When you eat pizza, it goes through a process of digestion in your stomach that involves several steps:
-
Mechanical Breakdown: The pizza is mixed with saliva in your mouth, where it gets broken down into smaller pieces. Once swallowed, it travels down the esophagus to the stomach.
-
Acidic Environment: In the stomach, the pizza encounters gastric juices, which contain hydrochloric acid and digestive enzymes like pepsin. The acidic environment helps to further break down food and kill harmful bacteria.
-
Chemical Digestion: The enzymes begin to break down proteins and fats in the pizza. Carbohydrates continue to be broken down by enzymes present in saliva, though digestion in the stomach mainly focuses on proteins.
-
Chyme Formation: The mixture of partially digested food and digestive juices, called chyme, is formed as the stomach muscles contract and mix the contents.
-
Nutrient Release: After a few hours, the chyme is gradually released into the small intestine, where further digestion and nutrient absorption occur.
Throughout this process, your stomach plays a crucial role in transforming the food you eat into a semi-liquid state, making it easier for nutrients to be absorbed later in the digestive system.
1 answer