We eat every day. In fact, most of us do it several times a day. For the fortunate ones, they get to enjoy eating at least three times a day. But how long does our body take it to break down and digest the food that we eat? Take time to read this article and marvel at the amazing machinery we call the “digestive system.”
It takes several hours for the food we eat to travel through our digestive system. However, the digestive process begins even before our food lands in the stomach. As we begin to chew our food, our brain sends signals to our stomach and intestines to get set and prepare for the food that is about to pushed down to them. As we chew, our saliva starts the initial breaking down process of the food. Saliva also facilitates the smooth movement of the food from the mouth down through the esophagus.
The esophagus is a pipe that leads food down to the stomach, where the food will stay for about three hours. Here, stomach acids and other enzymes break down the food particles further. Thereafter, the food is passed to the small intestine, where it will stay for another six hours. The nutrients in our food are absorbed in the small intestine while the excess food particles are passed down to the large intestine. Here, water is absorbed from the excess food materials to prepare it for excretion.