Each part of your digestive system helps to move food and liquid through your GI tract, break food and liquid into smaller parts, or both. Once foods are broken into small enough parts, your body can …

Learn more about how your digestive system works and how it performs the essential task of breaking down and absorbing the food and fluids you consume each day.

The digestive system breaks down nutrients into smaller components, which the body then uses for energy, growth, and cell repair. Foods move through the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, which runs from …

The processes of digestion include seven activities: ingestion, propulsion, mechanical or physical digestion, chemical digestion, secretion, absorption, and defecation.

Mechanical digestion takes place in the mouth through mastication and in the small intestine through segmentation contractions. In chemical digestion, enzymes break down food into the small …

Apr 14, 2025 · What happens when we eat and during digestion? Here, learn about the parts of the digestive system, how they work, and how to recognize any problems.

The digestive system carries out three primary processes: mixing food, moving food through the digestive tract (peristalsis) and using chemicals to break down food into smaller molecules.

Dec 30, 2025 · Learn how the digestive system works step by step—from ingestion to nutrient absorption—covering organ functions, digestive enzymes, and stomach to small intestine digestion.

Dec 26, 2025 · This article summarizes the chemical actions of the digestive process. For details on the anatomy and physiology for specific digestive systems, see digestive system, human, and digestive …

In general, there are 6 steps in the process of moving food and liquid through the digestive system: The first step in the digestive process occurs in the mouth.