How do circulation and digestion work together

The appendix is a finger-shaped pouch attached to the cecum. The cecum is the first part of the large intestine. The colon is next. The rectum is the end of the large intestine. Bacteria in your GI tract, also called gut flora or microbiome, help with digestion. Parts of your nervous and circulatory systems also help. Working together, nerves, hormones , bacteria, blood, and the organs of your digestive system digest the foods and liquids you eat or drink each day.

Digestion is important because your body needs nutrients from food and drink to work properly and stay healthy. Proteins , fats , carbohydrates , vitamins , minerals , and water are nutrients. Your digestive system breaks nutrients into parts small enough for your body to absorb and use for energy, growth, and cell repair.

MyPlate offers ideas and tips to help you meet your individual health needs. Each part of your digestive system helps to move food and liquid through your GI tract, break food and liquid into smaller parts, or both. Once foods are broken into small enough parts, your body can absorb and move the nutrients to where they are needed.

Your large intestine absorbs water, and the waste products of digestion become stool. Nerves and hormones help control the digestive process. Food moves through your GI tract by a process called peristalsis. The large, hollow organs of your GI tract contain a layer of muscle that enables their walls to move. The movement pushes food and liquid through your GI tract and mixes the contents within each organ.

The muscle behind the food contracts and squeezes the food forward, while the muscle in front of the food relaxes to allow the food to move. Food starts to move through your GI tract when you eat. When you swallow, your tongue pushes the food into your throat. A small flap of tissue, called the epiglottis, folds over your windpipe to prevent choking and the food passes into your esophagus.

Once you begin swallowing, the process becomes automatic. Your brain signals the muscles of the esophagus and peristalsis begins. Lower esophageal sphincter. When food reaches the end of your esophagus, a ringlike muscle—called the lower esophageal sphincter —relaxes and lets food pass into your stomach. After food enters your stomach, the stomach muscles mix the food and liquid with digestive juices.

The stomach slowly empties its contents, called chyme , into your small intestine. Small intestine. The muscles of the small intestine mix food with digestive juices from the pancreas, liver, and intestine, and push the mixture forward for further digestion. The walls of the small intestine absorb water and the digested nutrients into your bloodstream. As peristalsis continues, the waste products of the digestive process move into the large intestine.

Large intestine. From the small intestine, the blood gathers food nutrients and delivers them to every cell.

Blood Blood consists of: Red blood cells — to carry oxygen White blood cells — that make up part of the immune system Platelets — needed for clotting Plasma — blood cells, nutrients and wastes float in this liquid. The heart The heart pumps blood around the body. It sits inside the chest, in front of the lungs and slightly to the left side. The heart is actually a double pump made up of four chambers, with the flow of blood going in one direction due to the presence of the heart valves.

The contractions of the chambers make the sound of heartbeats. The right side of the heart The right upper chamber atrium takes in deoxygenated blood that is loaded with carbon dioxide. The blood is squeezed down into the right lower chamber ventricle and taken by an artery to the lungs where the carbon dioxide is replaced with oxygen.

The left side of the heart The oxygenated blood travels back to the heart, this time entering the left upper chamber atrium. It is pumped into the left lower chamber ventricle and then into the aorta an artery.

The blood starts its journey around the body once more. Blood vessels Blood vessels have a range of different sizes and structures, depending on their role in the body. Arteries Oxygenated blood is pumped from the heart along arteries, which are muscular. Arteries divide like tree branches until they are slender.

The largest artery is the aorta, which connects to the heart and picks up oxygenated blood from the left ventricle. The only artery that picks up deoxygenated blood is the pulmonary artery, which runs between the heart and lungs. Capillaries The arteries eventually divide down into the smallest blood vessel, the capillary.

Capillaries are so small that blood cells can only move through them one at a time. Oxygen and food nutrients pass from these capillaries to the cells. The bones of your skull and spine protect your brain and spinal cord, but your brain regulates the position of your bones by controlling your muscles. The circulatory system provides your brain with a constant supply of oxygen-rich blood while your brain regulates your heart rate and blood pressure.

Even seemingly unrelated body systems are connected. Your skeletal system relies on your urinary system to remove waste produced by bone cells; in return, the bones of your skeleton create structure that protects your bladder and other urinary system organs.

Your circulatory system delivers oxygen-rich blood to your bones. Meanwhile, your bones are busy making new blood cells. Working together, these systems maintain internal stability and balance, otherwise known as homeostasis.

Disease in one body system can disrupt homeostasis and cause trouble in other body systems. October 27, September 2, August 6, July 30, This information is not intended to replace the advice of a medical professional.