Digestive System Facts

Did You Know...

Drawing of the Digestive System

Organs that make up the digestive tract:

Mouth
Esophagus
Stomach
Small Intestine
Large Intestine (colon)
Rectum
Anus

Organs that help with digestion but are not part of the digestive tract:

Tongue
Glands in the mouth that make saliva
Pancreas
Liver
Gallbladder

*) An adult oesophagus (also spelled esophagus and also called gullet) ranges from 10 to 14 inches in length, and 1 inch in diameter.

*) We make 1 to 3 pints of saliva a day.

*) Muscles contract in waves to move the food down the oesophagus. This means that food would get to a person's stomach, even if they were standing on their head.

*) It takes your mouth, esophagus, stomach, small intestine, large intestine, gallbladder, pancreas and liver just to digest a glass of milk.

*) An adults stomach can hold approximately 1.5 liters of material.

*) The stomach's wall is lined with three layers of powerful muscles.

*) The average male will eat about 50 tons of food during his lifetime in order to sustain a weight of 150 pounds.

*) Within the colon, a typical person harbors more than 400 distinct species of bacteria.

*) On average, the stomach produces 2 liters of Hydrochloric Acid (HCl) daily.

*) After you eat, it takes usually between 24 and 72 hours in healthy adults for the complete process of digestion to occur.

*) The liver is the largest organ in the body.

*) In the mouth, food is either cooled or warmed to a more suitable temperature.

*) The liver performs more than 500 functions.

*) The small intestine (pronounced in-test-in) is a long tube about 1 and a half to 2 inches around, and about 22 feet long.

*) The large intestine is fatter than the small intestine at about 3 to 4 inches around, but shorter than the small intestine at about 5 feet long.

*) A full grown horse?? Their coiled up intestines are 89 feet long.

*) The digestive tract is like a long tube, approximately 30 feet long in total, through the middle of the body. It starts at the mouth, where food and drink enter the body, and finishes at the anus, where leftover food and wastes leave the body.

*) All the different varieties of food we eat are broken down by our digestive system and transported to every part of our body by our circulatory system.

*) Food stays in your stomach for 2 to 3 hours.

References:
1) National Digestive Diseases Information Clearinghouse (NDDIC)
April 2008
digestive.niddk.nih.gov
2) www.organdonor.gov

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The information discussed above is a general overview and does not include all the facts, or include everything there is to know about any medicine and/or products mentioned. Do not use any medicine and/or products without first talking to your doctor. Possible side effects of medications, other than those listed, may occur. Other brand names or generic forms of this medicine may also be available. If you have questions or concerns, or want more information, your doctor or pharmacist has the complete prescribing information about this medicine and possible drug interactions.