Does digestion complete in the small intestine or large intestine?
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Solution
Digestion:
It is the complex process of converting the food one consumes into molecules, which are utilized by the body for growth, energy, and repair of the cell.
The process also comprises creating wastes, which are to be discarded or eliminated from the body.
The system, which works in the process of digestion in humans is the digestive system.
The digestive system is formed of the digestive tract, which is an array of hollow organs connected with a long, twisting tube from the mouth to the anus.
The process of digestion takes place in the mouth, stomach, and small intestine.
In the process of digestion, food is mixed with the digestive juices and is moved down the digestive tract, where step by step, the large molecules of food are dissociated into smaller molecules.
Small Intestine :
The process of digestion starts in the mouth and is completed in the small intestine.
In the mouth, the food is chewed and dissociated into smaller pieces so that it can be digested easily.
At the time of chewing, saliva is mixed with the food, which comprises an enzyme salivary amylase, secreted from the salivary glands that help in breaking down the food into a form the body can use and absorb.
Then the food is moved to the stomach, where enzymes and hydrochloric acid continue the process of food breaking and changing it into a liquid or paste.
From the stomach, food is moved to the small intestine, where the enzymes from the pancreas and bile from the liver further dissociate food.
The small intestine is considered the workhorse of digestion, as this is the place where the majority of the nutrients are absorbed.
The nutrients are captivated via the walls and passed into the bloodstream. The leftover or the waste further moves to the large intestine.
The waste produced post digestion is excreted or defecated out of the body easily and conveniently with the help of a specialized organ, that is, the large intestine.