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The intestine is a muscular tube that runs from the bottom of your stomach to your anus or lower digestive system entrance. It's also known as the gut or the bowels. The gut, which is split into two portions termed the small intestine and the large intestine is where food and digestive products travel through. The gastrointestinal tract is the biggest structure in the digestive system (GI tract).
This spans roughly nine meters, beginning from the mouth and ending at the anus. The colon, often known as the large intestine, is the biggest portion of the GI tract. Before feces, water is absorbed and the leftover waste matter is stored. The small intestine, which is the longest portion of the GI tract, is where the majority of food digestion takes place.
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Keyterms: intestine, stomach, digestive system, gastrointestinal tract, mouth, anus, colon
Digestive System
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Digestion is crucial because your body needs nutrients from food and drink to function correctly and stay healthy. Nutrients include proteins, lipids, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals, and water (NIH external link). Nutrients are broken down into tiny enough pieces for your body to absorb and utilize for energy, development, and cell repair via your digestive system.
The gastrointestinal tract, often known as the GI tract or digestive tract, as well as the liver, pancreas, and gallbladder, make up the digestive system. The mouth, esophagus, stomach, small intestine, large intestine, and anus are the hollow organs that make up the GI tract. The solid organs of the digestive system are the liver, pancreas, and gallbladder.
Each component of your digestive system aids in the movement of food and fluids through your GI tract, as well as the breaking down of food and drink into smaller pieces. Your body can absorb and transport nutrients to where they are required after meals are broken down into small enough pieces. Water is absorbed by the large intestine, while the waste products of digestion produce feces. The digestive system is aided by nerves and hormones.
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Small Intestine
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The small intestine is divided into three segments that provide a route from your stomach to your big intestine (the pylorus is the entrance between your stomach and small intestine),
- Duodenum: It is a brief portion of the small intestine that receives partially digested food from the stomach via the pylorus and continues the digestive process. In addition to bile from your gallbladder, liver, and pancreas, the duodenum uses bile from your gallbladder, liver, and pancreas to aid digestion.
- Jejunum: It is the intermediate part of the small intestine, which transports food quickly to the ileum by wave-like muscular contractions.
- Ileum: The final segment of your small intestine is the longest. Before entering the large intestine, the ileum absorbs the majority of the nutrients from your meal.
Food has already been broken up and crushed into liquid by the time it enters your small intestine. Your small intestine receives one to three gallons (six to twelve liters) of this liquid every day. The small intestine is responsible for the majority of the digestion process, absorbing nearly all of the nutrients from your meal into your circulation. The small intestine's walls produce digestive juices, or enzymes, which collaborate with enzymes from the liver and pancreas to accomplish this.
Small Intestine
Large Intestine
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The length of your big intestine is around five feet (1.5 meters). The big intestine is significantly larger than the small intestine, and it travels through your gut, or abdomen, in a much straighter line. The large intestine's job is to collect water and salts from stuff that hasn't been digested as food and to eliminate any waste items that have remained. The majority of digestion and absorption has already occurred by the time food combined with digestive fluids reaches your big intestine.
Fiber (long-to-digest plant materials), dead cells shed from the walls of your intestines, salt, bile pigments (which give this digested stuff its color), and water are mostly what's left. Bacteria feed on this combination in the big intestine. These beneficial bacteria generate vitamins that are taken into your bloodstream and aid in the digestion of fiber. The following sections make up the large intestine,
- Cecum: Your big intestine's initial portion looks like a pouch and is around two inches long. It takes liquid from the ileum that has been digested and transfers it onto the colon.
- Colon: The colon is the largest part of the big intestine; you may have heard people refer to it separately. The colon is also the primary site for water absorption and, when necessary, salt absorption.
Large Intestine
Difference Between Small and Large Intestine
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| Parameters | Small Intestine | Large Intestine |
|---|---|---|
| Length | Measure around 4.5 to 7.0 m in length | Measure around 1.5 m in length |
| Width | It is narrow in width of around 3.5 to 4.5 cm | It has a width of 4 to 6 cm in diameter |
| Parts | It is divided into three sections: duodenum, jejunum, and ileum. | It is divided into 4 sections that are colon, rectum, caecum, and anal canal. |
| Mobility | It has small movements in the abdominal cavity | It shows very little or no movement |
| Presence of Villi | Present | Absent |
| Activity | It absorbs nutrients from the food that has been digested. | It helps with water and electrolyte absorption as well as vitamin synthesis. |
| Role indigestion | Digestion is completed | No role indigestion |
Things to Remember
- Despite their numerous distinctions, the small and large intestines function in tandem. The intestine is a long muscular tube that runs from the stomach's bottom portion to the anus.
- The intestine is a portion of the digestive system that is divided into two parts (small and large intestine). It performs key activities such as digestion, food movement, and nutritional absorption. As a result, the digestive system is completed by these two.
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Sample Questions
Ques: What exactly are enzymes? Write out the function of an enzyme in our digestive system? (2 Marks)
Ans: Enzymes are enzymes that act as biological catalysts. Catalysts are proteins that speed up chemical processes without consuming them. Consider the following scenario: In the mouth and small intestine, Amylase catalyzes the breakdown of starch into sugars.
Ques: How is the Body Capable of Breaking the Food into Small Parts? (2 Marks)
Ans: As food passes through the GI tract, the body's digestive organs break it down into little pieces. Food is broken down by motions such as mixing, squeezing, and chewing. In addition, the aid of the digestive fluid in the digestion of meals.
Ques: Describe the digestion of food in the small intestine? (2 Marks)
Ans: The pancreatic and bile juice are delivered to the duodenum, which is the first section of the small intestine. The enzymes and salts in these two secretions interact with the chyme. The pancreatic amylase converts starch to maltose, while trypsin converts the remaining proteins, proteoses, and peptones into peptides and amino acids. The fats are emulsified by the bile juice, which is subsequently converted into fatty acids and glycerol by lipase. There is no digestion in the jejunum. The meal is entirely broken down in the ileum, with proteins becoming amino acids and carbohydrates becoming monosaccharides.
Ques: What are the two types of digestion? (2 Marks)
Ans: There are two types of digestion:
Mechanical digestion entails the teeth crushing down food into tiny pieces.
Chemical digestion is the use of enzymes to break down food into the simplest form possible, allowing it to be easily digested and absorbed by the body.
Ques: How is the small intestine designated to absorb digested food? (2 Marks)
Ans: Small intestine is lined by epithelium which is specialized to absorb. It has mechanization to increase its absorbing surface area several times,
Villi: They are transverse folds of an intestine wall that not only increase surface area but also reach deep into the lumen of the intestine for absorption of digested food. Villi possess blood capillaries and lacteals (lymph vessels) for quick transport of absorbed food,
Microvilli: The columnar cells of the intestinal epithelium have fine microscopic outgrowths called microvilli. Microvilli increase the surface area of epithelial cells.
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