomach and small intestine, a day or two in the colon.
3. Cutting food into pieces small enough: Chewing and churning make pieces smaller; enzymes cut the molecules themselves.
4. Getting food into your blood: A lining folded three times, finger-like villi, and two ways out: blood and lymph.
5. Nerves, hormones and 38 trillion helpers: The gut’s own nervous system, messages to and from the brain, and the bacteria that live in you.
6. When digestion goes wrong: Acidity, constipation, diarrhoea, food poisoning, lactose, IBS, ulcers and colon checks.