What Makes Up The Digestive System and what are the Disorders of This System?

Your digestive system is the body parts that aid in turning food and drink into smaller molecules that can be absorbed into the bloodstream and carried by cells to other body systems. Digestion itself is a process by which the molecules of food and drink are made ready to be utilized by the body. The body uses these molecules to build and to nourish the cells of the body, and to provide energy for the body's functions.

The digestive system does 3 things: it mixes food, moves the food through the digestive tract, and it also initiates a chemical breakdown of larger molecules of food into smaller more useable molecules.

The digestive system begins in your mouth when you take in the food and drink. The end of the digestive system is the small intestine where the waste products exit the body.

In between the mouth and the small intestine is the rest of the digestive system; the digestive tract and other organs that also aid in digestion. The digestive tract is made up of several hollow organs that are joined in a long, twisting tube starting at the mouth and ending at the anus. The digestive system includes: the mouth, esophagus, stomach, small intestine, large intestine, rectum and the anus.