The Pathway Of Food

The mouth performs many functions in the digestion of food. Besides chewing food to reduce it to smaller particles, the mouth also senses the taste of the foods we consume. When the tongue tastes the food through the use of its taste bud, it identifies foods on the basis of their specific flavors. Sweet, sour, salty, bitter, umami and, perhaps, the tastes of water and fat comprise the taste sensations we experience. Surprisingly, the nose and our sense of smell greatly contribute to our ability to sense the taste of food. When we chew food, chemicals are released that stimulate the nasal passages. Thus, it makes perfect sense that when we are sick and our noses are stuffed up and congested, even our most favorite foods will not taste as good as they normally do.

Once we have established (or even begin to anticipate) the taste of the food in our mouth the first step that signals the rest of the digestive system to prepare for the digestion of food, is the production of saliva. In the mouth, salivary glands produce saliva, which functions as a solvent so that food particles can be further separated and tasted. In addition, saliva contains a starch-digesting enzyme, salivary amylase. This and other enzymes are a key part of digestion. Saliva and your teeth are essential in breaking down your food for digestion. If you don't chew your food well enough, then you are making it much harder on the rest of your digestive system. If you have ever felt nauseous or felt stomach pain, then it may be caused by a lack of chewing.

After you are done chewing, mucus, which is another component of saliva, makes it easy to swallow a mouthful of food. The food then travels to the esophagus where it goes through the rest of the digestive system, and comes in contact with a wide variety of digestive enzymes.

When it comes to the digestive systems' digestive enzymes, the pancreas and the small intestine produce the most digestive enzymes; however, the mouth and the stomach also contribute their own enzymes to digestion. The mouth is an essential part of the digestive system, but in order for you to completely digest everything you need all the parts of the digestive system working in perfect harmony. If you want to learn more about how you digest your food, feel free to look up some more information in a science textbook and expand your knowledge.