Digestive System

Your digestive system started working even before you took the first bite of your pizza. And the digestive system will be busy at work on your chewed-up lunch for the next few hours or sometimes days, depending upon what you've eaten. This process, called digestion, allows your body to get the nutrients and energy it needs from the food you eat.

Interesting Facts about Structure and Physiology of the Digestive System:

- We eat about 500 kg of food per year.

- 1.7 litres of saliva is produced every day.

- The oesophagus is approximately 25 cm long. Muscles contract in waves to move the food down the oesophagus. This means that food would get to a person's stomach, even if he were standing on his head.

- An adult's stomach can hold approximately 1.5 litres of material.

- Every day 11.5 litres of digested food, liquids and digestive juices flow through the digestive system, but only 100 mis is lost in faeces.

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

- Hundreds of different kinds of enzymes are needed to properly digest food. Cooking destroys food enzymes, forcing the body to make its own. Over time the body may tire of this extra work, leaving room for possible indigestion.

- Stomach: secretes some enzymes and hydrochloric acid (HCL) to break down protein. Within 2-6 hours, all food is emptied into the small intestine.

- Small Intestine: over 90 percent of digestion and absorption takes place in the small intestine. The acid of the stomach is neutralized and food is mixed with enzymes, bile and pancreatic juices.

- Liver: aids in digestion and detoxification of food impurities and inspects nutrients before allowing them into the bloodstream.

- Gallbladder: stores bile used to break down dietary fat.

- Pancreas: produces digestive juices and helps control blood sugar.

- 70-year-olds may produce as little as half the enzymes they produced when they were 20.

- The liver is the largest organ in the body.

- The liver perfonns more than 500 functions.

- The small intestine 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.

- 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.

Endocrine System

Although we rarely think about them, the glands of the endocrine system and the hormones they release influence almost every cell, organ, and function of our bodies. The endocrine system is instrumental in regulating mood, growth and development, tissue function, and metabolism, as well as sexual function and reproductive processes.

In general, the endocrine system is in charge of body processes that happen slowly, such as cell growth. Faster processes, like breathing and body movement, are controlled by the nervous system. But even though the nervous system and endocrine system are separate systems, they often work together to help the body function properly.

The endocrine system is a fascinating system, and there are many cool facts about it that one might not have been aware of. Some of these facts about the endocrine system are as follows:

• The endocrine system has no ducts. Therefore, the hormones it produces are released directly into the bloodstream. The blood then carries it to the various parts.

• The endocrine system is responsible for producing 30 distinct hormones. All these hormones have very distinct jobs to do.

• The rush of adrenaline one gets when facing adventure or fear is the result of the adrenal glands production of epinephrine hormone, or adrenaline as we otherwise know it.

• We must be thankful to the pineal gland for our sweet sleep. It secretes melatonin which regulates our sleep.

• It is responsible for the production of insulin. The failure to produce insulin will result in diabetes.

• The endocrine is the secret behind your energy levels thanks to the thyroid glands. The thyroid glands also help in metabolism.

• The hypothalamus is the one that makes you feel hunger and thirst. It also helps in body temperature.

• It aids the immune system by helping the body build resistance to disease.

• The human behaviour is also controlled by the endocrine system when it affects the nervous system.

• It is accountable for sexual characteristics and development. It is the key player in regulating menstrual cycle and ovulation in women. It even plays a role in pregnancy by stimulating contractions during delivery.

• In fact, the endocrine system has a hand in almost all functions of the human body.