We’ve all got guts. Around 25 feet of them, in fact. That’s a lot to get your head around!
Every month, we’ll be sharing a news post that will help you to get to grips with your digestive system. You can find out what’s coming next at the end of this post but for now, let’s get to know the upper gastrointestinal tract, often referred to as the upper GI tract.
The upper GI tract is the top part of the digestive system, responsible for the vital roles of initial digestion and absorption of nutrients.
The upper GI tract includes the:
We have free downloadable resources on the digestive system, including a labelled diagram, under the ‘What other resources do you have available?’ section, found here.
Your mouth is like a high-end food waste disposer. It chews food and, in turn, gulps it down into your oesophagus (food pipe). The mouth is cared for by ear, nose and throat (ENT) specialists rather than gastroenterologists.
Your oesophagus transports chewed food and liquids down to your stomach.
When you swallow, muscles within the oesophagus contract and relax in a wave-like motion, known as peristalsis. This motion is what pushes the food bolus (a semi-solid mass of chewed food mixed with saliva) down towards the stomach.
Here, liquid is added to the mixture. Your stomach churns food and adds acid to help break food down. It’s a good idea to eat slowly and chew your food well. However, your stomach has two ‘valves’ to regulate how quickly food moves through it.
One valve sits between the oesophagus and the stomach and is called the lower oesophageal sphincter. The other sits between the stomach and the small intestine and is called the pyloric sphincter. A sphincter is a ring of muscle that can contract to close a hole.
By the time your food has been chewed, churned and bathed in stomach acid, it’s safe to say it doesn’t really look like food. Your stomach now squirts what was your food past the pyloric sphincter, into your small bowel. To do its job, the stomach acid is normally as strong as battery acid! The stomach lining is protected against this acid by cells producing mucus and substances to neutralise the acid.
The duodenum is the first part of your small bowel. If you thought your digestive system had already done plenty, you’re correct, but there is so much more that happens. Your duodenum continues the digestion of your food and the absorption of nutrients.
Your small bowel is long and thin (around 20 feet/6 metres on average). The duodenum is closest to your stomach, followed by the middle part of your small intestine, called the jejunum, and the last part is called the ileum, both of which we’ll cover in the next post on the lower gastrointestinal tract. Most absorption of nutrients takes place in the small bowel.
The duodenum curves gently as it leaves your stomach, and because of this curve, it fits snugly into the pancreas. The pancreas is an organ with a very important job in the digestion of your food. As we learnt in the summary of the digestive system, the pancreas is an accessory organ. The pancreas also produces bicarbonate, a substance which helps to neutralise stomach acid.
In our first post of the series, we learnt some of the ‘basics’ about the digestive system, including its role within the body and its organs. You can catch up via the link below:
Next month, we’ll be getting to grips with the lower part of the digestive system, also known as the lower gastrointestinal (GI) tract.
We’ll be sharing information about the organs within the lower part of the digestive system and the important roles they play.
We have information about the digestive system and over 40 digestive conditions and symptoms, which can be found here. You can also follow us on social media by searching ‘gutscharityuk’ to learn more, keep up to date with the work we do and take part in vital awareness campaigns to help us spread the word that our guts deserve better. It’s time for the UK to get to grips with guts!
Guts UK is the national charity for the digestive system. We are the only UK charity funding research into the whole digestive system.
People are suffering. People are dying. All because of a lack of knowledge about our guts. Guts UK exists to change that.Â
With new knowledge, we will end the pain and suffering for the millions affected by digestive diseases. Please consider donating today. Your donation will help fund research leading to earlier diagnoses, kinder treatments and ultimately, a cure.
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