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| How is Food Broken Down? |
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Imagine sliding down a waterslide. Now suppose that you stick out your arms and legs to stop yourself. You then turn around and start to climb back up the slide. If the waterslide were like your esophagus, it would squeeze down, closing in front of you. It would then squeeze closer and closer to you, forcing your to start sliding down again.
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Your Stomach
As that hotdog bite falls into the stomach, a round muscle called a sphincter closes behind it. This protects the esophagus from having food or other chemicals splash back into it. The single hotdog bite is soon joined by other bites as you continue eating. After a few minutes your stomach is completely full. Because you feel full, you stop eating, and run off to play with your friends. As you play, you don’t think about the food or what it is doing inside of you, but your body does not forget about it. Deep within you, your body continues the process of breaking your food down into smaller and smaller pieces.
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For the next couple of hours your stomach muscles churn and grind the food in your stomach, causing it to roll over and over again. Glands within your stomach release a variety of powerful chemicals which help to further break down the food within you. The two most important chemicals are hydrochloric acid and pepsin. Together these chemicals break the hotdog down into a slush known as chyme.
 
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